Represented: Platforms not Compromise
Represented: Platforms not compromise is a programme of talks, workshops, screenings and discussions at Mansions of the Future, highlighting an urgency for equality in representation and critiquing misrepresentation, under-representation and misinterpretation.
Events are free to attend, but booking is required. They will take place between 9 – 17 October 2019 and include:
Laura Harford – Talk & discussion
Wednesday 9 October, 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Laura Harford is Curator (Participation) at Studio Voltaire in London. Laura’s talk will cover concerns including how curator intervention can avoid diluting generous representations presented by commissioned artists, progressive methods for organisations to provide authentic offers to local communities, and how to listen to and act on public concerns relating to the misrepresentation of their communities.
Alex Widdowson – Approaches to representing neurodiversity: Screening & discussion
Thursday 10 October, 5.30pm – 7pm
Alex Widdowson creates animated documentaries about the diverse mechanisms that cause people to think in a particular way. He’s covered topics such as cognitive disabilities, addiction and mental illness. The event will include screenings of a number of Alex’s films, demonstrating his approach to representing neurodiversity. He will discuss the ethical concerns of an artist when interpreting the lives of others, many of whom are vulnerable.
Panel Discussion with Cédric Fauq, Dr Elspeth Mitchell, Lara Ratnaraja (chair) and Rommi Smith
Saturday 12 October, 1.30pm – 3pm
An open discussion around the development, delivery and maintenance of new and existing platforms for artists, performers and cultural producers that successfully present work which is concerned with ideas of representation, including misrepresentation, under-representation and misinterpretation.
Representation, Reflection, Resistance with Rommi Smith
Saturday 12 October, 3.30pm – 5pm
Drawing on James Baldwin’s adage of bearing witness, via Mary Oliver’s instructional poetics of noticing, the group will work together to examine themes and ideas which emerged in the panel discussion, and in questions from the floor. Via a series of short discussion and writing-based prompts, together, the group will explore concepts of sensation, presence and reaction, moving through into ideas of manifesto and change.
Kerry Campbell – Talk & discussion
Wednesday 16 October, 5.30pm – 7pm
For her talk Kerry Campbell will share previous projects in Luton and Sheffield as well as discuss her intentions for Mansions of the Future’s legacy year. With an emphasis on the impact of social class, she’ll consider both statistical and more nuanced structural inequality as well as the capacity of curatorial practice to intervene – necessarily affording dignity and representation to diverse voices.
Equality, Disability & Diversity: Volunteer Masterclass
Thursday 17 October, 12 noon – 2pm
Join Jo Tolley, a public speaker & activist, to discuss Equality, Disability & Diversity. Jo believes that being in a wheelchair does not define her & feels that education, integration & disability rights are at the forefront of provoking positive change.
Part of Mansions of the Future’s Volunteer Masterclass Programme, therefore MotF volunteers will be given priority.