Mumbai | Govandi Arts Festival: the young step up

It began with a simple statement: “My identity is my right.” It was February 2021, right after the lockdown had lifted. The youth of Natwar Parekh Compound, a slum relocation and rehabilitation colony in Mumbai’s Govandi neighbourhood, had convened at the community library for a workshop about reclaiming public space. One of the most neglected suburbs of Mumbai, Govandi is home to a number of…

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'indigenous Fashion Is The Future Its Time For First Nations People To Reclaim It' Trend

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D’Lan Contemporary has partnered with world modern gallerist, Gagosian for a sequence of profitable exhibitions in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, with an aim to increase awareness of and appreciation for Australian First Nations art and culture. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal individuals as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands. In this part, discover out every thing you need to find out about visiting the Australian Museum, how to get right here and the extraordinary exhibitions on display. Check out the What's On calendar of occasions, workshops and faculty vacation applications. Before purchasing an item, converse to the buyer or firm about how artists are paid, and what the break down is. Many moral corporations have already got this data on their websites. At this time, there were an estimated 750 different language groups across the continent with every group having its own distinct culture and beliefs. Prior to colonisation which began in January 1788, the Australian Aborigines lived a lifestyle based mostly on their Dreamtime beliefs. A response to ‘Aboriginalia' and the politics of Aboriginal kitsch In 2016, AIATSIS acquired Kerry Reed-Gilbert's in depth assortment of ornamental home gadgets that depict Aboriginal people or use Aboriginal motifs. Rock paintings from the Kimberley’s Carpenter’s Gap have been dated at forty,000 years old, and the concentric circle art of central Australia is considered the oldest persevering with artwork tradition in the world. The rise of social media has been a good avenue for individuals to get their manufacturers on the market and be entrepreneurs. She’s been a very important voice on this space, constructing her model Aarli. Not simply, “I feel fulfilled now that I’ve worked with Indigenous folks and now I’m going to return and just hold doing what I was before”. The consideration that we’re getting has been crazy, and we are trying to be very conscious of why people are pivoting, and why they are eager to support this path. If participating is seen as only a development, or only a “moment”, it’s not sustainable. I think so much about what Leecee Carmichael (a Ngugi/Quandamooka artist and designer) speaks about, which is that weaving is the act of putting two fibres together and rubbing them on our legs.

Completely Different Approaches Wanted

In the wider market for First Nations designs and products, search for evidence of Indigenous possession, dedication to compensate artists, and other proof of group engagement. Most First Nations-run businesses are proud to acknowledge their heritage. In our commitment to reconciliation, Planzz acknowledges the First Nations peoples of Australia Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, as the standard custodians of this land. We symbolize numerous cultural backgrounds, genders, expertise, and all share a background in creative practice. We first provide an summary of the conceptual framing of our evaluate based on energy primarily based, inclusive, and holistic improvement approaches. Finally, key findings and conclusions are offered as thematics drawing on educational and grey literature. Isabella has also worked as a Curatorial Assistant on local and worldwide public art tasks, contributing to the development of First Nations placemaking in public installations. It was the experience of living in distant communities that sowed the seed for an ongoing ardour for Indigenous Art, which, as soon as leaving the bush, informed her work with personal artwork collections and different areas of the art market. Vanessa is completing a Graduate Diploma in Art History at the University of Melbourne. She holds levels in Visual Arts, Community Cultural Development and Art Curatorship. House of Darwin is a for revenue clothing firm that reinvests its profits into social programs in distant Indigenous communities. The designs right here look like retro saggy tees, bucket hats and tea towels, and take it from us, you’ll wish to order pretty much everything. For me to find a way to wear something like that is just so empowering and uplifting. I suppose for younger Indigenous people as well, it’s good to have that visibility within the colonial space. I assume she’s been actually nice in that sense of reclaiming black identification through fashion, and empowering younger black people to feel assured in themselves and their tradition.

I like to call it a gentle entry into reconciliation and therapeutic our people – not solely our mob, but additionally Australians who want to be taught and really feel more linked to our Country. It is an act of preservation of our cultural information; an act of being proud of who we're and the place we come from – which is completely what I did, personally. Diane has over 18 years experience in the arts trade career spanning galleries, public sale houses and museums in Paris, London and Melbourne. The style business on a broader scale has been just about based mostly on tendencies. And it sort of does feel like – sadly, because of the ability of the BLM motion – it’s turn into extra “fashionable” for individuals to interact with Indigenous artists. Despite check this -19 headwinds, Piinpi – a first-of-its-kind exhibition of latest First Nations fashion design – opened in Australia at Bendigo Regional Gallery on 12 November. In session with Bendigo Regional Gallery, Guardian Australia has produced the photoshoot that accompanies this story. It features a quantity of of the exhibited artists – alongside other Indigenous designers and artists.

Miscarriage In Australia: The Geographical Inequity Of Healthcare Companies

D’Lan has over 20 years’ expertise as a number one international Australian Indigenous artwork advisor, supplier and gallerist. This website could include names, pictures and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Add your e mail address to obtain newsletters about varied journey locations, occasions and information in Australia. So after we bring people who aren’t connected to this Country, and so they come out on to Country, it’s a really particular second for them. That concept of re-engaging with culture and neighborhood is so essential. There’s definitely a lot that non-Indigenous individuals and designers can study from Indigenous individuals, especially when it comes to sustainability. Performances by Gahdu Dreaming band and Mudjingaal Yangamba choir will characteristic at Bermagui Survival Day, which starts at 11am on Dickinson Oval. Meet at 10am at Belmore Park in Haymarket, central Sydney, for a march to Victoria Park, Camperdown. Alongside a call for abolishing Australia Day, the rally will name to “end occupation everywhere” and ��cut ties with and impose sanctions on colonial, apartheid Israel until Palestine is free”.

Place-based approaches can also resonate with First Nations-led and knowledgeable approaches that foreground connection to ancestral lands, Knowledges, and assets (Isar, 2013; Kickett-Tucker et al., 2016; UN, n.d.).

We are already changing the face of what Australian trend looks like.

Our first two graphs show the importance of academic outcomes.

Galleries and other intermediaries could also be Indigenous or non-Indigenous-owned.

Marchers are assembly 9.30am at Garema Place earlier than a rally highlighting “236 years of unfinished enterprise; land rights – restitution – justice – liberation”. People are invited to “bring gloves and any backyard tools” to Gilmore Park, West Wollongong, to work in the Fairy Creek Catchment corridor from 9am to 11am, in acknowledgment that “Aboriginal folks have cared for this land for over 60,000 years”. The Sydney Opera House shall be illuminated with projections of Aboriginal artwork from sunrise at 5.20am on Friday. Landline presents stories from its archive exploring the previous and way forward for Australia's First Nation Farmers. The AM Shop champions ethical shopping for of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork and products. All works are acquired instantly from makers or owned artwork centres all through Australia, and suppliers who're signatories to the Indigenous Art Code. Emrhan is the co-founder and supervisor of Solid Lines, Australia's only First Nations led illustration agency. Nicola St John receives funding from The Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government's principal arts funding, development and advisory physique. She also consults to Solid Lines, Australia's solely First Nations led illustration agency. Proudly Aboriginal owned and led, Sobah is Australia’s first non-alcoholic craft beer firm run by husband and spouse team Clinton and Lozen Schultz. Clinton himself is a Gamilaroi man and psychologist, so the concept behind Sobah is deeply-rooted in the philosophies of Gamilaraay Lore ‘dhiriya Gamil’. These include performing from a position of respecting people, place and the surroundings; understanding and working towards fulfilling obligations that persons are related to; and, partaking in positive reciprocity. First Nation people have a long and proud historical past in Australia that dates again over 65,000 years. Indigenous Australians include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. First Nations artworks are used on a range of objects, clothing and much more. They may appear on the fabric of a handbag or scarf, a clapstick or a fridge magnet. It consists of anything and everything that showcases First Nations Australian art and designs. Its stunning beaches stretch for miles with no soul in sight, its rainforests resonate with the sweet chirping of exotic birds, its glowing rivers are house to playful dolphins, and its rusty outback exudes the genuine spirit of the land. The Australian authorities announced the formation of a Makarrata Commission to supervise the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The First Nation People of Australia are believed to have been the primary inhabitants of the continent. They lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers for hundreds of years before European settlers arrived in 1788. An example is the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, a not-for-profit firm owned by artists from the Yuendumu community within the Northern Territory, about 300 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs. Founded in 1985, the corporate makes use of its surpluses to fund community initiatives corresponding to a health program and a dog program, which cares for the native dog population. From souvenir outlets to artwork galleries, First Nations designs are huge business. Australia’s Productivity Commission estimates about $250 million of Indigenous-style artwork and client products are offered yearly. But simply 16% of that leads to the hands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. If you’re not familiar, Clothing The Gap is an Aboriginal owned and operated social enterprise and fashion label. To help First Nations artists and communities, here’s what you have to know, and need to ask, earlier than shopping for. Urban List acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, stay, and play. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge this all the time was and always will be Aboriginal land. In other words, Sobah is all about giving again, social equity, sustainability, raising positive awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tradition, smashing stereotypes and uniting folks.

Eco-Friendly Office Sites: Tips for Sustainable Workplaces

In today's world, where environmental concerns are at the forefront of global discussions, it's essential for businesses to take steps towards sustainability. One significant area where companies can make a positive impact is in their office sites. Creating eco-friendly office sites not only contributes to a greener planet but also enhances the well-being of employees and can even lead to cost savings in the long run. In this blog post, we'll explore various tips for designing and maintaining sustainable workplaces.

The Importance of Eco-Friendly Office Sites

Before delving into the tips, let's understand why eco-friendly office sites are crucial:

1. Reducing Carbon Footprint

The carbon footprint of an butcher babies includes energy consumption, waste generation, and transportation emissions. By adopting sustainable practices, companies can significantly reduce their carbon emissions, helping combat climate change.

2. Employee Well-Being

Eco-friendly offices tend to be healthier and more comfortable for employees. Natural lighting, improved air quality, and green spaces can boost productivity, reduce stress, and enhance overall job satisfaction.

