[Slow accordion music]
Collage is usually attributed to Pablo Picasso
and George Braque in the early twentieth century -
when Picasso stuck a piece of oilcloth
onto his painting, 'Still-life with Chair Caning'.
But the story begins much earlier - in China,
around 105AD, with the invention of paper.
Gradually the art of papermaking moved west
- reaching Europe where it was first recorded
in England in 1309.
Although the word didn’t exist yet, collage
can be seen in western-art from the 1400s.
In this print of Saint Dorothea tiny crystals
and bits of tinsel were stuck onto the saint’s
dress and tree branches.
But collage wasn’t only used for decoration.
In the early modern period art was often a
way for people to understand the world,
and to show others how it worked. And collage
was no exception.
From revealing the organs in a human body
to documenting the natural world
collage could convey information at a time when major advances in travel, trade, and technology
were being made.
In the seventeenth century, creative ‘accomplishments’
were seen as a polite way for women to spend
their time. These paper pastimes are sometimes
dismissed as amateur crafts, but they were
also a way for women to explore ideas and
activities traditionally reserved for men:
like science, travel, and foreign affairs.
After industrialisation, paper 
was cheaper to produce.
With a new colour printing process 
called chromolithography,
sales of paper-scraps skyrocketed. Stuck into
scrapbooks, over furniture, or onto greetings
cards, these pasted pictures were a way of
personalising objects in the home, communicating
with loved ones, or documenting personal experiences.
Patch portraits and tinsel prints were
another common hobby.
Pictures of famous actors and religious figures 
were cut out and dressed up
and dressed up with fabric 
and accessories:
a nineteenth century version of pop star 
posters and sticker books rolled into one.
While families throughout Britain 
created collages at home
the first photography processes 
were being developed.
Collage techniques were used 
in photography from the start –
photos using multiple exposures, or layering 
objects over photographic paper.
Towards the end of the century photocollage was being explored by professionals and amateurs alike:
arranging different photographic elements to make images  with subversive new meanings
and a distinct visual style.
In Paris, Braque and Picasso were striving
to create a new kind of realism.
Instead of painting everyday objects, they experimented with gluing the objects onto the canvas
to frustrate narrative, disrupt logic, and 
undermine conventional notions of reality.
Although the technique itself wasn’t new, the 
Cubist use of collage inspired the word
and its elevation into the world of fine art.
Since Picasso and Braque, collage 
has continued to spread
with artists like Hannah Hoch,
 
Andre Breton,
and Eduardo Paolozzi taking it in 
distinctly different directions.
Although the Cubists are often thought
to have invented collage,
we can trace its origins back much further:
with people cutting and pasting to convey ideas, 
create new meanings,
and communicate personal histories 
for centuries before.
