Opportunities and Invitations

Invitation: Perspectives on non-traditional artists and the UK art world

My name is Kate Davey and I am a PhD student at the University of Chichester. I am conducting interviews as part of my PhD research study looking at work created by artists who have taken a non-traditional route into the art world. I am keen to speak to those who make decisions about exhibitions. I am interested in your perspectives on displaying and sharing work by artists who have not taken a traditional route into the art world. By this, I refer roughly to artists who may not have been to art school, artists who may experience mental or physical health issues, artists Steve Murison, My Dying Crow and My Empty Bottle (2015), oil on wood, 46 x 44 cm who are neurodiverse, and artists who come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Questions will touch upon issues like the diversity of artists and artwork in exhibitions and what makes a successful exhibition.

For more information, please email KDavey2@stu.chi.ac.uk

New Seminar Series - The World in a Historic House: Global Connections and Collections

Selected as one of ten new Partnership Seminars hosted by the Institute for Historical Research, ‘The World in a Historic House: Global Connections and Collections’, will connect academics and heritage professionals working on the global and imperial dimensions of the historic house.

This seminar disrupts the conventional ‘treasure house’ narratives which have dominated historic house studies, and engages with the growing body of work that places these spaces in their global and imperial contexts.

With convening institutions from the Caribbean, UK and US, as well as heritage institutions with a domestic and global reach, speakers will link academic research to its practical application, drawing on emerging scholarship and case studies. The seminar will play an important part in shaping the public

The seminar will start soon and will be hosted entirely online. For further updates, follow the Seminar Twitter account: https://twitter.com/WHH_seminar

Curating Nation – call for contributions

Over a series of three workshops (21 April, 28 April and 5 May 2021), Curating Nation will explore how existing narratives of British art might be expanded through curatorial and art historical interventions.

It is the first public event organised as part of the Curating Nation project conceived by Hammad Nasar at UAL’s, hosted by UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, and has been developed in collaboration with British Art Network’s Black British Art Research Group led by Alice Correia, Elizabeth Robles and Marlene Smith.

Coinciding with the opening of the British Art Show 9 in Wolverhampton (6 March – 30 May 2021), Curating Nation invites artists, curators and scholars to consider three primary strands of enquiry:

1. How are national collections formed, and where do we encounter them? 2. What stories of nation do touring exhibitions circulate? 3. What is the role of international constituents, particularly in former colonies, in the co-production of British art histories?

By paying attention to the role of curatorial and institutional agency we aim to focus on the possibility for more expanded and diverse narratives of British art that account for current socio-political debates around ‘the nation’. The event asks what does the ‘national’ look like, and what roles can art, artists and arts organisations play in shaping national self-perceptions in the 21st century?

Confirmed participants include:

Nick Aikens, curator, Van Abbemuseum; Emma Dexter, Director Visual Arts, British Council; Andrew Ellis, Director of Art UK; Ann Gallagher, Independent curator and former Director of Collections, British Art, Tate (2006-19); Roger Malbert, Curator, writer and former Head of Hayward Gallery Touring (2000-18); Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern; Marguerite Nugent, Manager, Arts & Culture, City of Wolverhampton Council

Workshop I What does a national collection look like?

What happens when we shift constructions of British art away from Londoncentric institutions? Does Tate Britain then cease to be the national collection,

and becomes one of many? How might ‘regional’ collections reshape the narrative? What possibilities do digital and distributive models of collection and narrative building hold?

Workshop II What stories of British art travel?

We ask what versions of British art are exported internationally, and why? Closer to home, we consider how exhibitions such as the British Art Show are received in their various national/regional contexts. In this session we consider the role of national and international touring shows in the establishment and consolidation of a limited set of narratives of Britain, and British art.

Workshop III What narratives of British art are co-produced internationally?

What new perspectives on ‘British’ art and its histories are brought into focus when exhibitions and scholarship is generated from the outside? Accepting that British art histories are entangled with external, often ex-colonial or Commonwealth, histories, in this session we consider the impact and ramifications of opening ‘the national’ up to co-production.

Call for contributions

We invite 15-minute contributions that address the key themes and ideas of each of our three sessions. These may be case studies, provocations, propositional positions or artistic interventions for future research or curatorial response.

We are particularly keen to encourage early career scholars, curators, and researchers to add their voices to these conversations. Your proposal should be not more than 250 words. Please also indicate which Workshop your contribution will address and provide your contact details.

Please submit your proposal by email (curatingnation@gmail.com) no later than 15 February, 2021.

Final entries will be reviewed by the symposium convenors: Dr Alice Correia, independent art historian Hammad Nasar, Principal Research Fellow, UAL; Senior Research Fellow, Paul Mellon Centre; Co-curator, British Art Show 9 Dr Elizabeth Robles, Lecturer in Contemporary Art, Department of History of Art, University of Bristol Marlene Smith, Artist and curator

Scotland in Europe - Call for Papers

National Galleries of Scotland/University of Edinburgh, Feb 25, 2022 Deadline: Apr 1, 2021

Scotland in Europe - Cultural Connections, 1939 to the Present

Regional, national, and international Museum and Gallery collections and archives narrate and evidence the close links and relations in creative practices which connect Scotland with, and position it in relation to, European contexts. Examples of this rich heritage of historical and contemporary cultural exchanges include National Galleries of Scotland’s Surrealism collections and archives, the Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham Trust, the histories and legacies of Glasgow’s 1990 European Year of Culture, festivals and biennales, Scottish participation in European cultural initiatives, art school travelling scholarships, cultural relations and diplomatic policies, and Scottish artists working in a variety of capacities in Europe, and European emigré artists working in Scotland. At a time of heightened political, social, and cultural questioning of national and international identities – including Scottish and European – these creative and cultural practices and exchanges reveal crucial insights into the interconnections, shared histories, and mergings of different cultural traditions and heritages. Awareness and understanding of these are crucial for art and cultural researchers, practitioners, and professionals to be able to respond to and productively develop dialogues around these significant political contexts.

Proposals are therefore sought for 20-minute presentations which address any aspects of these exchanges from a wide range of perspectives including (but not restricted to) art histories, pedagogies, cultural policies and industries, and art and curatorial practices.

Please send abstracts (200 words maximum) to Dr Gráinne Rice (National Galleries of Scotland, GRice@nationalgalleries.org) and Professor Patricia Allmer (University of Edinburgh, patricia.allmer@ed.ac.uk), by 1 April 2021.

This one-day conference, to be held on 25 February 2022, is a collaboration between the National Galleries of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, and is supported by an Art Fund Curatorial Network grant. Presentations will be filmed, and a publication is planned.