Felix Redmill

Felix Redmill
Name	Felix Redmill
Birth date	1984
Birth place	Manchester, England
Occupation	Writer; Researcher; Curator
Years active	2006–present
Notable works	The Cartography of Memory; Archive of Urban Sound
Awards	Turner Prize (longlist); British Library Digital Innovation Award

Felix Redmill Felix Redmill is a contemporary British writer, researcher, and cultural curator known for interdisciplinary projects that intersect urban studies, sound archives, and contemporary art. Redmill's work combines archival practice, ethnography, and public programming, engaging institutions and initiatives across Europe and North America. He has collaborated with museums, universities, and cultural organizations to explore memory, place, and technology through exhibitions, publications, and digital platforms.

Early life and education

Born in Manchester, Redmill completed secondary education in Greater Manchester before studying at the University of Manchester, where he read Cultural Studies and Media Studies. He pursued postgraduate training at Goldsmiths, University of London, concentrating on curatorial theory and archival methodologies, and later undertook doctoral research affiliated with University College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, focusing on urban soundscapes and documentary practice. During his formative years he undertook internships and fellowships at institutions including the British Library, the Tate, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, which informed his approach to collections, public programming, and collaborative research.

Career

Redmill began his professional career in the independent arts sector, working with galleries and cultural centers such as the South London Gallery, the Whitechapel Gallery, and the Serpentine Galleries on temporary commissions and community projects. He later held positions at national institutions including the British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum, developing digital initiatives and participatory archives that connected local communities to institutional collections. Redmill has also collaborated with academic departments at the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, and King’s College London on research projects that bridge practice-led research and urban policy. Internationally, he has partnered with organizations such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, and the Guggenheim Bilbao to advise on archival strategy and public engagement.

As an independent curator and consultant, Redmill has led projects with municipal cultural agencies in Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, and Glasgow, and contributed to festivals and biennials including the Edinburgh International Festival, Frieze, and documenta. His practice often involves partnerships with broadcasters such as the BBC and community media outlets, and with non-governmental organizations and foundations including the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Arts Council England. He has lectured at institutions including Goldsmiths, the Royal College of Art, and Trinity College Dublin, and has served on advisory panels for the Wellcome Trust and the National Archives.

Notable works and contributions

Redmill’s notable projects span exhibitions, publications, and digital platforms. His project The Cartography of Memory, produced with collaborators from the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Barbican Centre, combined oral histories, sound recordings, and cartographic visualizations to examine post-industrial urban change. Another major initiative, the Archive of Urban Sound, developed with teams from the British Library, the Royal Geographical Society, and the BBC, created an open-access repository of field recordings and metadata that has been used by researchers at the University of Oxford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Columbia University.

Redmill has authored and edited books and essays published by Routledge, MIT Press, and Bloomsbury, contributing chapters alongside scholars from Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago. His articles have appeared in journals and magazines such as The Architectural Review, Artforum, New Left Review, and Cabinet Magazine. He curated the exhibition Resonant Cities at the Hayward Gallery in collaboration with curators from the Tate Modern and the Serpentine, and he organized symposiums with speakers from the Smithsonian Institution, the Rijksmuseum, and the Louvre that explored archival ethics and sound heritage.

His interdisciplinary approach brought together practitioners from musicology at the Juilliard School, urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and anthropology at the London School of Economics, fostering projects funded by the European Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Leverhulme Trust. Redmill’s digital tools for participatory archiving influenced programs at the New York Public Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Personal life

Redmill divides his time between Manchester and London and maintains an active presence in transnational networks connecting artists, curators, and researchers in Europe and North America. He is known to collaborate with musicians, sound artists, and community archivists from institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and community centers in Liverpool and Birmingham. In private life he pursues field recording, independent publishing, and cycling, and he has participated in residency programs at the Banff Centre, the Cité Internationale des Arts, and the Künstlerhaus Bethanien.

Awards and recognition

Redmill’s work has been recognized with grants and awards from organizations including the British Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. He has been longlisted for the Turner Prize for curatorial innovation and received the British Library Digital Innovation Award for the Archive of Urban Sound. His projects have been exhibited and cited by major institutions including the Tate, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and his scholarship has been referenced by researchers at Yale University, Stanford University, and Humboldt University.

Category:British writers Category:British curators Category:People from Manchester