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Art is Life Talk
Talk
Talk
το θυμωμένο πορτρέτο, Ioannina, Greece
12/16
12/16
To open the Art Is Life exhibition at to Thymoméno portréto, Greece, I gave a talk about the context that gave rise to the exhibition and wider engagement programs at nearby Katsikas Refugee camp.

Talks as an invitation to engage

The talk was an open invitation for discussion about the wider topics raised by the exhibition and an intentional opportunity for residents from the camp to meet and mix with cultural leaders and local residents in Ioannina.

Talks as an invitation to act

My talk also invited locals in Ioannina to get involved in the cultural engagement programs that I was co-creating with residents from the camp.

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Ioannina University

Stathis Papastathopoulos, Senior Professor within Department of Philosophy, Education, Psychology at Ioannina University gave a talk in English and Greek about the exhibition.

Creative networking

Residents from Katsikas refugee camp joined in the discussions and various musicians, photographers and thinkers from the camp spoke about their experiences and gave a musical concert.

Talks

Talking about Casual Terms at Encounters Film Festival at The Watershed Cinema Bristol in 2020
I have given talks to art and pedagogy students at various universities, colleges and schools in the UK and internationally.

I talk about my work at art galleries and artist run studios and to filmmakers and public audiences at film festivals.

I have also talked about my work and research process to museology and heritage professionals, researchers and the public in historic sites and online.

The role of giving talks in reflexive practice

Talking about the way in which I construct ideas and meaning in my work to public audiences is a really big part of how I refine and develop processes and outcomes.

Discussing the social and participatory relevance of my work and practice with different audiences opens up new interpretative dimensions.

Why talks and discussion shape the work

It’s a way for me to gain feedback on how work is encountered when shown completely out of context and to reflect on the framework in which the work was originally made and/or shown.

Talking to different audiences on acknowledged platforms honours and acknowledges the people who co-created the work who permit the work to be viewed, discussed and shared in public.

Talks, context and critical connections

Talking about my artistic practice and the wider themes to a range of people in different contexts often opens up the work to new or connected theoretical influences and critical frameworks.

Whilst I situate my work within the context of socially engaged art, there are processes and elements within my work and wider practice that resonate with different fields such as psychology, social research and museology.

By giving talks to diverse people in a range of settings I also gain further insight into the ways in which different contexts, institutions and specific fields of study shape and influence how culture is made and re-made generally.

Talks, legacy and change

Offering work (whether in hindsight or in progress) up for discussion and encouraging a range of perspectives to reflect and comment on the work is also a way of evolving the ethical considerations.

It is also an important way for the work to have greater reach and increases the opportunity for greater legacy since my work and working process seek more than symbolic change.