SRU Research

Research at the Sainsbury Research Unit is founded in admiration and respect for the creativity embodied in objects / things / artworks / treasures / visual creations made by indigenous peoples in the three regions of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, past and present. Research is aided by a specialist library, on-campus collections and an extensive network of research collaborators in the UK and abroad.

SRU research seeks to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, since academic disciplines are largely constructed artefacts of European intellectual and institutional traditions, now widely dispersed. Rather, methods of enquiry and theoretical perspectives deriving from anthropology, archaeology, history, art history and museology are deployed as they are useful in any particular context.

The skilled productions of human creativity remain the primary focus for analysis, considered as material and visual manifestations of human relationships and of complex understandings of the world. The sourcing of materials, local and exotic, and the production, distribution, use, value, significance and preservation of objects, in situ or in museums, along with concepts such as heritage, ownership and patrimony, are all considered worthy of enquiry, as are the many contexts in which objects have significance, whether religious/ritual, social, economic, ethical or political (limiting as these categories are). SRU research is also interested in informed, cross-cultural comparisons between the different geographic regions, such as in the technology of making, objects in ritual, monuments and landscape, value and valuables, memory and ancestors, and collection/display. 

SRU research generates a variety of outputs including publications, exhibitions, catalogues, conferences, symposia and lectures, aimed at both scholarly and general audiences. Professor George Lau edits the journal World Art, a peer-reviewed academic publication hosted by the SRU which 'considers art across time, place and culture' and 'encourages critical reflection at the intersections of theory, method and practice'. The SRU also hosts the CfAAA, the Centre for African Art & Archaeology, which holds regular seminars and events. Founded by Professors John Mack and Anne Haour, its current director is Professor Abubakar Sule Sani.  

Please refer to the People pages to see research undertaken by members of the SRU, and Research Projects for current and recent SRU research projects.