Pairings is part of the ongoing celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of women’s admission to Trinity – as graduate students in 1976, as Fellows in 1977, and as undergraduates in 1978.
The idea of the project was to express what inspired those who work, live and study at the College. Staff, students, Fellows and alumni were invited to send ideas – in photos and words – about a place, object, person or encounter at Trinity.
We want to celebrate the fact that it is the many different people with different life experiences, skills and roles – choristers, astronomy students, gardeners, Archbishops, English professors, waiting and bar staff – who together make up the College community.
In tune with the 40th anniversary of women being admitted to Trinity, this is the democratic aspect of Pairings. We wanted to ask all constituencies at the College, rather than just one or two groups, what is meaningful to them at Trinity, and to celebrate what they bring to the institution.
Each Pairing combines a photograph (or two) and a short(ish) text. Participants worked in collaboration with award-winning artist Wendy McMurdo, who was the artistic lead on the project.
The response was impressive: a wide variety of images and texts, which range from the funny to the sad, the provocative to the lyrical, the hopeful and the heart-warming to the profoundly painful. Although each Pairing is personal, together they express something of the wealth of talents and range of experience among staff, Fellows, students and alumni of Trinity.