3. Cost Savings

Sustainability measures often lead to cost savings over time. Energy-efficient lighting, heating, and cooling systems can lower utility bills, while reducing waste minimizes disposal costs.

4. Attracting Talent

Many job seekers today prioritize working for environmentally responsible companies. An eco-friendly office can help attract and retain top talent.

Tips for Sustainable Workplaces

Now that we understand the significance of eco-friendly office sites, let's explore some practical tips for creating and maintaining them:

1. Energy Efficiency

Invest in energy-efficient lighting, heating, and cooling systems. LED lighting consumes significantly less energy and lasts longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. Smart thermostats can help regulate temperatures efficiently.

2. Renewable Energy Sources

Consider using renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines to power your office. These sources not only reduce your carbon footprint but can also lead to long-term cost savings.

3. Natural Lighting

Maximize the use of natural light in your office by strategically placing workstations and minimizing the use of window coverings. This not only reduces the need for artificial lighting but also enhances employee well-being.

4. Sustainable Materials

Choose eco-friendly materials for office construction and furniture. Recycled and reclaimed materials not only reduce waste but also contribute to a unique and stylish office design.

5. Energy-Efficient Appliances

Opt for Energy Star-rated appliances in the office kitchen and break areas. These appliances are designed to consume less energy, which can lead to reduced utility bills.

6. Waste Reduction

Implement a comprehensive recycling program and provide easily accessible recycling bins throughout the office. Encourage employees to reduce paper usage by utilizing digital documents and adopting a paperless approach whenever possible.

7. Green Transportation

Promote sustainable commuting options for employees, such as carpooling, biking, or using public transportation. Consider installing bike racks and providing incentives for employees who choose green transportation methods.

8. Indoor Plants

Introduce indoor plants into the office space. Not only do they enhance air quality, but they also add a touch of nature to the workplace, improving overall well-being.

9. Water Conservation

Install water-saving fixtures in restrooms and kitchens, such as low-flow faucets and toilets. Implementing a water conservation plan can significantly reduce water usage.

10. Sustainable Practices

Educate employees about sustainable practices in the workplace. Conduct workshops, provide resources, and encourage employees to take part in sustainability initiatives.

11. Green Cleaning

Switch to eco-friendly cleaning products to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in the office. These products are better for the environment and the health of employees.

12. Remote Work Options

Consider offering remote work options to employees, reducing the need for daily commutes and office space. Remote work can also lead to reduced energy consumption and lower carbon emissions.

13. Eco-Friendly Transportation for Business Needs

If your business requires transportation for goods or services, opt for electric or hybrid vehicles. These vehicles produce fewer emissions and contribute to a cleaner environment.

14. Monitoring and Reporting

Regularly monitor and assess your office's environmental impact. Implement reporting mechanisms to track progress and set sustainability goals for continuous improvement.

15. Employee Engagement

Engage employees in sustainability efforts by creating green teams or committees. Encourage them to share ideas and take ownership of sustainable practices in the workplace.

Conclusion

Creating eco-friendly office sites is not just a trend; it's a necessity in today's world. Sustainable workplaces not only benefit the environment but also improve the well-being of employees and contribute to cost savings. By implementing the tips mentioned above, businesses can play their part in building a greener and more sustainable future while reaping the benefits of a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce. So, take the first step towards an eco-friendly office site today, and make a positive impact on your business and the planet.

Empowering Survivors: The Vital Role of Sexual Harm Support Services

In today's world, addressing the sensitive issue of sexual harm is more crucial than ever. Survivors of such traumatic experiences often find solace and strength through support services like Tautokomai, a leading organization dedicated to helping survivors heal and reclaim their lives. sexually assaulted hamilton

Sexual harm support services play a pivotal role in providing survivors with a safe space to share their experiences, emotions, and fears. Through counseling, therapy, and peer support, survivors can begin their journey toward healing. These services are not just about mending wounds; they empower survivors to regain control over their lives, fostering resilience and self-belief.

At Tautokomai, trained professionals offer compassionate guidance, helping survivors navigate the complex emotional aftermath of sexual harm. Through one-on-one counseling, survivors can explore their feelings, confront their trauma, and develop coping mechanisms. Group therapy sessions provide a sense of community and belonging, allowing survivors to connect with others who have faced similar challenges. sexual abuse helpline

Moreover, sexual harm support services offer practical assistance. From legal advice to medical support, survivors are guided through the process of seeking justice and necessary medical attention. These services are essential in empowering survivors to stand tall against their perpetrators, ensuring that justice prevails.

Education and awareness are also key components of support services. By raising public awareness about sexual harm, these organizations contribute to breaking the silence surrounding the issue. Through workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns, they challenge societal norms and stereotypes, fostering an environment where survivors are not judged but supported. have I been assaulted

In conclusion, sexual harm support services like Tautokomai are beacons of hope, illuminating the path to recovery for survivors. Their unwavering dedication, combined with empathy and expertise, creates a foundation upon which survivors can rebuild their lives. It is essential for society to recognize the vital role these services play, ensuring that survivors are not only heard but also empowered to emerge stronger, resilient, and victorious. Together, we can create a world where survivors find the support they need to heal, thrive, and reclaim their rightful place in society.

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This week we were put into pairs to create something out of a prompt given. My partner and I were given 'Re-use', and we decided to use the seedpods found in the environment. We went through the left overs bin at the workshop and ended up finding two pieces of wire we like the shape of.

When creating the nest on the left, I suggested the idea of weaving it like a dreamcatcher. It would allow a secure base while also having enough support for the seedpods to sit. My partner, after she had weaved the bottom of the big coil, put a nest of twine she had made in there, giving further support. I decided to make a nest of my own, as I had seen the holes in the top of the posts in our designated area, and thought I could utilise it. I found another coiled piece of wire, in a horizontal position, and used the centre of the coil as the nest. Though this proved to be the more difficult of the two to weave, as I had less support in terms of where the twine could sit and be secured.

Despite this, while coordinating with my partner, we both decided to string the nest up between two poles, which turned out to be a good idea. It gave the illusion of the natural, and later we decided to add a wooden platform as well.

The idea behind this was that a seed is the start of life, and that is to be nurtured. Thus, the nest. It's reminiscent of bird eggs, also linking back to the nest image. In terms for our 're-use' prompt, we did reuse the materials in the box outside of our workshop for a purpose that's not the original one.

I like what we ended up doing. The spiral acting as the main nest gave an extra sense of support, and there's just something about the image that appeals to me. It was fun figuring out how to secure the nests and how they'd look suspended between the posts. I'd like to experiment with this type of imagery and prompt again, as I had fun.

Two artists I'm looking at are Ilya Kabakov and Mark Reigelman.

Ilya Kabakov created the work La Fontana - Madre e Figlio (The Fountain - Mother and Son). This sculpture is a nest like structure, long like a tunnel. It is reminiscent of a 3D skeletal model, as it outlines a vague shape. In the book, Public Art, A Reader, Kabakov discusses the spirit of a place and public sculptures. Kabakov talks about how the author begins with the notion that the space, not matter how important, authoritative or historically significant, it is the background and an era for erection and construction of the artistic creation.

In the case of The Fountain, the background of the arches, dark hallways and white stone accent the wire of the sculpture, making it more visible to the audience. Kabakov also discusses how public projects situated outside serve as ornaments. In the case of this work, this also applies.

I like this work because it is reminiscent of my own, specifically the main nest structure. I love the simple shape and the large scale. There is a sense of the delicate and despite this delicate nature, it is nurturing.

Mark Riegelman created this massive nest structure from 10,000 reclaimed pallet boards. The exterior is raw wood and gold painted boards while the inside is entirely painted gold. The intent is to reference the griffin and their golden nests. This mythological themes are seen and enhanced through the golden plants and the scale it is. The sculpture is meant to symbolise growth, community and knowledge.

This sculpture has an instinctual sense of home and security, enhance by the nest structure and enclosed walls. It also mimics the traditional shape of a house, with the tall walls and arched entrance. The structure truly imitates a nest with the overlapping pallets and the impression it is put together, perhaps by the griffin it is meant to represent.

I like this sculpture because of the mythological nature and the large scale it is. I think it would be a instinctual sense of safety that would enfold the audience, as the shape of the nest is typically associated with nurture and the beginning of life. We think of the mythological griffin and because of the painted gold, we have a sense of wonder as well. Obviously, it does remind me of my own sculpture, albeit in a more literal sense than mine was constructed.

How do sustainable and eco-friendly office workstation designs contribute to a greener workplace?

Title: Green Workplaces: How Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Office Workstation Designs Contribute to a Greener Environment

Introduction:

As the world increasingly prioritizes sustainability, organizations are striving to create greener workplaces. Office workstation designs that embrace sustainable and eco-friendly practices play a significant role in reducing environmental impact and fostering a greener workplace. In this blog post, we will explore how sustainable and eco-friendly office workstation designs contribute to a more environmentally conscious and sustainable work environment.

Use of Recycled and Sustainable Materials:

Incorporating recycled and sustainable materials in office workstation designs reduces the demand for virgin resources and minimizes waste. Opt for workstations made from recycled or repurposed materials such as reclaimed wood, recycled plastics, or eco-friendly composite materials. Sustainable materials like bamboo or FSC-certified wood can also be used for desks and furniture, reducing the environmental footprint of the office.

Energy Efficiency:

Design office workstations with energy efficiency in mind. Incorporate energy-efficient lighting solutions such as LED fixtures or task lighting with motion sensors. Use natural light to its fullest potential by maximizing window openings and incorporating light-reflecting surfaces. Consider energy-efficient technology, such as computers and monitors with Energy Star ratings, that consume less energy during operation.

Proper Waste Management:

Implement waste management systems within office workstations to encourage recycling and minimize waste generation. Provide designated recycling bins for paper, plastic, and other recyclable materials. Encourage employees to adopt responsible waste management practices by clearly labeling bins and providing information on proper disposal methods. Consider partnering with local recycling programs to ensure materials are properly recycled or repurposed.

Indoor Air Quality:

Prioritize indoor air quality in office workstation designs. Select low-emission and non-toxic materials for furniture, carpets, and paints to minimize indoor air pollutants. Incorporate proper ventilation systems to enhance air circulation and quality. Consider integrating plants into workstations to improve air quality through natural air filtration.

