Through a Wall: The Role of the Artist, Activist and Academic in Addressing Belief and Conflict
Panel discussion. Weds April 29th, 6 – 8pm,
Anatomy Museum, King’s College London, Strand Campus, WC2R
What are the different ways in which people experience and relate to conflict? How do you cross borders of belief to understand ideologies that feel like a threat?
What tools do artists, writers, activists and academics use to narrate, reflect on – or confront – the increasing presence of walls within the collective human experience? How transformative are these approaches in addressing conflict, creating shifts – and communicating through walls?
A trans-disciplinary panel in conversation with guest contributors and attendees will address and reflect on these questions. The event will also serve as an occasion for presenting Through a Wall, a collaborative art project in development, led by Alinah Azadeh, Craig Larkin and Paula Serafini, currently supported by the Cultural Institute at King’s and Urban Dialogues at 3FF.
Through A Wall Fine Cut from Paul William Craddock on Vimeo.
Presentations will be followed by a wine reception. Attendance is free but places are limited. For further information and to register, click here .
Through A Wall is a cross-platform art project exploring the complexities of conflict as a universal human experience and its relationship to belief. The project will centre on a large-scale ‘Wall’ installation; embedded with a collection of texts and objects created through direct work with community/campaigning groups, or submitted online from divided cities across the globe. Once full, the Wall will then inspire a collective recital/performance, before the public are invited to ‘un-make’ the wall – taking a piece away to keep, until nothing is left, in a act of symbolic deconstruction and dissemination.
- Alinah Azadeh is an artist working internationally across installation, sculpture, performance and the digital. Often involving the public in acts of gift, exchange and ritual, her works create dialogue around the nature of our social and personal identities.
- Craig Larkin is a lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) King’s College London and deputy director of the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies. He holds a PhD in Middle East Studies, and MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a BA (Hons) in Law and Politics.
- Paula Serafini is a PhD candidate in the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries at King’s College London, where she is conducting ethnographic research on performance-based art activist practices in the UK.
