A bit of a life in cartoons

So here we are, at the end of the two year project to digitise and catalogue the collection of Carl Giles held at the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent.
Most of the project staff have gone on their way – although some for only a few yards as they have got jobs elsewhere in the [...]

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Look beyond the caption

I think I’ve noted before that I don’t find the Giles captions that accompany his cartoons very funny. I even mentioned this in my interview for the post of Project Archivist – which was perhaps not a good idea, but despite this I was still offered the job.
I have made it clear however that the [...]

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I’m A Celebrity – Get Me The Original Artwork

People who get drawn in a cartoon often want the original artwork and this was the case with Carl Giles, who usually gave originals away if asked for them. Some went to charities to auction off and raise funds, but he didn’t like ‘the raucous cry of the market’ – a [...]

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What’s in a name?

Going back through some of the correspondence received by Carl Giles in order to bring loose items together, I came across a name which made me stop and take a closer look. When I first saw this material in 2007 the name didn’t mean anything and the letter would not have been highlighted as part [...]

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BCAD Architecture

The BCAD team recently gave a presentation on its website architecture, including a broad overview of the data handling systems and archive management set up.  The purpose was to demonstrate to interested parties and archives at the University of Kent and in particular those involved in the new JISC funded VERDI project.
The presentation was successful [...]

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What the papers (and blogs) say

Readers of previous posts will know that material from the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) has been used for exhibitions on cartoonist Carl Giles at The Cartoon Museum in London and Ipswich Town Hall. Now that the Ipswich exhibition has finished and the items have been returned, it is time to take stock and see what [...]

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Happy Christmas

A happy Christmas from the British Cartoon Archive project team, and Carl Giles. Here is a Giles cartoon which was published exactly 32 years ago.

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Ipswich Exhibition

The day after the launch of the Giles exhibition at the London Cartoon Museum (see previous post), another one was launched at Ipswich (on Friday 7 November).
This one, called ‘Giles: Drawn To Suffolk’, concentrated more on the Giles connection with Suffolk, as he lived near Ipswich and had a studio in the town.
Material on [...]

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Making the news

The imminent launch of two exhibitions on Giles and a website has meant that the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) has been in the news.
Newspaper articles on the archive have appeared recently in The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Express. More publicity is expected in the next few days so BCA Head Nick Hiley is [...]

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Two exhibitions and a website

This is a busy week for the British Cartoon Archive as it prepares for the launch of two Giles exhibitions, and a new website. Phew.
The first exhibition ‘Giles: One Of The Family’ is on view at the Cartoon Museum, Little Russell Street, London, from Wednesday 5 November 2008 to 15 February 2009, and [...]

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