Sustainable Furniture Choices:

Choose sustainable and environmentally friendly furniture for office workstations. Look for furniture that is certified by recognized eco-labels or certifications, such as GREENGUARD or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Opt for furniture with minimal chemical treatments, eco-friendly upholstery materials, and furniture that can be easily disassembled and recycled at the end of its lifecycle.

Green Commuting and Transportation:

Consider the impact of transportation on the environment when designing workstations. Encourage green commuting options such as bike storage, showers, and changing facilities for employees who cycle to work. Designate spaces for electric vehicle charging stations to support employees with electric vehicles. Promote carpooling or public transportation through effective communication and incentives.

Water Conservation:

Integrate water-saving features in office workstation designs to promote water conservation. Use water-efficient fixtures and faucets in kitchenettes and restrooms. Consider incorporating water-saving technologies such as motion-activated faucets and dual-flush toilets. Educate employees on responsible water usage and provide guidelines on water-saving practices.

Employee Awareness and Education:

Create awareness and provide education on sustainable practices within the workplace. Promote sustainable behavior through employee training programs, workshops, and communication channels. Raise awareness about the environmental benefits of eco-friendly office workstation designs and encourage employees to adopt sustainable habits within their workstations and beyond.

Lifecycle Considerations:

Take into account the lifecycle of office workstations and furniture. Design workstations that can be easily disassembled, repaired, or upgraded rather than replaced entirely. Select durable and long-lasting materials that can withstand frequent use and maintain their quality over time. Implement a furniture and equipment recycling program to ensure responsible disposal at the end of their lifecycle.

Green Certifications and Standards:

Strive for green certifications and standards to validate the sustainability of office workstation designs. Pursue certifications such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) to demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices. These certifications provide third-party validation and contribute to the organization's environmental credentials.

Conclusion:

Sustainable and eco-friendly office workstation designs significantly contribute to a greener workplace. By incorporating recycled and sustainable materials, prioritizing energy efficiency, implementing proper waste management, ensuring indoor air quality, choosing sustainable furniture, promoting green commuting, conserving water, raising employee awareness, considering the lifecycle of workstations, and pursuing green certifications, organizations can create workspaces that align with environmental sustainability goals. These efforts not only reduce the environmental footprint but also foster a culture of sustainability and inspire employees to adopt eco-friendly practices in their work and personal lives. By embracing sustainable office workstation designs, organizations can contribute to a greener future and make a positive impact on the environment. You can get your next Commercial Office interior designed and built by a tech-led interior design company such as Flipspaces which can be your one-stop solution to all your turnkey needs.

FINALISED DESIGN PROPOSAL

PLASTICS REBORN

In response to the urgent crisis of climate change and its detrimental effects on our land and food systems, this exhibition event takes place to raise awareness about our excessive use of plastic packaging in household goods. The goal is to shed light on the significant amount of plastic waste we generate and our inadequate efforts to take responsibility, which ultimately harm the environment.

The educational program explores the potential of repurposing discarded household plastics as hydroponic planters. This initiative not only gives single-use plastics a second life but also enables individuals to cultivate vegetables at home without the need for soil, protection from adverse weather conditions, or expensive resources.

The event is held within the Temperate House of the Auckland Domain Wintergardens, coinciding with the national recycle week from September 19th to 25th. During the Wintergardens' operating hours (9:00 am to 4:30 pm), the public is invited to participate in hour-long sessions conducted in groups of up to 15 people.

The centrepiece of this project is this installation itself - a complete plastic-house entirely made out of PET plastic panels. These panels are created by applying heat to ordinary soda and water bottles, transforming them into this mesmerizing, undulating shape. By utilizing PET plastic bottles, which are the most commonly used single-use plastic packaging in Aotearoa, this installation becomes a striking visual symbol of our extensive consumption. It is intended that as guests step inside and find themselves immersed beneath its roof, they are instantly captivated by the sheer magnitude. 

Upon entering the installation, groups will be guided by instructors to explore the different rooms in a sequential order. The first room, the display room, showcases a range of hydroponic planters crafted from commonly used household plastics. This exhibition aims to inspire participants and spark their creativity.

Following the display room, participants will proceed to the workshop space, where they will have the opportunity to craft their own hydroponic planters using various reclaimed plastics provided. Participants will be required to personally select their materials from designated bins and thoroughly rinse them in the sink before commencing the crafting process. This hands-on experience not only encourages active engagement but also emphasizes the importance of proper recycling practices by avoiding contamination or the use of unprocessable plastics.

By the conclusion of the event, all guests will depart with their very own hydroponic planter, carrying not only a tangible item but also a profound understanding of plastic waste and a sense of empowerment to effect positive change for our environment.

Post Pandemic Reflection on Education at GBS

Guest Post by Ashwin Lobo

Editor's Note: Different writers bring freshness to our online public interface; a feeling of various freshwater streams mixing and mingling to form a new water body. Ashwin Lobo's kind offer to help with a blog post on education during his month with us in February 2022 was very welcome. Because of various contingencies, we could not post this earlier, but it's a timeless piece, at once reflective, inclusive and personal. Ashwin recounts his own educational experience at GBS while narrating Marudam Farm School's recent visit. Over to Ashwin!

Home to over 2,000 species of plants from across the Western Ghats, the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary is a hotbed of conservation efforts. Steady acquisition of tea and coffee plantations around and protection of the land over the last five decades means that dozens of species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have also felt secure enough to return to this place and reclaim it as their home. While the Sanctuary acts as a haven for all these plants and animals, right from the start, a major focus has also been on caring for humans and facilitating their reconnection with the rest of the natural world. It is this which has been at the heart of the Sanctuary’s education work.

The conservation work and plant-care continued incessantly through the pandemic but the Sanctuary’s education work could not keep up pace. Sudden spates in Covid infections and lockdowns meant ‌many institutions were apprehensive to send their students to the Sanctuary’s School in the Forest. 

One institution that has remained undeterred, though, is Marudam Farm School, run by The Forest Way Trust and based in Thiruvannamalai. In the dry season of 2021-2022, three groups of children from Marudam visited the Sanctuary across the months of December, January and February for periods ranging between seven to seventeen days. 

The Marudam group eating breakfast together in the camp

After nearly two years away owing to the pandemic and other circumstances, I too, got the chance to return to the Sanctuary in February 2022. The Sanctuary is a place that I had called home for three months on my previous visit.‌ I was a participant in the Apprenticeship in Ecological Nurturance (AEN), a 10 month long programme for adults focused on acquiring skills and applying them to caring for the natural world. This programme was jointly offered by the Sanctuary, The Forest Way Trust and Upstream Ecology (based in the Nilgiris) and involved participants spending three months in each place apprenticing under people caring for the land across these biomes.

A forest walk with Saji and co., memory from the AEN, Feb 2020

One module of the AEN was a workshop with Environment Support Group (ESG), an environmental and social justice advocacy collective based out of Bangalore. This module and many other conversations and discussions during the AEN made me aware of the urgent need for political action to protect our forests and other ecological commons and so I spent a year working with ESG. But I still felt I had much to learn from the land that I wanted to protect. The Sanctuary was calling me back. And so I returned, this time as a volunteer. 

In the two years I’d been away from the Sanctuary, much had changed - both about the place and about me. But upon my return, the warmth and love I received from the community there was so touching - it was just as if I was coming back home. And luckily for me, my period of volunteering coincided with two of the school groups from Marudam, giving me a chance to reconnect with the teachers and children who I’d formed a bond with in the three months I’d spent staying with them in Thiruvannamalai.

Something that has been emerging for me recently is an interest in education, particularly that of children in wild spaces. I’ve volunteered with another group based in Uttar Kannada called BuDa Folklore which focuses on organising such nature-based education programmes for school children. I found this experience immensely rewarding, facilitating a child’s exploration of the natural world and engaging in shared enquiries with them over both the nature of the self and other beings. So I felt extremely joyful that there were children at the Sanctuary looking into such enquiries in the time I was there. 

Climbing up a strangler fig in the forest

At Marudam too, encouraging the formation of a relationship with the natural world is a big part of their education work. The teachers of Marudam see value in repeat visits to the Sanctuary and encourage the children to develop a bond with the place over time, which brings about a great depth of learning. As Arun Venkatraman, a teacher at Marudam, puts it, “What we have found is that GBS, as a place of learning, is so rich and complex thanks to its diversity and having the rainforest as the ecosystem which houses the conservation project that a whole lifetime may not be enough to really learn.”

Observing a patch of ground walked over by an elephant

Over the course of their visits here, the Marudam groups engaged in a wide range of activities - including going bird watching every morning, spotting dozens of unique species. Every time a child spotted a new bird, they would record its name in a notebook, so they could keep track of what they'd seen each day.

But for the children, birdwatching isn't just about naming different species. "As one deepens the observation and study, one can study more about the birds–what they feed on, if they are solitary or live in groups, whether they have favoured locations within the forest, where they build their nests and so on", shares Arun. Speaking with the children, I could see that for them taking a deeper interest in these beings and the multidimensional lives they lead is not just an intellectual pursuit, but fosters a feeling of wonder and care for both the birds and the environment which sustains them.

A pair of Malabar Grey Hornbills spotted one morning

Most days also involved a night-walk, quietly moving along trails to meet the nocturnal creatures of this land. One group of children was overcome with excitement to spot a gliding squirrel on a tree along Sandy's trail. And many times creatures would reveal themselves even when they weren't being looked for - otters swimming along the river, trogons flying past the bathroom, Nilgiri langurs eating fruit on the treetops. 

While the Sanctuary and it's environs are home to so many fascinating animals, it is of course also teeming with plants. Coming fresh off a shrub identification project in Tiruvannamalai, the older group of students from Marudam was ready to take the learning ahead in GBS too, except this time, they focused on trees.

Arun, who was part of both the shrub identification project in Thiruvanamalai and the tree study in the Sanctuary, recounts his experience: "Hitherto the world of trees and knowledge about them has been imposing with their sheer size and our usual tools of identifying which we used for shrubs through looking at leaves, flowers, fruits etc were lost to us high in the canopy.

