<![CDATA[ sorhed - Cambridge Visual Culture Visiting Research Fellowship]]>

During my first two weeks at the Fitzwilliam (April 2024), I laid a yellow satin ribbon across the gallery floors, marking a surface and claiming a temporary territory. This act serves as a material metaphor for what we, as visitors or audience members, what we do unknowingly and silently. The ribbon delineates a space; it can be seen as a pedagogical tool. In relation to Merleau-Ponty, it reflects the physicality of our "intentional arcs"—the way we project ourselves into these spaces and engage based on our own subjectivity, histories, culture, and lived experiences. Our knowledge may differ from the narratives and insights presented by the art museum, creating a complex interaction between our understanding and the stories we encounter.

During my second week in residence (March 2025), the public walked through the galleries while I met with invited groups and individuals. The ribbon, intended as a quiet and gentle gesture, was meant to assert a personal space and claim the museum landscape. However, it unraveled differently. Held aloft in my hand, the ribbon unfurled and fell to the ground, twisting and quietly undoing itself as it gently gathered on the gallery floor. This act of letting go or unraveling previous ways of engaging with a space—specifically, a gallery or museum—became manifest; it was a physical expression of the potential for transformation. It represented a way to create space for new knowledge or, rather, alternative ways of knowing.