Fitzwilliam Museum

The Human Touch

Making Art | Leaving Traces

This exhibition ran from the 18 May 2021 to 1 August 2021

Making Art, Leaving Traces

Touch is our first sense. It develops in the womb as our brain first springs into life, even before ears and eyes have formed. The earliest traces of human creativity are the direct imprint of touch, grooves made by fingers or prints made by the whole hand. Through touch we make art, stake a claim to what we own and those we love, express our faith, our belief, our anger.

The language of touch shapes our existence. We are touched by emotion, stay in touch across vast distances and lose touch when a social bond is broken. When physical distancing is imposed on us, our sense of emotional connection feels threatened.

A world without touch is a world without art, sense, or emotion. Touch is how we leave our mark and find our place in the world. Touch is how we connect.

Word count 142

Selected objects from this section

Sections of the exhibition

Fitzwilliam Museum
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