Saji (member of the Paniya tribe, friend and neighbour of the Sanctuary), our tree teacher this year, provided a new tool to us in the form of bark identification. He pointed out that there were clear differences in barks through colours, patterns of fissures, nature of bark peeling, lenticels, etc. This opened up a new possibility. Add to this branching, and where accessible leaves, flowers etc, and we felt a connection to trees. What were formerly magnificent pillars revealed their secrets to us and we could begin making sense of individual trees.

Saji (in red) sharing his knowledge of trees with the group

It was fascinating to watch the visual learners flower in this new learning opportunity. The group got divided into people who excelled through observation based learning and the ones who were handicapped in this region and could only learn through concepts and intellectual application. The visual learners could pick up the local names while the conceptual learners learnt Latin names."

And while learning about plants, birds and the many other creatures the Sanctuary is home to intrigues the children, Arun is adamant that all of this comes with a deeper intention: “The core and critical aspect of the learning is to be comfortable in nature and developing a sense of connect, a love for nature. This grows gradually but helps form such a strong bond with nature that it is really a gift. This is particularly so in the current times when we humans have lost or are fast losing all connection to nature.”

And this connection between the children and the land is slowly blossoming. Nirmal, a 15 year old student of Marudam, who’s been on multiple educational visits to the Sanctuary, shares his thoughts: “When I am in nature, I try to connect to it by being alone for a good amount of time and simply losing myself in that moment. Turning off all the internal thoughts so that the only senses I feel are coming from outside. Most of the time I cannot do this completely, but when I do, it is the most amazing feeling. I feel like that is when the actual beauty of everything hits me like a wave. Even when I can't turn off my mind, there is another level of peace that I feel in nature when I am alone.”

A majority of the photos included in this piece were taken by Tamizh Selvan and Partha Sarathy, students of Marudam Farm School.

The Green Anti-Capitalist Front has called for a week of action in the UK at the end of February (24/02-02/03) against ecocide and capitalism

Image transcription below cut

Two Mastodon toots by @[email protected] (Green Anti-Capitalist Front)

“The British government has been elected and, with the Tories in power, it looks bleaker for the future of our planet than ever before.

Now is the time to fight back.

To show resistance to the ecocide being committed by the capitalist class and supported by many in Parliament, we call you to join us for a Week of Action! Every day for a week in February (24/02–02/03) we will be organising events and protests to let the leaders and the people of this country know that we are here to fight for the survival of our planet by facing capitalism head on.“

“From reclaiming unoccupied buildings for our communities, organising workshops and social events to raise awareness and encourage self-reliance, to reclaiming public space for nature by guerilla gardening, and being loud and clear about our rage against profit-making by stockbrokers and their like at the expense of our planet and fellow humans - join our Week of Action, whether by organising yourselves locally or joining our actions, to let them know that even under Tory rule we'll keep fighting capitalism for our planet!

Email [email protected] to get involved with organising.

More details to follow.“

End image transcription

Theoretically, this should be a very long, involved meta and the title would be “Kentucky Route Zero and the End of the Road” or something equally ridiculous. I imagine I’d quote Wendell Berry liberally. However, I am not particularly good at meta, and definitely not about video games---so instead you get this, an elegy for the one and only video game I love and how I am somehow both furious with it and think it did a good thing.

As a bit of background: I don’t like....games. I’m just not a fan of cards, dice, boards, joysticks, or any and all permutations of sportsball, war, and antitrust violations. However, there are two games that serve as the exception to the rule: my annual scrabble match with my grandmother and Kentucky Route Zero, a point-and-click from Cardboard Company. 

It counts as a video game only in the technical sense that it uses “video” and is sort of a “game.” Otherwise, it is mostly poetry and ruminations about rural American life, journeys, transience, and debt. 

I love it an unreasonable amount.

[ spoilers for Act V ahead ]

Going into Act V, I admit there were things I wanted. I wanted Conway back. I wanted Johnny and Junebug to de facto adopt one (1) human child and one (1) giant eagle who is inexplicably the human child’s brother. I wanted Shannon to have closure with Weaver. If Consolidated Power Co. was somehow razed to the ground and everyone’s debts erased and liminal, magical realist Kentucky freed from the looming specter of corporate interest, you wouldn’t hear me complaining. I wanted, to be blunt about it, resolution.

Act V gave me exactly none of the above. 

And so, my first reaction was a kind of aggrieved fury. How dare Cardboard Company not give me (and these characters, who they made me love and want nice things for) a proper ending? Am I just supposed to let Conway drift away into debt and servitude? Am I supposed to forget that Junebug and Johnny are a bit ambivalent about bringing someone new into their dynamic? Shannon is just supposed to---supposed to what, go on? Not knowing what happened to Weaver? Not seeing justice done for her parents, or anything more than a memorial floating in Echo River?

Even worse, playing the game with all the spliced-in extras makes me care about Emily, Ben, and Bob, Ron and Rita, and all the residents of that place where the roads don’t go and the ghost of a girl haunts the public access studio. All those people whose entire lives are washed away in the course of a night, forced to decide whether to stay and rebuild what can’t be entirely reconstructed or leave for some other, equally strange place.

None of it is goddamn fair, and when “THE END” showed in that white serif font I was so unutterably angry that I had to stand up and pace around my apartment until the emotion wore away.

But beyond that first shock, I’m not sure where Kentucky Route Zero ended up is...actually bad. When I first played through Acts I-III, I described it as a game “about things that are Gone, and things that are Gone-but-still-with-us, like families and history and debt.” I don’t think that’s incorrect---if anything, Act V reaffirmed this as a central theme. Act V said, very clearly, that things change, people leave, debt is sold, towns give up the ghost (or are already occupied by them) and survival is definitely more fraught and complicated than you might imagine. However...things very rarely go. Even the Neighbors don’t leave, when they are memorialized and the inhabitants of a nameless town (living and dead) come together to mourn their passing. 

It’s not death but it is also, still, death, because change (things going away, other things coming into being in their place) is always a sort of death.

Which unfortunately means I was right. At the heart of Kentucky Route Zero is transience and memory. refracted through a hundred different lenses---some good, some bad. You have the Museum of Dwellings taking people’s homes out of context and “remembering” them, the Bureau of Reclaimed Spaces kicking out the congregation to turn a cathedral into office space, and neatly removing the center of gravity from their world. (Doolittle laughs about how Consolidated Power cheated Earl out of his beehives.) On the other hand: Will is the living embodiment of the Echo’s history, recipient of unknown persons’ first memories. Every time she encounters someone who also remembers Weaver, Shannon melts. Conway remembers Ira and Charlie and the truck, the furniture shed, even if Lysette doesn’t. Memorials---everything from official monuments to discarded trash and gravestones, signs, and broadcasts---play a significant role in the unfolding arc of the story. 

Things that are gone, but not gone.

Which means that while I might feel deprived of a happy ending, an easy ending, the ending I was given was...right. Watching June and Johnny go back and forth about Ezra, as Shannon and Emily waver about whether to stay or go was real, and honest. Knowing that nothing could be done, really, to save Conway from the debt he incurred and the job he consented to, other than finish his delivery was right. There is nothing to be done for the Pueblo de Nada, for the Neighbors or the dead or the Gone, other than to recognize that they were there first. Other than to remember them, in their fullness.

(I kept thinking about the folktale, about how Solomon in his wisdom was asked for those words that would make a grieving man happy, and a joyous man sad. According to legend, he sent the ring engraved with the phrase: "And this, too, shall pass away.")

At the end of Act V, our heroes gather in a house that is not a house, which looks both forwards and backwards, and is full of music, or maybe a workshop, and they watch the sun set. And it wasn’t the ending that I wanted, but maybe it was the one deserved.

We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?

Black British Lesbian History

Selection from “Herstoric Moments,” by Valerie Mason-John, in Talking Black: Lesbians of African and Asian Descent Speak Out, ed. Valerie Mason-John, 1995.

The movement

A separately organized Black lesbian movement is perhaps the response to our exclusion from the Black heterosexual world, the women’s liberation movement and the white lesbian and gay community. The herstory of lesbians which has been uncovered, recorded and celebrated is predominantly about white middle-class women. In fact, it is dead white lesbians who dominate the bookshelves: Radclyffe Hall, Djuna Barnes, Vita Sackville-West, Eleanor Roosevelt and Romaine Brooks are just a few of the names which we repeatedly come across when searching for lesbian herstory. The documented rise of the women’s movement during the 1970s mainly records the contribution of white women, including some white lesbians, through photography and writing. Although the 1980s have witnessed the beginning of the documentation of Black lesbian literature, it has been normally by women of African descent from the USA. Therefore, it has been important for Black lesbians living in Britain to begin documenting their own contribution to the movement before it is lost.

The herstory of the Black lesbian movement is typified by the struggle to have our gender, race and sexuality placed on the agenda. The Black political movements of the past--Garveyism, Pan-Africanism, the Black Power and civil rights movements--were all dogged by debates, splits and silence around gender and sexuality. Gender was most definitely not a priority issue, and the consideration of sexuality was completely ignored. Due to such conflict it was felt among some Black people that Black women could not afford to be separatist over certain issues and debates, because of the need to work together with Black men to overcome racism. In fact, it can be said that organizations such as Manchester Black Women’s Co-op and Southall Black Sisters, who spearheaded the ‘Stop the SUS’ (Suspect Under Suspicion) campaign; Zanus Women’s League; East London Black Women’s Organization; the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent; and other Black lesbian groups were all a response to the years of struggling to be recognized as women in the Black political movement, as lesbians in the Black feminist movement and as Black in the women’s liberation movement and the lesbian and gay community.

Black lesbians were isolated, they had lost their allegiances among white women and with the Black heterosexual community. A whole feminist herstory had been written excluding the contribution of Black women. White women, whether lesbians, feminists or lesbian feminists were not interested in American chemical companies polluting first-nation countries, or in the illegal mining in Namibia; in fact, they were only concerned with their immediate needs.

Although there has been a separate movement, Black lesbians have always been part of the wider Black, feminist and lesbian struggles. Many were always active in the Black liberation movement and others took part in Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), the women’s liberation movement, the Gay Liberation Front, antinuclear campaigning (Greenham Common) and Reclaim the Night marches, between the late 1960s and 1980s. Our herstory has been shaped by our oppressions. However, Black lesbians have risen above their oppressors, and achieved monumental feats, despite the odds stacked against us.

