Opportunities and Events
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PAST EVENTS
Shy Radicals
Free film screening + Q&A
Still from ‘Shy Radicals’ by Hamja Ahsan and Black Dog Films
As part of Social Art Library's 'Storytelling for Artists' season, we are delighted to present Shy Radicals by Hamja Ahsan and Black Dog Films.
Taking place on 5 May 2021, from 7pm, Shy Radicals is a portrait of Hamja Ahsan and the story behind his remarkable book and satiricalmanifesto, which calls for all shy, quiet, and introverted people to unify and overthrowExtrovert-Supremacy.
In his book Shy Radicals, Hamja Ahsan has not simply created an artwork, he has created a worldthat blurs the boundaries between creator and creation, between real life and the life of theimagination, between reality and an imagined fiction in which he is a leading character.
The documentary follows Hamja as he deals with the trauma and despair of his brother’s extraditioncase, whilst traveling the world inspiring and educating others through creativity and activism.
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-art-library-presentsshy-radicals-film-qa-tickets-149676890609
About HAMja
Hamja Ahsan is an artist, writer, activist and curator based in London and Maastricht. He is the author of the book Shy Radicals: Antisystemic Politics of the Militant Introvert. He was recently awarded the Grand Prize at Ljubljana Biennial 2019 for the art work Aspergistan Referendum based on this project. He is founder and co-curator of the DIY Cultures festival of creative activism, zines and independent publishing since 2013. He was shortlisted for the Liberty human rights award for Free Talha Ahsan campaign on extradition and detention without trial under the War on Terror. His recent writing was anthologised in No Colour Bar: Black Art in Action 1960-1990 and Awkwoods: Daniel Oliver’s Dyspraxic Adventures in Participatory Performance. He is a director on a project on the role of zines in the Hillsborough Justice campaign, Britain’s largest police cover up. He has presented art projects at PS1 MOMA New York Art book week, Tate Modern, Gwangju Biennale, Shaanakht festival Pakistan and and CCA Warsaw Poland. His practice encompasses all media: conceptual writing, building archives, performance, video, sound and making zines. He is currently a resident artist at Jan Van Eyck Academy 2020-2021 in Netherlands. He is on the editorial board of the Radical Mental Health magazine Asylum.
About Tom Dream (Black Dog Films)
Signed to Ridley Scott’s Black Dog Films, director Tom Dream’s expertise lies in collaboration, working closely with artists to create truly original music videos and documentary films.
Style-nostalgia, nature, and psychology are recurring themes that feature strongly in Tom's work, with a passion for capturing ongoing stories as they unfold, illuminating the people behind the music and unpicking human dynamics.
Tom has a background in music and psychology and currently lives in a 1970s location house in Margate.
Don’t miss out! Book your free place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-art-library-presentsshy-radicals-film-qa-tickets-149676890609
The CREative UNDERClass
Free Talk with Tyler Denmead
Photo credit: https://newurbanarts.org/
Social Art Library are delighted to announce a FREE online talk and Q&A with Tyler Denmead, founder of New Urban Arts, Providence and lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.
The talk will draw on Tyler’s book, The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race, and The Gentrifying City (Duke University Press, 2019) which critically examines his paradoxical role as the founder of an American-based arts studio for youth. Some young people have credited the studio with providing transformative educational experiences, whilst, at the same time, acting as a gentrifying force in their neighbourhoods. Denmead will discuss how the concept of the creative underclass is useful in understanding this paradox and the ways in which young people refuse gentrification and its troubling racial logics. The introduction to the book can be read for free using the link above.
The event will take place from 7 - 8pm GMT on 14 April. Places are limited, so sign up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment using the Eventbrite link provided.
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-creative-underclass-with-tyler-denmead-tickets-145301267001
STorytelling for artists
Bursary holders announced!
Social Art Library and Axis are delighted to announce that the following artists have been selected to receive a bursary to take part in the ‘Storytelling for Artists’ masterclass series with Debs Newbold.
Letty McHugh
Gimara Duncan-Rice
Wendy Charlton
Elspeth Penfold
Monicah Becoming
Matthew J Dowell
Sille Kima
Lucy Hutchinson
Christopher Jarratt
Helen Nelson
M Sorya
A huge congratulations to all those selected and we can’t wait to work with you over the next few weeks.
Register now for online event
Debs Newbold in ‘King Lear Retold’
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-for-artists-101-with-debs-newbold-tickets-141803364681
About this Event
'Storytelling for Artists 101' is a free talk by Debs Newbold which provides an introduction to storytelling and some important practical guidance to help you tell your story as effectively as possible.
The ‘Storytelling for Artists’ programme is a Social Art Library event, in conjunction with Axis and Social Art Network and was created to help social artists develop their narrative-making towards documenting and archiving their practice in the Social Art Library.
The event will be held on Zoom - details will be sent to registered participants closer to the time.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-for-artists-101-with-debs-newbold-tickets-141803364681
Why storytelling?
We think that the stories of social practice are vital and packed with learnings, for ourselves and the wider sector! Too often, social art suffers from a lack of visibility, but the history of social art is too important to leave to others to define for us. We also believe that sharing our stories has a value for artists beyond the limitations of writing project evaluation reports.
The Social Art Library aims to be the first really comprehensive resource for and about social practice in collaboration with artists and the communities they work with. We are open to submissions from all artists who work with people—and the communities and organisations they work with (you can share your work here).
However, we know that telling the story of your work can be challenging and we want to support artists to create narratives that are congruent with their values as practitioners, as well as being potentially beneficial to the development and sharing of their practice.
About Debs Newbold
Debs is an award winning theatre artist based in London and West Yorkshire. She is an actor, director, writer and performance storyteller working across a range of theatre forms, with a love of work that playfully explores performer-audience relationships. Recent collaborations include Shakespeare's Globe, the BBC, Red Ladder, Rose Theatre Kingston, the Royal Opera House. Her solo pieces have played venues as diverse as the Royal Opera House, the British Library, the Southbank Centre, Hay Festival and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, as well as many prestigious theatres and festivals in the UK, US and Europe. You can find out more about her work here.
Any questions?
Just drop us a line at: librarian@socialartlibrary.org.