Under an Artificial Sun |
‘Oh yeah, I would have been a coal miner, I would think, if I hadn’t had tuberculosis when I was 12.’ Tom Jones, Singer-Songwriter Under an Artificial Sun is a research project by Debbie Ballin investigating the emotional legacy of hospitalisation due to childhood tuberculosis at Stannington Sanatorium, near Morpeth, Northumberland. The project focuses on materials in the Stannington Sanatorium Collection at Northumberland Archives. Creative writing, audio and oral history are used to explore connections between this archival material and contemporary debates around isolation, resilience, creativity and boredom within child development. The research seeks to uncover previously untold stories of childhood hospitalisation and understand how these experiences may have shaped children's lives in unexpected or seldom-discussed ways. The first phase of this project is funded through a Wellcome Trust Research Bursary award and supported by Leeds Arts University and Northumberland Archives. |