African and Asian unity

Although the Black political movement had initially brought men and women together, Black women, unhappy with their declared position in the movement, found the need to organize autonomously, and used the opportunity to forge links with other Black women they had met in the global Black struggle. As a result, the Organization of Women of Africa and African Descent (OWAAD) was founded in 1978. However, during its first year, it was argued that if OWAAD was to address issues concerning all Black women effectively, women of African and Asian descent should stop organizing separately around the issues of racist attacks, deportations, Depo-Provera and the question of forced sterilization of Black women in Britain. This shift towards forging links together was sealed in 1979 when OWAAD changed its named to the Organization of Women of African and Asian Descent. As the first documented and cohesive national network of African and Asian women, it united Black women from all over Britain, and had a profound influence on Black British women’s politics. To ensure links were maintained, a newsletter (FOWAAD) was printed. [/] However, rifts soon began to appear in the organization, and one of the major splits occurred over the issue of sexuality. Black lesbians, although they were most definitely at the forefront of the organization, found themselves to be invisible. Some remained in the closet while others were continually silenced, and those who were publicly outed caused a furore. From its outset there was a noticeable absence of debate around this issue; sexuality was perceived as being too sensitive to speak about publicly. The prevailing opinion was: ‘How could members wast time discussing lesbianism, heterosexism and bisexuality when there were so many more pressing issues?’ One of the first out and visible Black lesbians in public and the media, Femi Otitoju, remembers the conference which caused the damage, ‘A woman announced, there is no space for Black lesbians, so let’s have a workshop over here.’ She remembers some Black women being abusive and hostile, and hurling insults. She recalls: ‘Some women stood up and said we’re lesbians and we’re offended and upset. I remember thinking, shush, you damn fools.’ An ignorance of the background to the struggle and/or a hostility towards feminism from the newer members, together with the failure of the organization to take on board the differences, meant that OWAAD had a short life, and it folded in 1982. Although members of OWAAD failed to unite with each other over some issues, it was an important chapter in Black women’s herstory. It campaigned against immigration authorities and virginity tests at ports of entry, it demonstrated against state harassment, battled against expulsions in education and fought many unjust laws. OWAAD for all its faults had much of the vibrancy and energy a Black movement needed.

Positive results came out of the rise and fall of OWAAD. Black lesbians belonging to the organization came together in 1982 and formed their first group, called the Black Lesbian Group, based in London. it is claimed that Black women travelled from Scotland, Wales and all over England to attend the fortnightly meetings. A fares pool was provided by members for women who needed expenses for their travel. However, the group struggled for survival. It initially asked to meet at Brixton Black Women’s Centre, but was denied access because some of the workers were concerned that a lesbian group on the premises would add to the hostility it was already experiencing as a Black women’s centre. Black lesbians of mainly African descent and some of Asian descent eventually found space at the now-defunct centre, A Woman’s Place, based in central London.

OWAAD’s driving force

Members of Brixton Black Women’s Group (BBWG) were part of the motivating force (along with other politically active Black women around Brtiain) which founded the national organization, OWAAD. BBWG was set up in 1973, in response to redefining what the Black and feminist movements meant to them. Its members were an amalgamation of Black women from the women’s and the Black liberation movements. In its early days the group’s politics was influenced by socialism. Some women preferred not to call themselves feminists because it would link them to the women’s movement which had many racist attitudes. Others identified as feminists, but emphasized that feminism stretched beyond the narrow concepts of white middle-class women. During the early 1980s the group had a strong core of members who identified as Black socialist feminists. Although the question of lesbianism featured quite low on the agenda, many of the BBWG founding members were lesbians.

The group met at the Brixton Black Women’s Centre, which was established by the Mary Seacole Group. This group aimed to provide a meeting space, gave support and advice on housing, social security and to mothers. Skills such as sewing, dress-making and crafts were shared. Although the crafts group collapsed over an argument about their political posture, the BBWG survived, and opened up the centre’s doors to the public in 1979. This group was involved in various campaigns which affected every aspect of being a Black woman.

Black lesbians worked at the centre along with Black heterosexual women, and continued to serve all Black women until 1986, when the workers learnt they had been working in a condemned building, and suffered a cut in funding. This marked the end of an era; all that is left is a derelict building with an unfinished mural of Black women working together. ‘Groups like Brixton BWG were just one of the strands which, when woven together, helped bind the political practice of the Black community as a whole. They were in many ways simply a continuation of the Black groups which had existed ever since our arrival after the war.’[1] There were thirty or more groups like the BBWG (with a strong input from Black lesbians) scattered throughout Britain during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Renaissance Black lesbians

In 1984 a group of white lesbians set up Britain’s first lesbian archive, to preserve the contribution lesbians had made to British culture. During the 1970s Black lesbians had taken part in many campaigns which affected women and Black people, but this was not being recorded. Similarly, in setting up this archive, the contribution made by Black lesbians was overlooked. The archive reinforced the white-only image of lesbians through the books and information it collected, by the workers and volunteers it employed, and through its membership. Five years after it opened, a Black employee, Linda King, was taken on to try and redress this imbalance. She explored the relevance of the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre to the Black lesbian community, and how it could be improved. During her four-week contract, she collected interviews, transcripts and photographs of Black lesbians (some of which are only available to Black lesbians), and compiled a report. One of the points raised in the interviews was the fact that Black lesbians had contributed to the intellectual and cultural interests of all lesbians in Britain.

Making our mark in the 1980s

The 1980s was a decade in which Black lesbian activity flourished throughout Britain. After the first Black lesbian group was set up in 1982, Black lesbians took the initiative to organize groups, meetings and conferences on a grand scale. During 1983 a Chinese lesbian group was launched after three lesbians of Chinese descent met for the first time at a conference on lesbian sex and sexual practice. In 1984 the ‘We Are Here’ conference marked the first time that Black women had come out publicly as Black feminists. An organizer, Dorothea Smartt, recalled: ‘It was unashamedly a Black feminist conference where Black lesbians were welcome.’ The conference planning group was open to all Black women including Black lesbians.

From discussions at the conference several initiatives were launched: an incest survivors’ group; a Black women writers’ network; a mixed racial heritage group; ‘We Are Here’ newsletter and the Black Lesbian Support Network (BLSN). The BLSN offered advice, information and support to Black women questioning their heterosexuality. it also collated articles by and about Black lesbian lifestyles from all over the world. It was forced to close in 1986, as the exhausted volunteers moved on to do different things in the Black lesbian community. However, the collated articles are available from the Lesbian Archives in central London. The ‘We Are Here’ newsletter covered many issues, including health, incest, definitions of Black feminism, Black lesbian mothers and reports about such ongoing national and global campaigns as anti-deportation fightbacks and nuclear testings in Africa. This also folded in 1986, a year which saw the closure of many women’s, gay and lesbian, Black and left-wing groups in London. The abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1986 initiated a period of severe cutbacks in funding for many community-based groups.

However, despite the effects of a Thatcherite government, some groups did spring up and survive. During the mid-1980s a Black lesbian group was established at Waltham Forest Women’s Centre, but folded after two years; and in the London borough of Camden, a Black lesbian group which was set up next to the Camden lesbian project in 1985, still exists today. In this same year several black lesbians were involved in the establishment of the Lesbians and Policing Project (LESPOP); this project was forced to close in 1990 due to a complete cut in its funding. Black lesbians of Asian descent also launched a group, but this folded before the new decade. Funding was secured for a research project on Lesbians from Historically Immigrant Communities, which included testimonies from lesbians of African and Asian descent. Although the work was never published it can be found in the Lesbian Archives. Most of the groups which were set up for Black lesbians during the first half of the decade existed in London, but there were groups in other parts of Britain.

The impact and effect of these groups (with a donation of £11,000 from a white working-class lesbian weekend) culminated in Zami 1, the first national Black lesbian conference to be held in Britain. In October 1985 over two hundred lesbians of African and Asian descent flocked to London to attend this herstorical event. It was a natural high in itself to be in one space with so many other Black lesbians, and it was a proud moment for those Black lesbians who had been part of the struggle for visibility and recognition during the preceding decade. Delegates discussed issues of coming out in the Black community, disability, prejudices between lesbians of African and Asian descent and various other topics. As with all conferences there were differences of opinion, in this case over the question of who was and was not Black. However, such debate was not surprising when so many Black lesbians from all over Britain had come together for the first time, the political thinking of OWAAD, and of London, had not necessarily filtered its way all over the country.

Zami 1 was and still is one of the greatest achievements of Black lesbians. It paved the way for further conferences, gave confidence to those Black lesbians who were frightened of coming out, and most of all it told the general public that Black lesbians do exist, and in numbers. In the same year Black lesbians were instrumental in setting up Britain’s first lesbian centre in Camden, London, and during the latter part of the 1980s, Black lesbian groups were established in Birmingham, Manchester and Bradford, together with a group for Black lesbians over forty and a group for younger Black lesbians in London.

At the turn of the decade (April 1989), Black lesbians organized the second national conference, Zami II, in Birmingham. Unlike the first conference, Zami II was open to other Black lesbians with one or both parents from the Middle East, Latin America, the Pacific nations, to indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, Australasia and the islands of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, along with those of us who are descended from Africa, Asia and its subcontinent. Over two hundred women came together and debated the issues of sex and sexuality, sexual relationships between Black and white lesbians, motherhood and many other issues. From this conference a group of women imitated a group for lesbians and gays of mixed racial heritage (MOSAIC), which still exists today, and which held its first conference in 1993 in London. In 1991 two Black lesbian groups were set up in Nottingham and Bristol, and in 1992 a day-long event was held where Black lesbians could discuss the issue of safer sex and HIV and AIDS.

During the early 1990s the rise of Black lesbian activity reached a plateau, and is now beginning to dwindle and stagnate. Although 1992 saw another Black lesbian conference in the North, only a few groups have been founded. There have also been Zami (events of Black lesbians) days in Birmingham in 1993 and 1994.

