Kelly's quest to find the Tall Thrift!

On a rainy Monday morning extInked Ambassador, Kelly Parish, accompanied by Gavin Parry and David Penny of Anatomy Projects and their free standing 19th Century Studio Plate Camera set off on a journey to find the Tall Thrift.

Kelly was invited to visit the Moor Closes nature reserve in Ancaster by the wardens at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust who manage one of the sites where the tall thrift grows, as this species is only found in two locations in the UK it is considered very precious. Luckily for Kelly the second location is only walking distance from the nature reserve in the village cemetery. Kelly had the opportunity to meet with the warden and find out much more about her species and Gavin and David were on hand to document the days activities and here is a sneak peak of their trip.

More footage of the day, along with a detailed account of her adventure from Kelly will be posted soon.

'We are extInked' launches tonight at the Manchester Museum

Come and join us this evening as we celebrate the launch of We are extInked at the Manchester Museum.

This exhibition documents extInked, a unique arts and ecology project which began in 2009 as a response to species loss in the UK.

We are extInked brings together the original pen and ink drawings, documentary footage of the tattooing process and extraordinary photographic portraits of the ambassadors created on a rare 19th century camera by Anatomy Projects. The work will be shown alongside rare specimens from The Manchester Museum collections and documentation of the progress of the 100 volunteer ambassadors as they work to protect and advocate for their species.

The exhibition opens to the public on July 9^th 2011 and will be situated alongside the new 'Living Worlds' Gallery, which explores the connections between all living things, including us, and shows how we can all shape the future by the choices we make.

We are extInked launch:

Friday 8th July 2011 -

6.00 - 8.00pm

(Speeches at 6.30pm)

The Manchester Museum

The University of Manchester

Oxford Road

Manchester

M13 9PL

For more information on how to get to the museum please click here.

For more information about the extInked project and the We are extInked tour please click here.

Anatomy Projects - extInked Ambassador Portraits

Nineteenth Century studio plate camera used by Anatomy Projects to photograph the Ambassadors.

Photography, Tom Bing.

Artists Gavin Parry and David Penny of Anatomy Projects have been collaborating with UHC over the past two years creatively documenting art projects such as extInked and EXAM.

In November 2009, they were commissioned to create a collection of portraits of the one hundred Ambassadors as part of the extInked project using a restored 19th century studio plate camera. The intention was not to make a document of the tattoo but to create a portrait of the individual, as a part of a shared experience of the social experiment.

Portrait of Stephen Medeema, Ambassador for the Narrow-Leaved-Helleborine.

Photography by Anatomy Projects.

The portraits were exhibited at the extInked reunion 2010 as part of the exhibition at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester entitled 'A Horse walks in to a Bar'. The portraits will also be exhibited at various locations around the UK throughout 2011 - 2012 as part of the extInked UK tour, further details to be announced shortly.

To see a sample of the beautiful portraits please visit the Anatomy Projects website.

This collaboration between UHC and Anatomy Projects has been made possible through the financial support of MIRIAD.

ANATOMY OF AN INSTITUTION EXHIBITION

Gavin Parry and David Penny of Anatomy Projects are currently exhibiting at the Holden Gallery MMU until 15th December. The project entitled 'Anatomy of an Institution Project' includes photographs from the same camera that was used to shoot the one hundred extInked Ambassadors. ExtInked will not be featured in this exhibition but it will definitely be worth checking out.

For more information please visit the Anatomy Institution website.