Deeds live after men upon the earth by Nisha Duggal
We are delighted to share a new digital presentation of research by Nisha Duggal as part of Designs on Heritage.
During the month-long residency, Nisha explored her personal connections to the North East. As a child she remembers seeing an armoured tank prominently displayed outside Armstrong Works in Elswick, just east along the River Tyne from where she grew up. The arms factory was always there, a feature of the landscape.
It wasn’t until her residency that she made the connection between the site’s founder William Armstrong, his property at Cragside and the arms industry.
Nisha visited Cragside - one of Armstrong’s homes, an estate he cultivated from wild moorland and where he pioneered hydraulic power to create electricity, lighting and powering the house. She made multiple drawings during her research as a way to understand the paradox of Cragside - ‘the handmade becomes a counterpoint to technology, much like the Romantic paintings Armstrong commissioned for the interior,’ she said.
The drawings which she presents alongside excerpts of research and childhood memories are a starting point to understand the complexities behind Armstrong and his influence today - engineer, inventor-genius of the North East and arms dealer.
‘I think framing is really important: Armstrong is revered as a great person without showing any of the shade. The critique is real, during his time some people called him "the merchant of death", history has forgotten this legacy, even as it filters into the brutality of conflicts today.’
We invite you to view the digital presentation here.
During the month-long residency, Nisha explored her personal connections to the North East. As a child she remembers seeing an armoured tank prominently displayed outside Armstrong Works in Elswick, just east along the River Tyne from where she grew up. The arms factory was always there, a feature of the landscape.
It wasn’t until her residency that she made the connection between the site’s founder William Armstrong, his property at Cragside and the arms industry.
Nisha visited Cragside - one of Armstrong’s homes, an estate he cultivated from wild moorland and where he pioneered hydraulic power to create electricity, lighting and powering the house. She made multiple drawings during her research as a way to understand the paradox of Cragside - ‘the handmade becomes a counterpoint to technology, much like the Romantic paintings Armstrong commissioned for the interior,’ she said.
The drawings which she presents alongside excerpts of research and childhood memories are a starting point to understand the complexities behind Armstrong and his influence today - engineer, inventor-genius of the North East and arms dealer.
‘I think framing is really important: Armstrong is revered as a great person without showing any of the shade. The critique is real, during his time some people called him "the merchant of death", history has forgotten this legacy, even as it filters into the brutality of conflicts today.’
We invite you to view the digital presentation here.