Organizing with Black gay men

To a lesser extent Black lesbians have also organized with Black gay men. 1981 is a landmark for Black lesbians and gay men organizing together, as it was the year when the Gay Asian Group became the Black Gay Group. Although the group was initially dominated by men, women soon became a more visible presence when it renamed itself the Lesbian and Gay Black Group in 1985. This group went on to secure funding for a Black Lesbian and Gay Centre based in London. The project survived seven years of looking for sufficient funds and suitable premises, but in 1992 the centre was finally launched, and two years later it still exists as the only centre in Britain serving Black lesbians and gay men exclusively.

In 1988 Shakti, a network for South Asian lesbians, gays and bisexuals was set up in London. Since then, other Shaktis have sprung up in major cities, providing a fundamental resource for the Asian community. In 1990 Black lesbians and gay men came together to organize the sixth International Lesbian and Gay People of Colour conference in London, when over three hundred people came together from all over the world to discuss issues which concerned them. During this same year Black lesbians and gay men came together and formed Black Lesbians and Gays Against Media Homophobia (BLAGAMH), which led to one of the most successful campaigns against the Black media in Britain this century. This had centred on the ferocious attack made against lesbians and gay men by Britain’s most successful Black newspaper, The Voice. During the last three months of 1990, it carried malicious and homophobic stories, including a report on the Black British footballer Justin Fashanu, and printed Whitney Houston’s remark that she was not a ‘Lesbo’. The paper’s columnist, Tony Sewell, wrote: ‘Homosexuals are the greatest queerbashers around. No other group are so preoccupied with making their own sexuality look dirty.’ BLAGAMH, along with the support of the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO), initiated a successful boycott of The Voice, instructing local authorities not to advertise in the newspaper. After almost a year’s battle, BLAGAMH won a full-page right-to-reply. The Voice also promised to adopt an equal opportunities policy and ensure positive coverage of lesbian and gay issues, a commitment which the newspaper has so far upheld. BLAGAMH continues to monitor the Black community, and has challenged ragga artists like Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks over their use of misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.

That same year (1990) saw the establishment of Orientations, a group for lesbians and gay men of Chinese and South Asian descent. Groups have also been formed by Black lesbians and gays in Manchester, and, in 1991, by Black lesbians, gays and bisexuals in Bristol. All three groups exist today. The short life of Black lesbian and gay groups is typical of the whole lesbian and gay community: as soon as one group disappears, another emerges.

City Lab

Seminar 1: Rethinking the City. 

Wednesday 9th December

3pm – 5pm

3pm – Introduction to The City Lab Seminars: John Byrne

3.10 – Alessandra Saviotti – The DPI Toolkit Explained

3.40 – Owen Griffiths – Landscapes of Resistance/Owen’s City Lab

4.10 – Jo Marsh - Ty Pawb, Wrexham’s Arts, Markets and Community Hub

Further Information:

In this first/opening City Lab Seminar we will be joined by three key thinkers and practitioners who are actively using the city as both a context and a tool for social change.

Each contributor will speak for 20 minutes, followed by a 10 minute opportunity for questions. There will also be time for further questions and discussions at the end of the presentations.

Ideas and themes that emerge from this first City Lab Seminar will be picked up again early next year (date to be announced) when all three panellists will join us for individual discussions/seminars as a first ‘open access’ point of the TPG shared module ‘Transdisciplinary Pracitce’.

Information on Speakers/Contributors:

Alessandra Saviotti (LJMU School of Art and Design / Asociación de Arte Útil)

Weblink: www.arte-util.org

Alessandra Saviotti Presentation: DPE Toolkit Explained - Alessandra will talk about the DPE's Toolkit section in particular on the idea of usership within the education context. Alessandra will address this question: is it possible for art to infiltrate the formal education environment in the form of a radical teaching approach that seeks to give a new shape to the existing configuration of the system, within the system itself?

Alessandra Saviotti Biography: Alessandra is a curator and educator who lives in Amsterdam. Alessandra is also a PhD candidate at the Liverpool John Moores University - School of Art and Design. Alessandra’s focus is on socially engaged art, collaborative practices and Arte Útil. Her work aims to realize projects where the public becomes a co-producer in the spirit of usership. Her reflection is taking into consideration collaborative processes according to the motto ‘cooperation is better than competition’. She is a co-founder of the art collective Aspra.mente (2006-2016), a group which focuses on the common definition of ‘work in progress’, seeking the contribution of operators in other fields than art for interdisciplinary projects that are free from time constraints. Alsessandra was part of the curatorial team of the 'Museum of Arte Útil' at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, NL) and since 2014 she has been collaborating with the Asociación de Arte Útil especially aiming at emancipating the usership around the Arte Útil Archive. She led online and offline seminars at the San Francisco Art Institute (2017), California College of the Arts (2017), SALT (2018), The Whitworth (2019), Chicago Architecture Biennial (2019), Accademia di Brera (2020), and she was the coordinator of the Escuela de Arte Útil at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (US). She currently teaches at ArtEZ - International Master Artist Educator, Arnhem (NL) and she is a tutor at Accademia Unidee, Biella (IT). Since 2007 Alessandra has also been working in collaboration with several institutions such as SFMOMA (US), MAXXI, Rome (IT), Delfina Foundation, London (UK), Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (UK), Visible Project (IT), Manifesta 7 (IT), UNIDEE – Cittadellarte (IT), SALT (TR), Estudio Bruguera (USA) e Studio Grilli (BE). She is a 2013-14 van Eyck Akademie fellow, a 2015 Mondriaan Foundation grantee and a 2014 Demo Movin'Up grantee and she has been awarded an international mobility grant from i-Portunus – Creative Europe in 2019.

Owen Griffiths (Artist & Curator: Founder / Director Ways of Working- a locally engaged social enterprise). Owen is based in Wales.

Weblink: www.aboutreconnection.com

Owen Griffiths Presentation: Owen’s City Lab:

Owen will talk about his work as a series of landscapes of resistance - an emerging archipelago of collaborative project in civic spaces across the city of Swansea. Owen is interested in long term work, overlapping edges, social economic model santi gentrification and empowerment. His research is based around, collaboration, food and systems of land use and alternative ownership seeded through collaboration and social justice. 

Owen Griffiths Biography:

Owen Griffiths is an artist, workshop leader and facilitator. Using participatory and collaborative processes, his socially engaged practice explores the possibilities of art to

create new frameworks, resources and systems. This takes many forms, but includes reclaiming and rethinking events, rituals and spaces of dialogue. Griffiths explores climate, landscape, urbanism, social justice, food systems and pedagogy, creating projects and events that prepare us for the gentle work of the future.

He is interested in working locally and in long term dialogue with communities and projects. These long-term dialogues make a case for slowing down time, rethinking the expectations around participation to model new collaborative methods which raise questions around equity, empowerment and sustainability. 

In 2020 Griffiths developed Ways of Working a new community participation platform and company in order to work in ways he feels are urgent; speaking to climate crisis, localism and radical collaborative projects. 

Jo Marsh (Creative Director at Ty Pawb), Wrexham’s Arts, Markets and Community Hub.

Weblink: https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.typawb.wales&umid=26848098-e77f-414c-a12b-2449a4ca4efe&auth=768f192bba830b801fed4f40fb360f4d1374fa7c-d5eaefcbd2ec131e42ae96d121134efa26351191 and/or https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/sep/01/ty-pawb-review-art-gallery-everybodys-house-wrexham-market

Jo Marsh Biography:

After graduating in 2009 Jo worked as a freelance artist for a few years, this included lots of gallery education work in Wales, some in France and at the Design Museum in London. In 2011 Jo won the Leeds based Woolgather Art Prize, with my project ‘With Love From The Artist’ that had developed from my side hustle as an itinerant market trader https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=www.withlovefromtheartist.com&umid=26848098-e77f-414c-a12b-2449a4ca4efe&auth=768f192bba830b801fed4f40fb360f4d1374fa7c-514d3850b6845bcd75526d65f4321d8d79885aa5.

In 2013-14 Jo was funded by Arts Council Wales to build and tour a travelling gallery called WanderBox, offering residencies to artists in a wide variety of settings and locations https://hes32-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.axisweb.org%2fp%2fjomarsh%2fworkset%2f213293%2dwanderbox%2f&umid=26848098-e77f-414c-a12b-2449a4ca4efe&auth=768f192bba830b801fed4f40fb360f4d1374fa7c-5710c37b68c29a33d55e90625a283baa14a13fb9

In late 2014 Jo became the Learning and Engagement Officer for Oriel Wrecsam, leading the off-site engagement programme for three years as plans for a new arts and markets development unfolded. This off-site programme included working with young people to build a full sized Shepherd’s Hut, and working with local people to establish a makers group that met regularly and adventured round the county.

In 2017 Jo was appointed Creative Director at Ty Pawb (formerly Oriel Wrecsam and the People’s Market, Wrexham). Since then Jo have been leading a programme of exhibitions and projects that grow out of local connections, and respond to local urgencies. So far this has included building a temporary adventure playground in one of the galleries (complete with 16 tonnes of sand!), working with members from our resident mental health charity to design and manufacture lamps for sale, and establishing a nascent rooftop garden on our multistory carpark.

Proof of life

Two weeks now without Twitter, so I felt like I was out of the news-chismis loop. I sometimes feel the itch to re-download the app, but so far, our conscience is winning. I’m turning either to games or googling or online shopping to steer clear from it. I love Twitter, but most of the time, the environment’s toxic. So I pushed myself to take a one-month hiatus for the meantime. It also gives me space for endeavors I need 100% focus. You see, I’ve been using Twitter as an escape or my go-to app whenever I’m bored. I’m updated, but I’ve noticed I’m more irritable about the little things and my focus is short-lived. Instagram, I’ve already managed to rarely open it because there’s no photo to curate. Hahaha! I tried to document my quarantine life, at least for the hard lockdown period. It was good, but it was also tedious. Twitter is like a drug really, so I had to detox. Messenger is turning out to be one, but because most work concerns are easily sent there, I had to stay. Hayy. Anyway, connectivity is inevitable; we need to really discipline our screentime. Here’s to hoping I can wean away from Twitter. As an accompaniment, I’m reading a Bible plan on reclaiming our relationship with social media. 

***

I also haven’t written much here. Regularly liking some tumblr posts, though. Three things I am grateful for this quarter, and also hopeful for the coming last quarter of 2020. One, I happily presented an updated research paper on disinformation trends in Southeast Asia. This time, I focused on assessing ASEAN’s approach and then also attempting to flesh out perspectives towards decoloniality. It was a difficult undertaking, especially because disinformation is a global problem so how can it be decolonized, and should it be a concept on decolonization to begin with. Apparently, it is. The way we view media here in the region is quite different from that of the Euro-American context. Could it be because they are “steeped” in a more liberal set-up or because media plays a larger role in their societies? Not necessarily. Initially, I see a different socio-cultural dynamic here in our region when it comes to media and the public. We’re a region that is more dependent on personal networks, and so we also get our news / information from our family, friends, and those close to us. Media amplifies news, but we’re generally distrustful of them. It may also stem from our mentality even before that media could be coopted by the powerful, by the colonizer, and so we’re wary of whatever they say. Our wariness and dependence on personal networks are both boon and bane to how we deal with disinformation. On one hand, we could be critical of whatever information’s provided; but on the other, we could be very trustful of our personal networks that we forget to validate these info. Another aspect we could look into is the political economy where disinformation thrives. There’s a lot of incentives and leeway for disinfo to flourish-- it’s a lucrative economic opportunity, the regulations are vague so one can play around it. Finally, the way we define fake news could also be a decolonial question. This I would have to further study. Anyway, if you want to listen to my ramblings, you could watch our panel here. We’re Team PUP hahaha! So happy to do this with good friends in our university.

***

The second thing I’m grateful for is the opportunity to join this year’s Asian Ecumenical Institute. It’s a month-long course / workshop on the significance of ecumenism and its contribution to community-building. Received the good news this morning. Hahaha! My father forwarded the invite and encouraged me to join. At first, I was hesitant because of the length of the workshop but also because I am not particularly sure I’d enjoy the topics. I’m still not sure if I’d enjoy it but I think I am interested with how the discussions would play out. Recently, I’ve been praying about God’s calling. Ecumenism and the nexus between secular politics and Biblical foundations to it has become increasingly interesting for me; it really quirks a lot of my curiousities. So there, I’m trying it out. If it weren’t for the pandemic, it would have been held in Bangkok. That would have been good. But if it weren’t for the pandemic too, I may not really be able to participate as I’d be forced to take a month-long leave at work, in the middle of the semester. 

The time not spent lounging in my office desk has been redirected to online MOOCs. Our previous director encouraged us to join free short courses on journalism and then the other one was on data ethics. I completed both, which is also good for office productivity targets because the MOOCs have equivalent hours of training. Hahaha! More importantly, I enjoyed answering the quizzes and reading the free materials given to us. They’re mostly investigative pieces, well-written blogs, and some online lecture transcripts. But I still wouldn’t have actively sought those out were it not for these courses. The video lectures were also insightful-- from invited speakers to the actual lecturers, I really learned a lot. It also gave me ideas on how to set up asynchronous online classes during the summer term and for the coming first semester. So, time well spent, I think.

***

The last thing I’m looking forward would be the IELTS exam I’m taking by the end of this month. Really nervous and still not fully ready, but I’m reviewing the structure of the exam so I won’t panic on the day itself. Days, actually. Speaking test comes first on Friday, then the rest on a Saturday. To be fair, it is part of my 2020 list; I’m just moving it to a later date (first March, then June, then end of the year nalang) because I’m chicken but also because the exam’s quite expensive. I planned on taking time to prepare but as it would turn out, critical junctures push us to take leaps of faith. Here’s one of those moments. Hahaha! I have one more week for intensive study, praying for this one and working it out too. 

***

In the chiller side of life, we’re done with AppleTV’s Little Voice! I love the soundtrack. It has been on repeat for 2 weeks now. The story is average, but this is Sara Bareilles’ material so we’re supporting this one. Hahaha! Also, I love Louis’ character and his friends. Done also with Dark S02. S01 is a tangled web; I was hoping S02 would untangle some of it, but it made it more complicated. S03′s the last so I hope I’d understand it much better. I’m still thinking if I’d watch Sarah Paulson’s Ratched, but looking forward to the star-studded Enola Holmes film. We’re halfway through S02 of k-drama Stranger (Secret Forest). The story took some time to build up; S01 did a much better job on that. Bae Doona is such an adorable person. I would like her to be my ate or tita. Hahaha! We’re also making good progress with our online Korean classes. I hope to practice this with Tita Paulie soon. :D

***

There. I’m still alive, still breathing. Ocassional bursts of anxiety fill some of my nights, but with God’s grace, we’re pushing through. 

Pay Your Students: Student Activism and Student Labor In Campus Archives

Or, “Building Trust Between Archives and the Student Body: Hiring Student Historians” or even, “My Undergraduate Experience at the Midwestern Archives Conference: Why More Paid Positions Like Mine Must Exist On Campus”

by Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), Student Historian in Residence

“Student Memory: Then and Now” Poster by Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), presented at MAC 2019 in Detroit

This year, I had the honor of attending the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) 2019 in Detroit, Michigan for a couple days sitting in on sessions, learning about the archival profession, and presenting my poster entitled “Student Memory: Then and Now”. I’d been to conferences before but the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Agricultural conference was, as you might guess, a little bit of a different vibe than an Archives meet-up.

The conference was informative and occasionally quirky (including the damaged document recovery vendor giving out vacuum-sealed beef jerky as a freebie). I attended sessions on imposter syndrome in the profession, documenting the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Midwest, and #Archives4BlackLives. In the time outside the conference, I wandered around Detroit with a friend, checking out a public installation in honor of organized labor, exploring the Detroit Institute of Art, and walking by the Church of Scientology up the street from our hotel. Critiques of many sessions included, the conference was an enriching and enlightening experience -- especially considering that, a little over a year ago, I had only a basic understanding of what an archives even was.

I may have been the only undergraduate at the conference, my age surprising many of the University Archivists who approached me to discuss my poster. While the poster discussed parts of my research and its relevance to the present, the bulk of my presentation centered around questions of archives outreach and community engagement, documenting the experiences of the student body and peer-educating about what an archives is and does. In my presentation, I wanted to suggest that archives can be supportive spaces for student activists on campus and archivists can be their accomplices in their pursuit of justice. I made a short list of action steps.

How can archivists support student activism?

Collaborate with student organizers, government, and groups to preserve student memory, especially for contemporary issues

Listen to the needs of students, especially marginalized students, asking: how archival collections can be of service to them?

Host events and workshops about relevant historical campus movements and protests

Encourage students to think of themselves as historical subjects by leading workshops teaching students how to document their experiences

Provide accessible opportunities for students to contribute their own meaningful, modern materials to the campus archives

But most importantly...

Fund paid student staff positions, employing students to do archival research, outreach, and modern documentation

On my poster I was transparent about the wages, conditions, responsibilities, and privileges of my position as Student Historian in Residence, which is well-paid, supported by the staff, and flexible in terms of time and content. By being compensated for my labor, I’ve been able to spend the time that I need to in the archives working on all sorts of projects that benefit the archives and (I hope) serve the student body.

Though the Student Historian position began this year as a pilot research opportunity, the work has sprouted into other projects, like creating a teaching kit about the Black Student Strike, spreading the gospel of archives by presenting to classrooms around campus, leading late-night archives sessions on topics like “Queer History”, teaching student government about self-documentation, and most recently, conducting interviews for a modern oral history project on UW-Madison student activism from 2016 - 2019.

While non-student staff keep the wonderful Archives ship afloat, this kind of outreach work can only be done by a student. I’m not saying that I’m the student who should do this work -- this isn’t about me, it’s about student labor in general. The importance and value of archival peer education is immense. The benefits of trust between the student body and their campus archives are best achieved when student staff members are given the opportunity to take ownership over the archives and bring that passion to the rest of their circles, letting other students know that their campus archives is a place where their collective work can be remembered. This quality of work can only happen if students are paid for it -- and paid well.

At the conference, I had one university archivist approach me and ask how their archives could create these student community connections without a budget. Was there a way she could get the same results without paying students for their work?

As the Student Historian, I have the profound opportunity to spend hours familiarizing myself with materials, reflecting on my learning, meeting with staff members, creating projects to serve my fellow students, and sharing my work with the rest of my community. This position requires a lot of time each week and has yielded projects that the Archives staff and I are proud of. Yet for many marginalized, low-income students -- all of whom would offer unique, necessary perspectives into these archival pursuits -- this opportunity would be inaccessible were it unpaid. Many students can’t afford to work for free. I answered that, while there are many steps an archives can take to support student activism and document these corners of student life, by not paying students for documentation or research, an archive creates a barrier for access and excludes the brightest, most marginalized students on campus from sharing their perspectives and benefiting from the enormous opportunity that archival work has to offer.

To University Archivists interested in the above: Apply for grants to fund student projects. Find funding for student staff members to do research, outreach, and modern materials collection.

Archives are a place for activism, for students to reclaim campus memory as their own. Do yourself and the student body a favor -- create more positions like mine and spread the archives love inside the reading room and beyond.

-- Rena Yehuda Newman (They/Them), Student Historian in Residence 2018-19

Marstine, J. (Ed) (2006). New museum theory and practice: An introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Notes:

Museums are so ubiquitous/omnipresent in our  ‘“cultural landscape that they frame our most basic assumptions about the past and about ourselves”.

A lot of people’s perceptions of history are based of what is displayed in museums. This can be dangerous as it can manipulate and focus people’s mindsets, not allowing for alternate and contradicting histories - Hiroshima vs Enola Gay.

Huge controversy over who the items may belong to - a lot of Maori taonga was confiscated and taken and is not connected to its whakapapa. These such items on display have tikanga surrounding how it should be handled etc.. te papa enforced the mana taonga principle to ensure cultural significance and history are taken into consideration when dealing with taonga. Tribal elders are also asked for advice. Other places do not have respect for the items in their possession or do not care that they are reunited with their whakapapa - what ever culture they may be from. Such as the elgin marbles of greece who are in in the possession of the British Museum where they refuse to return them - stating that they were “rescued” and that the british are keeping them still to guard against damage from the neglect, earthquakes and pollution they might face in greece. Timothy webb says that they have come to represent britain as the “inheritor of democracy from ancient athens” and in turn, justifying their “political” decisions such as “colonisation and domination of other peoples”. Greece is seeing this as a humans rights issue- sculptures were gained through illicit means (stolen) and they are being denied of their heritage.

