Difficult Conversations: Collaborative art practices across political divides

Day: Saturday 7 April

Convenors

Alla Myzelev (State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo)
Shirley Siegal (Independent Artist)

Session Abstract

In essence, this session is about difficult, sometime impossible, conversations. Following the theme of the conference, ‘Look Out’, it hopes to continue conversations on how both academics and artists could help to create bridges of understanding in the most contested geographical areas. Responding to the current trend in contemporary art, craft and design towards political and social activism and raising awareness of the great conflict in our society, contributions focus on artworks that relate to conflict across political and social borders and that aim to establish understanding of, and to ask questions about, the role of art in establishing conversations.

Speakers and Papers

Dimitra Gkitsa (Goldsmiths, University of London) Art Collaborations in the Post-Socialist Space: Reclaiming political
agency collectively

Rachel Marsden (The University of Melbourne, Australia) Local Action to Global ‘Agitprop’: The digital voice of Chinese
occupy movements

Shirley Siegal (Artist, Israel) Affective Art in the Age of Activism

Ebru Esra Satici (Koc University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations) Looking out for the Impact: Exhibiting sensitive topics in Turkey

Evanthia Tselika Conflict Transformation Art in Nicosia, Cyprus: Dialogues across a divided city through social art practices

Lucy Weir (University of Edinburgh) Terrorised Masculinity: Violation in visual culture

Jagtej Kaur Grewal (Panjab University) Materialising Sites of Contemplation in Contested Spaces

Tijen Tunali (University of Tours-France) Collaborative Aesthetics in the Spaces of Conflict

Marine Tanguy (MTArt) Artists as Positive Cultural Influencers to our Modern Cities