Matt Smith: Who Owns History?

Matt Smith is a ceramicist and textile artist best known for his parianware forms. Each piece is created from casts of old moulds where the parts are reassembled in unsettling ways. Much of Smith’s work explores the representation of marginalised histories, giving a voice to those hidden and silenced and Smith often creates works in response to museum collections. His pieces reveal and critique the view of history created by those with authority and invite reflection on alternative interpretations.

The body of work in this exhibition was acquired by Brighton & Hove Museums in 2020 through the CAS Rapid Response Fund. It includes pieces from his Wunderkammer series, 2017, and from his exhibition ‘Flux: Parian Unpacked’ at the Fitzwilliam Museum, 2018.