Sarah Bennett

Dr. Sarah Bennett serves as a Visiting Fellow at Kingston School of Art, Kingston University, following her tenure as Head of School (2016-2020) for the School of Art and Architecture. She maintains active PhD supervision and research leadership in fine art practice, cultural geography, and institutional critique, with prior academic roles at Exeter School of Art and Plymouth University.

Education

• PhD Art and Media, University of Plymouth, 2010
• BA(Hons) Fine Art, Exeter College of Art and Design, CNAA, 1980
• Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), 2014

Her research traverses fine art practice, cultural geography, and visual anthropology, employing embodied methods like digital recording and facsimile object making to investigate institutional systems. She focuses on revealing societal complicity in historical structures—particularly nineteenth-century psychiatry—while imbuing artworks with affective 'charge' to provoke critical audience responses through projects like Safe-keeping (Custodia).

Publication analysis reveals consistent exploration of memory, institutional spaces, and affective encounters across two decades. Key themes include wall surfaces as memory archives, re-enactment of historical traces, and museum geographies, often centered on asylum history and utilizing non-representational theory. Her work bridges artistic practice with spatial analysis, demonstrating how material culture mediates societal relationships with institutional legacies.

Dr. Bennett has supervised six PhD completions (2014-2020) covering prison graffiti, obsessive-compulsive disorder in art, and contemporary jewelry practices. She leads international projects like Geographies of Memory and Affect (Rome) and Safe-keeping (Custodia) (Venice/Rome), frequently collaborating with institutions such as Piet Zwart Institute (Rotterdam) and Transart Institute (NYC), supported by arts councils and international partnerships.

Her professional engagement includes EQ Arts board membership, chairing accreditation panels across Belgium, Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Lithuania, alongside examiner roles at Wimbledon College of Art (UAL) and Birmingham City University, demonstrating sustained influence in arts education quality enhancement.