09/02/2024

Protest: art and power at the Royal Academy

 

Just a few days before the start of this series of talks at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, as part of their groundbreaking exhibition 'Entangled Pasts':


Protest: art and power


13 February 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm20 February 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm27 February 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm5 March 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm12 March 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm19 March 2024 6.30 - 7.45pm


Wolfson British Academy Room | Burlington Gardens




Short course


Join us for this 6-week lecture series as we explore the role of art in some of the world’s major protest movements.

In 2020, as the Black Lives Matter movement took hold, a statue was removed from its plinth and toppled into the waters of Bristol Harbour. This act gave birth to a creative movement, generating new ways of thinking about memorialisation and Britain’s colonial past and playing into a long tradition of art taking a central role in grassroots activism.

In this course, we will examine the myriad ways art can harness the power for social change. From the French Revolution and the role of art in revolutionary society to the Guerrilla Girls’ campaign for gender equality, to the work of contemporary artists such as Ana Mendieta on the climate crisis, we will discuss the beginnings of activist movements that have shaped our society, and consider the place of art within these.

Exploring prescient issues such as the fight for racial equity, feminism and climate change, this lecture series examines art as both a constructive and destructive medium. Talks are given by academics, curators and art-world professionals, with the opportunity for questions and discussion.

 

Week 1: Art and revolution with Melissa Chemam

An introduction to the history of the long relationship between art and conflict, from revolutions such as the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution, to the present day.

Melissa Chemam is a journalist, broadcaster and writer on art, music, social change, multiculturalism, African affairs, North/South relations, and activism. She is the author of the book Massive Attack - Out of the Comfort Zone (2019), and has been published by BBC Culture, Al Jazeera, RFI English, Art UK, CIRCA Art Magazine, the Public Art Review, the New Arab, The Independent, Reader’s Digest, UP Mag and Skin Deep. She also worked as a journalism lecturer and as the writer in residence at the Arnolfini art centre, in Bristol, from 2019 to 2022.



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For more, read the latest post on my newsletter from here: 

https://melissa.substack.com/p/on-our-entangled-pasts-and-how-to 



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