Who Cares? about audience engagement
SPACE invites you to a one-day event for artists, practitioners and producers working in community engagement.
Bringing together a national and international panel, we will be looking at audience development and participation in the context of care. Chaired by Dr Sophie Hope, Birkbeck University of London. Speakers include:
- Jemma Desai, Writer, Researcher and Head of Programming, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival
- Igor Grubic, Artist
- Nephertiti Schandorf, Artistic Director, Peckham Platform
- Katharine Stout, Director, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea
- Louise Yates, Director, Back to Ours (Creative People and Places), Hull
This workshop is presented by SPACE as part of our Creative Europe funded project Who Cares? which is made up of five organisations dedicated to artistic production from different latitudes in Europe: Idensitat (Barcelona, Spain), SPACE (London, United Kingdom), Rupert (Vilnius, Lithuania), Grey Area (Korčula, Croatia) and Centro Huarte (Navarre, Spain).
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Ticket info
£5 for freelance and independent artists
£15 + booking fee for organisation representatives
Drinks and refreshments included.
If you cannot attend in person, the event will be filmed and disseminated, questions for the panel can be emailed in advance to premlata@spacestudios.org.uk
Post event drinks will be held in the gallery.
If you have any questions, please contact Premlata Mistry, Head of Community Engagement Programmes at SPACE on premlata@spacestudios.org.uk
Schedule for the day
10.30am Welcome / registration
11am – 1pm Panel presentations
1 – 2pm Lunch
Opportunity to preview Mammoth loop exhibition in the gallery with commissioned artist Cecilia Charlton and participants in the Stitch in Time workshops.
2 – 3.30pm Afternoon workshop, questions and reflections
3.30 – 5pm Drinks reception and opening of Mammoth loop
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Speakers
Jemma Desai is based in London. Her practice engages with film programming through research, writing, performance, as well as informally organised settings for deep study. She is about to undertake a practice-based PhD on the histories of liberatory performance and moving image and the possibilities opened up through ideas of abolitionist praxis at Central School of Speech and Drama. You can find more about her work here.
Igor Grubić has been active as a multimedia artist in Zagreb since the early ’90s, making photography, video, and site-specific actions. His interventions into public space, along with video works explore past and present political situations while cutting through the fabric of reality. Grubić’s critical, socio-politically committed practice is characterised by the long-term engagement and investment into the subjects he chooses to work with. From the in-depth exploration of the fate of historical monuments and the demise of industry, to examination of the predicament of minority communities, his projects unfold over several years of research and grassroots, personal relationships. Though grounded in the documentary tradition, Grubić’s work in photography and film is characterised by an affective and empathic approach, which is deeply humane and often poetic.
Grubić has participated in numerous major international exhibitions including, among others: Tirana Biennial 2 (2003); Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt, 2002); Manifesta 9 (Genk, 2012); 50. October Salon (Belgrade, 2009); Gender Check, MuMOK (Vienna, 2009); 11. Istanbul Biennial (2009); 4. Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg (2011); East Side Stories, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2012); Gwangju Biennale (2014); Zero Tolerance, MOMA PS1 (New York 2014); Degrees of Freedom, MAMbo (Bologna, 2015); 5th Thessaloniki Biennial (2015); Cut / Rez, MSU (Zagreb, 2018); Heavenly creatures, MG+MSUM (Ljubljana, 2018); The Value of Freedom, Belvedere 21 (Vienna, 2018); 58 Venice Biennale (2019); Yerevan Biennial – The Time Complex (2020); Bigger than Myself, MAXXI (Rome, 2021).
Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf is a producer of site-responsive performance, audio and moving image works. Her practice is one that actively seeks collaboration and is informed by the formation of protective networks and cultural archives. Nephertiti has worked on large-scale and high-profile projects with leading arts organisations including the Manchester and Whitworth Galleries, Art on the Underground, Somerset House, the Singapore Biennale and the City of London. In spring 2021, she was appointed as the Artistic Director of Peckham Platform, a creative and educational charity founded in South London.
Katharine Stout has been Director of Focal Point Gallery in Southend-on-Sea since May 2019, previously Deputy Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London since 2017 and Head of Programme there since 2013. Stout oversaw the ICA’s creative output as well as curating exhibitions with Morag Keil, Richard Hamilton, Tauba Auerbach, Hito Steyerl, Prem Sahib, Betty Woodman and Sonia Boyce. Prior to the ICA, Stout was Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate Britain (1999 to 2013), curating exhibitions with artists such as Gary Hume and Patrick Keiller, as well as the Art Now series, Turner Prize exhibitions and Collections displays. In 2001, she co-founded the Drawing Room with Mary Doyle and Kate MacFarlane. She serves on the Board of Artist’s Studio organisation, Tannery Arts and has written numerous texts on contemporary art and artists. Her book Contemporary Drawing: 1960s to Now was published by Tate in 2014.
Louise Yates started her career as an actor and performing arts teacher with a passion for engaging young people in the arts. She managed the region’s largest youth arts organisation, Creative Connexions Humber, before becoming Arts Development officer at Hull City Council. At Hull City Council Louise became involved in the UK City of Culture 2017 bid, her experience of engaging hard-to-reach communities leading to the role of Producer on the Back to Ours Festival and year-long Land of Green Ginger project. Throughout the delivery year, Louise focused her work in communities, programming circus in school sports halls and atriums, famous indie bands in shopping centres and Secret Gigs in working men’s clubs.
As Director of Back to Ours, her vision coupled with her distinct invitation and ingredients have sparked a real connection with residents in Hull. Having developed a strong brand with a voice that’s warm and welcoming, Louise has transitioned to working digitally throughout the pandemic and has continued to engage and delight new audiences.
About the chair
Dr Sophie Hope is a senior lecturer and practice-based researcher at Birkbeck, University of London in the Film, Media and Cultural Studies Department. Her work is often developed with others through the format of devised workshops exploring subjects such as art and politics in the year 1984, physical and emotional experiences of immaterial work, stories people tell about socially engaged art commissions and the ethics of employability in the creative industries. Current work she is collaborating on include: Manual Labours with Jenny Richards, Meanwhile in an Abandoned Warehouse with Owen Kelly, 1984 Dinners and Cards on the Table.
With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
In association with Idensitat, Rupert, Grey Area and Centro Huarte.