Beyond the nuclear family. An unprecedented Fitzwilliam exhibition explores the family, informed by psychological research.
Real Families: Stories of Change considers the idea of family through the eyes of artists. Historic works reveal how family life has been portrayed throughout art history while modern and contemporary artists including Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Chantal Joffe, Paula Rego and Cathy Wilkes explore their experience of family through painting, video, installations and more.
The exhibition’s curator, Cambridge Reproduction member, Susan Golombok, is not an art historian but a psychologist. Professor Emerita of Family Research and former Director of Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research, Golombok’s research has examined the impact that new family forms have had on parenting and child development since the mid-1970s.
Golombok’s work has focused on families created by different kinds of assisted reproduction including egg and sperm donation, IVF and surrogacy, and families with LGBTQ+ parents. These families have only come to light, or become possible, over the course of Golombok’s career. Many human stories stick in her memory, highlighting the profound shifts in family structures and societal reactions that have taken place over the past 50 years.
Real Families: Stories of Change runs from 6 October 2023 - 7 January 2024 at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Admission is free but tickets should be booked in advance here.
Adapted from content on the Fitzwilliam Museum website