We see museum objects as ‘unmediated anchors to the past’ - teachers often take students to museums making real of the things talked about in class.

But they’re not authentic a lot of the time, museums are about individuals making subjective choices - mission statements, architecture, exhibition display etc.. what is meant to be a neutral space is influenced by ‘subconscious’ opinions.

What does it mean for something to be ‘authentic’? “Claiming authenticity is a way for museums to deny the imperialist and patriarchal structures that have informed their institutions. They control the viewing process and suggest a tightly woven narrative of progress, an ‘authentic’ mirror of history.

Andreas Huyssen believes that museums are a mass medium, “a hybrid space somewhere between public fair and department store”. ‘They are a response to the quest for authenticity fueled by the cultural amnesia of our times; the information overload and fast pace of the digital revolution evoke a desire for stability and timelessness.

Museums are well trusted, american association of museums survey, 87% deem museums trustworthy vs 67% books and %50 tv news.

New museum theory (critical museum theory/new museology) - while workers ‘naturalise’ their policies and procedures as professional practice, the decisions made reflect underlying value systems that are encoded in institutional narratives. Its about decolonising and giving those represented control of their own cultural heritage (mana taonga principle) real cross-cultural exchange. 1960s artists began to demand a voice in determining how their works were displayed, interpreted and conserved. The civil rights movement challenged the museum to be more inclusive.

What is a museum? These categories are not mutually exclusive and overlap.

Shrine: longest standing and most traditional view of the museum is as a sacred place. Has therapeutic properties, place of sanctuary removed from the outside world.collections are fetishised, objects ‘possess’ an aura that offers spiritual enlightenment. Leads people to assign meanings to objects unrelated to their original function. Objects are prioritised over ideas. Collections are thought to be reborn in museums, where they are better guarded and more appreciated. The shrine idea is influence by church, palace and ancient temple architecture - processional pathways, staircases, dramatic lighting.. Create and performative experience. ‘All museums stage their collected and preserved relics… (museums) use theatrical effects to enhance a belief in the historicity of the objects they collect.’ - Prezoisi.

market-driven industry: museums often position themselves as being ‘pure’ and unsullied by commercialisation. Obviously people understand the items are valuable but this information is usually hush hush - would commoditise the objects. Heritage and tourism are collaborative tourism. Museums have borrowed from the theme park and cinema to create a spectacle that engages all the senses.

colonising space: often look to/reference a postcolonial (eurocentric perspective) history. Appropriate objects from non-western cultures to tell their own history. Naturalise the category of ‘primitive’. Indigenous individuals were rarely acknowledged - seen as following conventions while ‘original’ western artists were seen as groundbreaking and intellectuals. Destroys rather than preserves. UNESCO declared that repatriation is a basic human right. Mansuline gaze

Post-museum: no longer a museum. Will acknowledge the politics of representation, actively seeks to share power with the communities it serves and the source communities. Encourages diverse groups to respond in museum discourse. Curator takes responsibility for representation. Doesn’t shy away from difficult issues but exposes conflict and contradictions. Redress social inequalities. Promote social understanding. Responsibility always rests with the researcher

Greater accountability, sensitivity and openness

Michel foulcault - epistemes -

Renaissance:15/16/17th century humanist desire to understand the world through seeking universal knowledge.science over theology. Finding relationships between objects, microcosm of god. Curiosity cabinet - mediates between the microcosm of humankind and the macrocosm of god and the universe. Precursor of the museum to represent the world in miniature - was private though

Classical: mid 18th century world was too complex, chaotic and fragmented to be contained in the cabinets. Linnean taxonomy classifies the natural world by genus and species. Repositories, study collections that were privated were founded for scholarly research. The rare in the laws of nature was rejected and seen as uncharacteristic or were made to fit in. displays were linear and embrace an ideology of progress.

modern: late 18th century marks the end of elitist institution and beginning of democracy. Military practice became standard. Biology and philosophy arose. Disciplinary public museum  -accessible to all. Aimed to fashion modern citizens. Art was royal, aristocratic or ecclesiastical contexts and reclaimed national patrimony and democratise and secularise the viewer. Temporary exhibitions were formed to celebrate napoleon's birthday.

(can’t change) Many believe museums still conform to this modern model. They may create new spaces and exhibitions for consumptions but at heart, remain elitist institutions. The decision making process often refrains from scrutinising their own histories. Continue to attract (more art galleries) an educated upper and middle class audience, often times remaining irrelevant to marginalised groups. They aim to generate consensus rather than conveying differing perspectives. Curators are above education department. Quantitative vs qualitative.

Are museums able to change or are they becoming obsolete?

(can change) they can because deconstructing the traditional value systems in just the beginning. Can occupy a third space, beyond elitism and consumerism. Some curators are eager to share power by initiating open dialogue and forging new partnerships with groups previously disenfranchised. There are many organisations that are taking diverse approaches to the representation of race, ethnicity, class and gender. Time of the museum as a ‘great collector’ is past. Provenance is important to consider!! Finding culturally sensitive ways to treat non-western objects. Museum is more than a material collection - a lot are still stuck with this. FORUM.

Biggest change comes with the relationship between institution and audience - should be equal. Some are supporting educational research that theorised the museum experience. Acknowledging diverse learning, lectures, performances, videos, workshops etc…

Constitionaries

Visitors must be critical about the choices made by museums.

a new map of berlin, 2

I am an inexperienced cyclist. As far as possible, I avoid Berlin’s main arteries and stick to the backstreets. Bike lanes constricted by car traffic, tram tracks and intrusion from roadworks and heavy construction make me nervous, so my routes are often haphazard interconnections of empty footpaths, public and corporate plätze, service alleys, old river wharves, canal towpaths, open-ended altbauten courtyards and gravelled paths through neighbourhood parks. Such journeys, shaped by inadvertent opportunity and a willingness to get lost, are difficult to map but over the past few months, they’ve taken me to some of the city’s more arcane, imaginative recesses. The topography of Berlin is pitted, scraped and always under repair. Thoroughfares are obstructed by thermo-plastic barriers, corrugated tin and plywood boardwalks, and wire fencing; multi-story refurbishments are masked by scaffolding and canvas. Then there are these voids – rubbled lots, hollowed-out structures, abandoned excavations, remnant concrete slabs – that the Mexican writer, Valeria Luiselli, refers to in Sidewalks, her compact collection of essays, as relingos. For Luiselli, a relingo “is an ambiguous space, a piece of waste ground without defined borders or limiting fences, a species of plot on the margins of metropolitan life, even if it is physically to be found in the very center of a city…” In Berlin, relingos are everywhere but these “urban absences” (Luiselli again) are not always by-products of careless real estate development, inconvenient off-cuts of speculative metropolitan subdivisions. They can be scar-tissue — of horrific mid-20th military destruction, of forced ideological segregation — unwanted fragments of no man’s lands. They can be reminders of pasts still too close for comfort. If my bike journeys in the city are shaped by anything, it’s curiosity about these spaces. On one of my first long rides across the city, north to the Turkish working class neighbourhood of Wedding along Gartenstrasse, past the walled Park am Nordbahnhof, itself a reclaimed relingo at the edge of what was once a death zone on the East Berlin side of the Wall, to a towpath along the cambered, fin-de-siècle bricked banks of the Panke, a thin tributary of the Spree River, I noticed disused, neglected spaces wedged into nearly every block. But it wasn’t until I ventured south-east, across the Spree itself, to Köpenicker Strasse, along the boundary between Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, that I saw similar spaces co-opted as squatted encampments, vegetable gardens, makeshift markets, and open-air craft workshops, sharing street access with metal pipe and plastics factories and grimy post-war warehouses repurposed as artists’ ateliers, photography studios and industrial-chic offices for tech’ start-ups. In Berlin’s east, relingos are fertile territory for experimentation: fluid, immersive social alternatives, re-construed and resurfaced as resistance against a future being shaped elsewhere in the city by a newly acquired enthusiasm for capitalism. Whole blocks of erasure — or disused buildings, several stories high — have been abstracted with swathes of aerated acrylic, monochrome paste-ups, oversized sculpture, and improvisatory architecture and landscaping, to suggest a more thoughtful, human approach to urban occupation than the callous, antiseptic redevelopment the city’s planners probably have in mind. An acquaintance of mine, Matthias Gephart, a.k.a. Disturbanity, has appropriated several of these spaces for large-scale artworks that, in a few cases, are as recognisable — and as elemental to the persona of the city — as der Berliner Fernsehturm, Berlin’s television tower, the bulbous, phallic hold-over from a ‘60s, Jetson-like Soviet vision of a space-age future. The experience of these works, in situ, can be unsettling: some infect rather than impose, hinting at toxic, viral, post-industrial decay, but others might be read as arcane cryptography, feral clues to secret escape routes, maybe, like the tunnels once dug under Berlin’s infamous wall, ways out if what passes for modern civilisation suddenly goes tits up. The improvised ubiquity of Berlin’s street art is sometimes used as an argument against its relevance and value —and against Berlin’s insistent claim to be taken seriously as an art city. But its practitioners are very serious, exploring themes that echo those of older, more venerated, post-war German artists, Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter come to mind, in whose works the jagged national traumas of Nazism, followed by the totalitarian Communist re-configuring of East Germany, still reverberate. There’s also a sardonic humour, a stiff, paint-stippled middle finger jabbing the rectum of a too-formal German art and design establishment. But there’s no ignoring the simmering rage — dark, non-specific, frustrated — because, let’s face it, the Sisyphean challenge facing every German artist under 50, whatever their medium, is to cut through the murk of their 20th century history and gain not just some clarity but maybe even that ugliest and most dangerous of German ideals, purity, and so be able to see another way ahead. Then again, given the weight of more recent history, maybe the way just isn’t there. In which case, a darker interpretation of what I’ve come across in Berlin’s relingos, contradicting the inherent optimism of Germany’s youthful popular culture, might make even more sense.

First published in The Learned Pig, UK, 2016.