Syndicate: (Fwd) invi

[Arthur Bueno <abueno@v2.nl>]

Send reply to:  Shaheen Merali <shaheen@btinternet.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 01:45:18 +0100
Subject: (Fwd) invite


Ex-centric: A conference on the survival of cultural identity politics
in the visual arts of the 90's


Friday 10th September 1999
10.00am - 6.00pm
Cochrane Theatre, London WC1B 4AP

SPEAKERS
 Dave Beech, Allan de Souza, Jean Fisher, Gavin Jantjes, Sebastian Lopez
Niru Ratnam, Yong Soon Min, Marilyn Jung, Gen Doy, Tariq Alvi, Jenny Sealy,
John Seth.


Ex-centric  is a conference bringing together writers, curators, artists
and critics to analyse the current status of cultural identity politics
in the field of the visual arts.  If the 80's saw a renewed pride in the
notion of discovery of one's own history and culture, these issues
appear to be unimportant to the young (British) artists of the 90's. 
However, a closer look at the artistic outcome of this younger
generation of practitioners might reveal a more sophisticated and subtle
depiction of the problematic of identity politics.

The conference will revisit these issues of cultural identity and the
importance of the Diaspora in the development of new approaches to the
representational policies.  Looking at the visual arts in the 90's
within the wider framework of current socio-political and economical
transformation, the speakers will examine whether the notions of New
Ethnicities and Ex-centricity are now working in artistic practice.

A panel of theorists, art critics and writers are invited to respond to
seminal concepts such as Stuart Hall's idea of New Ethnicities, and to
explore whether it has resulted in a plurality of experience within the
field of the visual arts.  

Has ambivalence replaced previous identity politics?  Are practice and
theory still walking hand in hand, or are young artists operating
further and further away from the discursive and institutional apparatus
of cultural theory?

Speakers linked to cultural institutions through their work as
researchers, curators or educators, will bring their practical
experience of presenting the work of contemporary artists to audiences
that may reject issue-bashing as 'old hat'.  Is the role of institutions
and their staff changing to accommodate the latest developments in art
practice and cultural theory?  Given that transgressing borders is now
common place, are we all ex-centric foreigners?

The artists invited to speak at the conference will talk about their
work in relation to the issues outlined above.  What are their
priorities and what their responsibilities to the audiences?  Is
identity an issue at all in their work, and if it is, how is it
articulated in relation to 80's cultural identity politics?

Ex-centric  is a Panchayat curatorial project, co-ordinated by Shaheen
Merali and Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre.  Panchayat is an archive with
the primary purpose of representing and promoting contemporary artists
producing issue based work, with a particular interest in cultural
identities.  The Archive is committed to fostering and supporting
artists and cultural activists from diverse communities, in particular
those facing marginalisation due to gender, policed sexualities,
(dis)ability, class and race.  It also aims to promote Internationalism
and the cultural redefinition of artistic practice.  

For further information contact:
Shaheen Merali 0973 420 173 and Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre 0181 674
2992
Bookings: Cochrane Theatre Box Office 0171-242 7040
Ticket Prices: £15/£10 concessions, special reductions for group
bookings of 10 or more (£1 off each ticket).

A Panchayat Curatorial Project supported by the London Institute
(Central Saint Martins School of Art), University of Westminster and The
British Academy



                       
                                               


UNBOUND GEOGRAPHIES / fused histories:
The British / Canadian Xchange

Private View. 6-8 p.m. 31st August 1999.

1st September - 25th September 1999

Artists
UK: Simon Tegala and Tanya Mahboob Syed
Canada: Jin-me Yoon and Enam Huque

A Panchayat/Zen-Mix 2000 Curatorial Project

The Lethaby Gallery,
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design,
Southampton Row,
London WC1B 4AP.
Tel: 0973 420 173.
Fax 0171 739 6872
e mail: shaheen@btinternet.com

Mon - Fri 10.00am - 5.30pm
Sat 10.00am - 1.00pm

UNBOUND GEOGRAPHIES / fused histories is an on-going collaborative
project between two Transatlantic artist-run organisations - Zen-Mix
2000 based in Toronto, Canada, and Panchayat Arts Education Resource
Unit, London, England. The two organisations are forging international
links for the mutual purpose of developing artistic dialogue and sharing
resources, towards researching the evolving discourses of Diasporic
histories and their relationship to contemporary visual culture.

At a historical moment when migration from or through one or many
numerous Asian communities around the world is increasingly common, many
Asian artists are directly or indirectly addressing issues related to
the post-colonial Diaspora. Sites of personal location become familiar
when we discover and find ourselves in different terrain's, whether in
the Canadian or the British landscape, or elsewhere. The exhibition
attempts to visually chart the impact of the Diaspora condition on
notions of spatial, temporal and geographical concepts of nation,
identity and belonging, particularly at the tail end of the Twentieth
century.

The Artists

Enam Huque: M.F.A. York University (1988), B.F.A. University of Ottawa
(1986), Recent solo exhibitions have been held at the University of
Toronto (1996) and at CYPRES, Aix-en-Provence, France (1995).

Jin-me Yoon: M.F.A. Concordia University (1992), B.F.A. Emily Carr
College of Art and Design (1990), Recent exhibitions include group and
solo exhibitions at Canada House, London(1999), the Art Gallery of
Ontario (1997), Western Front (1997), Red Eye Gallery, Rhode Island
School of Design (1996) and at Artspeak Gallery (1996).

Simon Tegala: B.A. Goldsmiths College (1995). Recent solo exhibitions
have been held at the Laure Genillard Gallery (1998), Otto Plonk
Gallery, Bergen, Norway (1997) and at Gallery QQ, Krakow, Poland (1997).
Group exhibitions include Cities on the Move, the Hayward Gallery (1999)
and Electronic Undercurrents, National Gallery of Denmark (1997).

Tanya Mahboob Syed: B.A. Goldsmiths College (1990). M.A. candidate,
Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. Her film and video
works have been screened at Tronheims Kunstforening, Norway (1999), the
Whitechapel Art Gallery (1997), the National Film Theatre (1997/ 1996)
and at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.






Arthur Bueno
V2_Organisatie Rotterdam
Eendrachtsstraat 10
3012 XL Rotterdam
tel. 010.206.7272
fax. 010-2067274
url: www.v2.nl
fax. 010.206.7271


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