Sculpture research programme
Henry Moore Institute’s sculpture research programme places sculpture at the centre of current art historical scholarship and actively encourages new research.
At Henry Moore Institute, we pride ourselves on being a hub of contact and exchange, generating and supporting research networks that extend beyond the confines of academia.
Our sculpture research programme operates across disciplines and art forms, engaging with performance, drawing, photography or architecture, or with wider fields such as politics or anthropology.
Research seasons
Each year our research programme is organised into specific areas of enquiry, explored through themed Research Seasons. Each season includes a range of research events, conferences, lectures, film screenings and discussions, designed to showcase new thinking on different aspects of sculpture.
Adrian Stokes, Inside Out
Autumn – Winter 2026
Who, confronted with the firm elasticity of Michelangelo’s David, would think to compare its curves to a well-sprung car? Who would take the removal of twigs concealing a bird on a nest as a figure for the master’s subtractive technique?
This Research Season reckons with the idiosyncratic sculptural imagination of English critic Adrian Stokes (1902-72).
Explore our previous research seasons, and watch recordings of talks, conferences and performances.
See all previous research seasons
Autumn 2024 – Spring 2025:
Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
Upcoming events at Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Guided tour
Free exhibition tours: Sagarika Sundaram: Reservoir
11:00 & 14:30
BSL guided tour & workshop
British Sign Language tour of Sagarika Sundaram: Reservoir
11:00–14:00
Book your free ticket
Conference
Stokes’ Objects
Book your free ticket
Upcoming events at Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Hertfordshire
Educator Network event
Learning Through Making
10:00–12:00
Learn more
Symposium for teachers
Sketchbooks as Tools for Transformation
9:30–16:30
Book your ticket
Research opportunities
Find out how you can get involved with our research programme.
Calls for participation
We regularly invite submissions for conferences and symposiums on a range of sculpture topics.
Our events take place at the Institute in Leeds, Studios & Gardens in Hertfordshire, and with external partner venues.
The Moral Right of Skateable Sculpture
Call for participation
The Moral Right of Skateable Sculpture will bring together academics, artists and skateboarders interested in the emergent field of ‘skateable’ sculpture.
Conference, to take place:
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Friday 19 March 2027
Deadline for proposals:
Friday 11 December 2026, 17:00
Visiting research fellowships
Our fellowships enable artists and researchers to develop their work, spending a month in Leeds using our resources.
The next round of fellowship applications will open in spring 2027.
Dissertation Prize
Open to BA and MA students of all disciplines, each year we award two prizes for outstanding writing on contemporary, modern or historical sculpture.
Applications are now open for our 2026 prize.
Deadline: Monday 14 December 2026.
Find out more and submit your essay
Our research facilities
We encourage researchers at all levels to seek our advice and make use of our world-class archive, library and sculpture collections in Leeds.
Sculpture Research Library
With more than 30,000 books, exhibition catalogues, journals and audio-visual items, the library is an outstanding resource for studying sculpture.
Archive of Sculptors’ Papers
The working lives of hundreds of sculptors are captured in their photographs, letters, drawings and sketchbooks, alongside film, digital records and even tools and costume.
Leeds sculpture collection
We oversee the development of Leeds Museums and Galleries’ sculpture collections, a partnership that has built one of the strongest collections of British sculpture in the country.
Online research resources
Collaboration is at the heart of our research programme.
We have jointly funded and collaborated in a number of initiatives intended to consolidate primary resources for the study of sculpture.
Essays on Sculpture
Essays on Sculpture is the journal of Henry Moore Institute, tacking a diverse range of subjects, disciplines and styles to investigate the important role that sculpture plays in the world at large.
Visit us
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
