Conference
Saturday, 9 October, 2010
10am-6pm
http://www.blackcountrycreativeadvantage.org
Interrogation: Artists Bridging Gaps.
Exhibition 11am-1pm /
Conference, 1pm-4:30pm, Friday, 1 October
http://www.longhouse.uk.com
[email protected]Interrogation is free / Working Together: 15 GBP for the waged, free for all others.
Working Together: Partnerships, Regeneration and the Common Good in the Arts and Beyond.
‘Working Together’ is the slogan on the hoardings of many construction sites that form part of the regeneration of West Bromwich, West Midlands. Together in this are local government and large corporations as well as charities and other voluntary and non-profit bodies, as has become typical across the UK and beyond in a development most recently captured in the new government’s notion of ‘Big Society’.
Concluding our investigation into the specific, but also typical developments in the post-industrial suburban town of West Bromwich, with a new arts building, ThePublic, and a new superstore, Tesco, this conference will look into the impact of this partnership form of governance on urban development and related cultural production, and more widely the potential to act for the common good based on social justice rather than private gain.
The artists and researchers will present their contributions to the project within this wider perspective, complemented by a guided walk around the key development sites in the town. This event will also be a final opportunity to visit our research centre-stall in the local market. It will close at the Zast Real Estate office, supported by the Goethe-Institut London, where participants can view and suggest improvements to neglected features of the locality assisted by agency director Thomas Bratzke.
Contributors include: Stephen Connelly (Town & Regional Planning, University of Sheffield), Karen Leach/John Morris (Localise West Midlands), Robin Pearson (local historian, tbc and participating artists and researchers Cody Lee Barbour, David Berridge, Céline Siani Djiakoua, John Dummett, Anna Francis, Neil Gray, Michelle Letowska, Manu Luksch, Heather Ring, Leo Singer, Suzan Spence, Urban Research Collective & curator Monika Vykoukal.
black country creative advantage is a two-year partnership of the Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation at the University of Wolverhampton and the Longhouse scheme of the arts organisation Multistory and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Venue: The Public, New Street, West Bromwich B70 7PG.
Interrogation: Artists Bridging Gaps.
Friday, 1 October, 11am-1pm Interrogation: Exhibition / 1-4.30pm: Conference
All over the world artists are finding themselves filling gaps: these gaps might be physical spaces, gaps in infrastructure or understanding, or gaps in time. Interrogation: Conference is an opportunity to explore and discuss what this gap filling might mean, and what the true, long term benefits might be to both the artists and the contexts which the artists are working within. The conference will be an opportunity to hear from practitioners working in this way, exploring some of the issues which arise from public realm projects of this kind.
The conference concludes ‘Interrogation: West Bromwich,’ which saw groups of artists converge on this town in the midst of a hefty regeneration process over four weeks to carry out short sharp investigations into its physical fabric and the regeneration process, and into how local people feel about these two things.
Interrogation is a series of projects curated by artist Anna Francis, which provides opportunities for artists to work in the public realm and aims to measure how working quickly, but also responsively feels for the artists involved, while considering the impact of activity of this kind on a place.
Speakers include: Rich White, Ania Bas, Juneau Projects & Michael Pinsky, and Gemma Thomas & Anna Francis.
Venue: Unit 26 Community Art Space, Queens Square Shopping Centre, West Bromwich, B70 7NJ.
