University of Bristol Theatre Collection Blog

‘Through performance, storytelling, ritual, and collaborative projects, we look for the places where art can make a difference—quietly, powerfully, and with a good dose of humanity. Whether it’s in village halls or open fields, around kitchen tables or on street corners, we’re interested in the kind of art that feels real, relevan...

By Rosie Smith, Project Archivist, Forkbeard Fantasy 

When I started working on the Forkbeard Fantasy archive, my first task was to open all 77 boxes and see what treasures lay inside. I spent the next few months painstakingly building a cataloguing structure. This is a way of organising the archive intelle...

Naomi Smyth and China Fish are the winners of the 2025 inaugural Forkbeard Fantasy Award. This is an annual award of £15,000 given to a collaboration of artists to research and develop a new piece based on the archives of Forkbeard Fantasy. China and Naomi are now approximately ...

By Rosie Smith, Project Archivist: Forkbeard Fantasy

As you may remember from a previous blog, Forkbeard Fantasy were known for their use of elaborate and unusual props and costumes. After a successful touring exhibition of some of these items, they established the Museum of Forkbeard in North...