The Subject of Study – collaboration in Research and Artistic practice

Thursday 17 November 2016 from midday

School of Arts Languages and Cultures Graduate School Atrium, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester Manchester School of Art,  Ormond Building Council Chamber, All Saints Campus, Manchester Metropolitan University

‘The Subject of Study – Collaboration in Research and Artistic Practice’ is aimed at exploring research collaborations in academic and artistic practice. The conference opens with an afternoon of researcher lead discussion, exploring different forms of collaborative practice and relationships between the agency of individuals engaged in collaborative research and the institutional or disciplinary context in which they operate. This is followed by an early evening Reception and Keynote by artist, writer and educator, Anthony Luvera  whose work explores tensions between authorship (or artistic control) and participation, and the ethics involved in representing other people’s lives.

The Subject of Study is hosted by Common Ground, an interdisciplinary research network aimed at fostering dialogue between researchers and communities who are the subject of research, with a particular focus on the northern and border counties of Ireland. Common Ground seeks to extend dialogue across disciplines and beyond regional boundaries and has designed this conference to be of interest to researchers working in similarly contested territories or contexts. This free event is open to emerging and established academics, independent scholars and interested members of the public and may be of particular interest to Post Graduate Researchers in the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Irish Studies, Drama and Performing Arts and Screen Studies. Please note that Common Ground is planning a conference in Belfast for 2017 and will be talking about our plans and inviting interest during the course of this event.

Image: Documentation of making of Assisted Self-Portrait of Ben Evans from Assembly (2013-2014) by Anthony Luvera

Programme

12:00-13:00 Registrations and Networking Lunch (to be held at the School of Arts Languages and Cultures Graduate School Atrium, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester)

13:00-15:30 Facilitated Small Discussion Groups (to be held at the School of Arts Languages and Cultures Graduate School Conference Room C1.18, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester)

Delegates draw on their own research practice to explore ethics, methodology and questions of public interest arising from relationships between research, researchers and subjects of study, asking:

– What is my relationship to the subject of my study? (ethics: power dynamics, private/public, duty of care)
– What is my process of inquiry to my subject of study? What is my position to my subject of study? (methodology: crtical distance)
– What is the public interest in my subject of study? (public interest: form of presentation, purpose of study, contribution to field of knowledge)

Facilitators

Ann Carragher (Fine Art Lecturer, School of Creative Arts, Blackpool and The Fylde College)

Elizabeth de Young (Editor Liverpool Postgraduate Journal of Irish Studies. Doctoral Researcher, University of Liverpool)

Jamie Holman (Artist, writer, lecturer)

Sandra Plummer (Research Associate, UCL Slade School of Fine Art)

Fearghus Roulston (Doctoral Researcher, University of Brighton)

Discussant

Anthony Luvera (Artist. Principal Lecturer and Course Director of Photography, Coventry University)

 

15:30-16:00 Open planning meeting for Common Ground 2017 Conference in Belfast (to be held at the School of Arts Languages and Cultures Graduate School Conference Room C1.18, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester). Find out about our plans and how to bring your ideas and interests into the planning process

17:00-17:30 Reception and Keynote Registration (to be held in the Ormond Building Council Chamber, All Saints Campus, Manchester Metropolitan University, Lower Ormond Street. Manchester, M15 6BX)

17:30–19:00 Keynote,  Anthony Luvera, Artist (to be held in the Ormond Building Council Chamber, All Saints Campus, Manchester Metropolitan University, Lower Ormond Street. Manchester, M15 6BX)

Through his work and the relationships upon which it is based, Anthony Luvera is interested in exploring the tension between authorship (or artistic control) and participation, and the ethics involved in representing other people’s lives. Anthony will present a recent body of work, Assembly,  created in Brighton between 2013 and 2014, where people used cameras and digital sound recorders to capture their experience of homelessness. Later, in conversation with PGR, creative producer and former director of Belfast Exposed, Pauline Hadaway, Anthony will talk about his work creating long-term photographic projects with people experiencing homelessness in cities and towns across the UK, including the on going Assisted Self Portraits project and Residency, exhibited in 2008 by Belfast Exposed, which featured a series of assisted self-portraits made over a sixteen-month period in the city.

Chair: Fionna Barber (Lecturer, Art History, Manchester School of Art – Manchester Metropolitan University)

7 pm – Conference ends

Anthony Luvera is an artist and writer. His work has been exhibited in galleries, public spaces and festivals including London Underground’s Art on the Underground, the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery London, Belfast Exposed Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, Malmö Fotobiennal, PhotoIreland, Goa International Photography Festival, and Les Rencontres d’Arles Photographie.

His writing appears in a wide range of publications, including Photoworks, Source and Photographies. Anthony is Principal Lecturer and Course Director of Photography at Coventry University. He gives workshops and talks for the Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery, The Photographers’ Gallery, the Barbican Art Gallery, and community photography projects across the UK.

This event has been made possible through the generous support of the University of Manchester’s artsmethods and the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership.