As a part of this city-wide exhibition the Oriental Museum hosts an installation comprising two projected screens at each end of the South Asia gallery (level 2) which present two artworks interwoven together. They focus on Bangladesh which is predicted to undergo levels of flooding that may submerge a quarter of its land over the next few decades or so due to climate change. The unsustainable industrial forces behind this catastrophic forecast are in sharp contrast to the incredibly advanced and sustainable ancient civilization in the Indus Valley, objects from which are displayed here in cases nearby.
Climate Refugees by Shahidul Alam
A photographer and social activist of considerable international stature, Shahidul has founded a number of striking photography initiatives such as the Majority World photo agency, the multimedia organisation Drik and the Chobi Mela international festival. Based in Bangladesh, one of the ongoing threads in his work is that of migration which becomes coupled with the environmental challenges from climate change.
He writes, “Bangladeshis living in the low lying coastal regions of the country are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change. In the absence of physical shelters, often living in abject poverty and generally lacking support from the state or other actors, they have to depend upon themselves for survival. This often requires relocation to areas of relative safety, where they have even fewer rights then on their own land.” In this set of twenty-one photographs, he combines documentary photography with elements of landscape and portraiture, the narrative in his compositions underpinned by written text forming a carefully observed and poetic reportage.
“Shahidul Alam poses displacement, land tenure and environmental change as central to precarious lives for the majority world. Some call this majority the precariat, a new ‘class’ living in deepening conditions of political, economic and environmental uncertainty.” Dr Andrew Baldwin, Geography Dept, Durham University.
Resilience by Apu Chowdhury and Murad Chowdhury
co-produced by digital artist Maya Chowdhry
An artwork which augments the Climate Refugees photographs by Shahidul Alam using additional photography and video, creating transitional imagery bringing the photographs into a semi-urban grittiness colliding with raw objects and elements associated with environmental deterioration such as bottles, tarmac and soil. Created collaboratively between theatre practitioner Apu and emerging photographer Murad who are UK-based Bangladeshis, the artists posture that Bangladesh must continue to be resilient to survive.
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Presented as a part of the city-wide Footprint Modulation exhibition by Metaceptive Projects and Media, in partnership with the international conference ‘Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics and Invention’ at Durham University 28th June – 1st July 2015 www.durhamconference.eu
News release Groundbreaking exhibition taking place across Durham International artists, researchers, communities and local activists are combining forces using art to push climate change up the agenda in a groundbreaking exhibition titled Footprint Modulation, which takes place in multiple venues across Durham City from Friday 5 June.
The exhibition focuses on the growing impact that climate change will have on humans by forcing people to abandon their homes and migrate. Artworks have been carefully selected to underline the theme of climate change and migration, including a piece by renowned award-winning Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam who is exhibiting for the first time in the North East.
Taking place in Durham City from 5th June – 5th July, with a preview evening on Thursday 4th June 6 – 8pm at Durham Art Gallery, the exhibition is spread across five venues including Durham’s Oriental Museum, the Empty Shop artists’ studios, Durham University and the magnificent Durham Miners’ Hall. Artists from across the world including New York, Zimbabwe and Iran are represented, giving the exhibition a truly international vision.
As part of the month-long exhibition, from Saturday 27- Sunday 28th June a series of talks, activities and screenings will highlight the topics of climate change and human migration. Events include a performance night hosted by London based activists Platform and local activists Transition Durham on Sunday 28th June 7 – 11pm at Empty Shop HQ. During the evening Transition Durham will premier their divestment film, which forms part of their campaign demanding that Durham University divests away from fossil fuel companies. They hope that Durham will follow in the inspiring footsteps of Glasgow University who have already set a precedent.
The exhibition at the Miners’ Hall will also give visitors a rare opportunity to see historic paintings and murals permanently housed there, as well as its little-changed nineteenth century council chamber. Referring to the exhibition Dave Hopper, the General Secretary of Durham Miners’ Association, said, “We want to be able to reflect our concerns with pressing humanitarian issues and conflicts of our time across the world, and the exhibition is a part of that.”
The exhibition culminates in an international conference hosted by Durham University on climate-induced migration, titled ‘Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics, Invention’. This concludes four years of cutting edge workshops by leading researchers across Europe and also sets the theme for the exhibition. The chair of the conference Dr Andrew Baldwin said: “When people think of climate change they don’t make any connections with migration, yet migration is probably the biggest human consequence in a truly devastating way for people who are forced to leave their homes and livelihoods. Getting it on the agenda is way overdue, and this art exhibition is a great way to do that.”
This integration of local grassroots involvement alongside art, research and activism at multiple levels – including people from diverse backgrounds – is essential for Footprint Modulation artistic director Kooj Chuhan and his company Metaceptive.
Kooj Chuhan said: “It’s amazing to be showing thought-provoking work by international artists, but more than that the exhibition connects people with the art, the research and the subject of climate change and migration in an active way. People can get involved with worldwide issues right here in the Durham locality.
“The way art is produced, distributed and consumed generally becomes distant from our lives and our control, it’s hard to really connect with it. Footprint Modulation, with its provocative focus, manages to integrate with peoples lives, activities, issues and discussions at an unusually high level.”
It is hoped that local involvement will leave a lasting legacy, encouraging more work – like that on show at Footprint Modulation – to be possible from the relationships formed and the experience and skills gained.
For more information, images or interview requests, please contact:
Dr Charlotte Lee, PR support for Footprint Modulation
email c.e.lee[at]durham.ac.uk or use the Contact page
Warm weather, recycling and oil are three of the many things that come to mind when we think of climate change, but how about migration? Top researchers say its likely to be the largest human consequence of climate change, and it’s now bringing together an unlikely set of partnerships in Durham. International artists, researchers, communities and local activists are combining forces using art to push climate change up the agenda in a groundbreaking exhibition titled Footprint Modulation, which takes place in multiple venues across Durham City from Friday 5 June.
Artworks include a photo-documentary series titled ‘Climate Refugees’ by renowned award-winning Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam, who is exhibiting for the first time in the North East. Platform, the leading UK-based arts and activism organisation, are both exhibiting and performing. Other artists from across the world including New York, Zimbabwe and Iran are represented, giving the exhibition a truly international vision. Climate change, which is often seen in purely environmental terms, is given a human face by artists from diverse backgrounds who provoke us to connect with human realities in other countries, in particular the growing impact that climate change will have by forcing us to abandon our homes and migrate.
Taking place in Durham City from 5th June – 5th July, with a preview evening on Thursday 4th June 6 – 8pm at Durham Art Gallery, the exhibition is spread across five contrasting venues including Durham’s Oriental Museum, the Empty Shop artists’ studios, Durham University and the magnificent Durham Miners’ Hall.
As part of the month-long exhibition, from Saturday 27- Monday 29th June a series of talks, activities and screenings will highlight the topics of climate change and human migration. Events include a performance night hosted by London based artist-activists Platform and local activists Transition Durham on Sunday 28th June 7 – 11pm at Empty Shop HQ. At this event, alongside their section of the exhibition, Platform use film and performance to mark the 20th anniversary of the execution of environmental Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and highlight the corruption in global oil. During the evening while Transition Durham will premier their divestment film, which forms part of their campaign demanding that Durham University divests away from fossil fuel companies. They hope that Durham will follow in the inspiring footsteps of Glasgow University who have already set a precedent.
Other events include a debate at Durham Miners’ Hall around the thorny areas of workers’ rights, fossil fuels and the miners involving writer, ex-miner and trade unionist Dave Douglass who previously collaborated with Turner prize artist Jeremy Deller. The exhibition at the Miners’ Hall will also give visitors a rare opportunity to see historic paintings and murals permanently housed there, as well as its little-changed nineteenth century council chamber. Referring to the exhibition Dave Hopper, the General Secretary of Durham Miners’ Association, said, “We want to be able to reflect our concerns with pressing humanitarian issues and conflicts of our time across the world, and the exhibition is a part of that.”
The exhibition culminates in an international conference hosted by Durham University on climate-induced migration, titled ‘Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics, Invention’. This concludes four years of cutting edge workshops by leading researchers across Europe and also sets the theme for the exhibition. The chair of the conference Dr Andrew Baldwin said: “When people think of climate change they don’t make any connections with migration, yet migration is probably the biggest human consequence in a truly devastating way for people who are forced to leave their homes and livelihoods. Getting it on the agenda is way overdue, and this art exhibition is a great way to do that.” A discussion about new approaches to art, research and activism at Durham Art Gallery will include researcher Andrew Telford of Durham University adding perspectives on how climate change is likely to affect Durham county and city itself.
The exhibition brings together a range of partners and participants and this integration of local grassroots involvement alongside art, research and activism at multiple levels is essential for Footprint Modulation artistic director Kooj Chuhan and his company Metaceptive.
Kooj Chuhan said: “It’s amazing to be showing thought-provoking work by international artists, but more than that the exhibition connects people with the art, the research and the subject of climate change and migration in an active way. People can get involved with worldwide issues right here in the Durham locality.
It is hoped that local involvement will leave a lasting legacy, encouraging more work – like that on show at Footprint Modulation – to be possible from the relationships formed and the experience and skills gained.
For more information, images or interview requests, please contact:
Dr Charlotte Lee, PR support for Footprint Modulation
email c.e.lee[at]durham.ac.uk or use the Contact page
FOOTPRINT MODULATION: GALLERY OF IMAGES AVAILABLE FOR PRESS USE
Please enquire if you wish a high-resolution version of any of the images below. Click on any image to view sequence as large slides.
Further information and profiles of activists, contributors and collaborators involved with the Footprint Modulation project will be available here shortly.
Artists and their work are organised into the following categories based on the venues they are exhibited in, and also a category for the film and the performance. Click on one of the four categories for more details.
Silence Would Be Treason
by Platform EXIT
by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro
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Presented as a part of the city-wide Footprint Modulation exhibition by Metaceptive Projects and Media, in partnership with the international conference ‘Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics and Invention’ at Durham University 28th June – 1st July 2015 www.durhamconference.eu
Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics, Invention
Durham University, UK from 28th June – 1st July, 2015
Concluding the Footprint Modulation art exhibition with social and political contexts and research.
PLUS the sister film to the above which focuses on the creative and humanising expression of the subject
(contains less than 5 mins in total of footage shared with the above film):
FILM DOCUMENTARY ON ART, MIGRATION AND DISPLACEMENT:
THE FOOTPRINT MODULATION PROJECT (28 mins)
Human migration and the environment are two of the most pressing issues of our times. But what is stake when these two phenomena are articulated as a singular relation? By asking this and many other questions, this conference provides a multidisciplinary forum for scholars, policymakers, practitioners and artists to chart out the next generation of research on human migration and the environment. The aim of the conference is to expand the debate on human migration and the environment beyond its current configuration as a problem of causation, law and policy towards a more pluralist debate that acknowledges the multidimensional nature of environmental change and migration. The conference subthemes – ‘futures’, ‘politics’ and ‘invention’ – will consider issues of knowledge, power and innovation the context of human migration and environmental change. The conference should appeal to social scientists, humanities and legal scholars as well as to scientists committed to working with and within the social sciences, humanities and law.
The website at www.durhamconference.eu will keep you up to date with the latest news and developments for the conference as well as providing the details for registration.
This conference Climate Change and Migration is sponsored by COST Action IS1101 climate change and migration: knowledge, law and policy, and theory.
CROSSING FOOTPRINTS generates creative production towards action for human rights, environment, equality and wellbeing. More than ever before there is a realisation that change is needed, that structures which prevent change have to be both exposed and radically altered, and that we need to understand the long view of how we got here.
We are a newly formed Community Interest Company based in Manchester and London, involving a network of mostly BAME members and freelance professionals with strong and diverse track records. Our work is built on over 30 years of collaboration and activity led by our director Kooj Chuhan in various capacities such as our precursor organisation Metaceptive Projects and the artist collective Virtual Migrants. This includes award winning projects connecting race, migration and climate change, and work that has been shown across the UK and internationally. Heritage projects include a recent collaboration with the Southern Voices group exploring WWI and the British Colonies, and a number of projects with First Cut Media focusing on the African and Caribbean communities in and around the Moss Side and Hulme areas of Manchester.
Crossing Footprints has just completed a major 2021 project titled Climate Connections, a new digital arts project raising awareness about climate change and enabling diverse, migrant and working class local people from Oldham to have a voice in the environmental movement. Local people taking part are also connected with people in Bremen and Hamburg in Germany, through Oldham’s participation in the ‘Building Bridges’ programme connecting libraries and their communities between different part of Europe. https://crossingfootprints.com/climate-connections/
We have also collaborated with Community Arts North West to deliver a programme of arts and culture ‘Welcome’ events and workshops across a set of nine Greater Manchester Libraries that have recently been awarded ‘Libraries Of Sanctuary’ status. Short media projects in 2021 include a dramatic monologue set during WWII referencing the Palestinian experience by Jewish writer and actor Nikki Mailer, a film about the experience of Covid by the Bengali cultural group Anamika for the Ahmed Igbal Ullah Education Trust, and supporting an arts project on climate justice with an African focus by Amani Creatives.
In 2022 we have begin the Migration Stories project, a 3-year partnership with four other organisations across the North West of England. The project aims to unearth histories of migration in the North West from ancient times to the present day, which will re-frame migration as something that has been fundamental to the UK for a very long time. More about the project at https://crossingfootprints.com/migration-stories/ . We’re also working with Oldham Libraries to deliver climate awareness and activism among the local Bangladeshi Community in the Northmoor area which will culminate in activities and events during September and October 2022.
In a time of fake news, growing right wing agendas and social polarisation, there has never been a greater need for arts and creativity to integrate critical analysis, activism and democratic participation towards an educative and purposeful culture.
Crossing Footprints CIC Company No. 12792421 registered at 61 Bridge Street, Kington HR5 3DJ (please note this is neither a mailing nor a trading address).
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Showreel – snippets of selected projects, video and installation works by the director of Crossing Footprints, Kooj Chuhan, from 2001 onwards:
Film, digital art, documentary and installation led by director Kuljit ‘Kooj’ Chuhan towards racial equality, climate resistance, social justice, radical perspectives and cultural collaboration. Producing creative and cultural projects at all levels from broadcast and international exhibition to community engagement and education.
Metaceptive is built on the experience, insights and skills that Kooj has developed through numerous collaborations, research, production, activism and a distinctive career spanning over 30 years as an independent artist and creative producer. Clients have included the NHS, Manchester United, ICA (London), Durham University, Manchester Museum, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, People’s History Museum, Manchester University, LIME (arts and health agency), Community Arts North West, HOME arts centre, Opera North, national charities such as ACE Centres and the YWCA. Kooj has also worked in schools, youth groups and other informal settings, and lectured in film production for eight years at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Metaceptive and Kuljit ‘Kooj’ Chuhan
Metaceptive projects + media has been a trading name for specific strands of productions by socially-engaged film-maker and digital artist Kooj Chuhan for many years.
Kooj works as a film maker, digital media artist and creative producer including cultural development; a collaborative consultant for museums; and education, curriculum and learning development. He has worked with international artists such as Keith Piper and Shahidul Alam, yet has also extensively worked with many communities and was a senior manager at Community Arts North West and for Tameside MBC. As an Indian artist by both birth and heritage Kooj maintains strong links with the sub-continent creatively and professionally as well as personally.
He lectures in filmmaking at Manchester Metropolitan University and has exhibited and published across the UK and internationally, incl. festivals such as VIDEO POSITIVE, ISEA and SIGGRAPH. He served on the board for FACT (Foundation for Arts & Creative Technology) from 1998-2003. Films include ‘Raag, Glitter & Chips’ (1995), ‘No Trace’ (2007) and ‘Buy This’ (2013) and he has shown films at festivals including Kino (Manchester), Bite The Mango (Bradford), Fillum (London), Document (Glasgow), BlackScreen (Liverpool), Asian Contemporary Art Week (New York) and SAVAC (Toronto).
His work often explores cultural and social issues from migrant perspectives with historical, global and local contexts. Artistic approaches include integrating documentary and fiction; non-linear narratives and interactivity; and post-colonial culture. He served on the board for FACT (Foundation for Arts & Creative Technology) from 1998-2003. In 2011 he won a Beacon award for his pioneering work connecting refugees with issues of climate change using digital media arts.
Kooj has founded and run a number of groups and organisations such as the Virtual Migrants artists collective focusing on race, migration and globalisation. He pioneered the video-dialogues method at Manchester Museum which facilitates co-production with communities; and worked with a partnership of eight museums and galleries on a major project about Manchester’s links with transatlantic slavery.
Recent work includes the major Footprint Modulation exhibition exploring climate change, migration and global justice, devised, curated and managed by Metaceptive and Kooj Chuhan. Alongside his own interactive art work, the exhibition critically connected artists and cultural venues with researchers, activists, communities and documentary media to interrogate, expose, humanise and discuss the subject.
He advocates education in its broadest sense and has worked as a teacher in a range of environments both formal and informal. Kooj has also previously worked as a scientist, a community worker, and as a professional musician. He is actively involved in various movements for positive social change.
This page is in development, please use the contact form to get in touch for more information.
Metaceptive’s work through its director Kooj Chuhan has a strong profile in creative multimedia. Over the years Kooj has become familiar with a range of digital media software such as Final Cut / Premiere, Director, Flash, Photoshop, After Effects, Isadora, Resolume / Modul8, Dreamweaver, Encore / DVD Studio, WordPress and others. He has presented work and papers at a number of ISEA symposia, Futuresonic / Future Everything, SIGGRAPH, and other conferences such as by the EU; he has taught interactive creative media at HE level such as Chester College and LIPA, at FE level such as Oldham College, and has developed new media strands of work and training with organisations such as Lets Go Global and Community Arts North West. He also made a half-hour documentary of ISEA2006 (the first Zero-One festival) in San Jose and has developed a network of contacts across the UK and other countries including India, Peru, USA, Brazil, Paris, Bangladesh, Latvia, Turkey, Australia.
Selected Exhibitions
HOME arts centre Manchester 2018 – “Hostile Detainment” performed protest enactment
Manchester Central Library 2017 – “The Poppy Retake” video installation – colonialism and WWI
5 theatres across UK 2015 – “Ethical People Movement” video art for ‘Continent Chop Chop’ tour
Sunday 28th June
PERFORMANCE NIGHT: Oil, politics, poetry by Platform with Transition Durham
7.30pm at EMPTY SHOP HQ 35c Framwellgate Bridge, DH1 4SJ www.emptyshop.org
Platform, Transition Durham and Metaceptive invite you to a special event for 2015 connecting County Durham with Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
All venues easy to find except Empty Shop, this photo should help.
Silence Would Be Treason: Between Nigeria and here by Platform www.platformlondon.org It is 20 years since the executions of Nigerian writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni colleagues for protesting against oil pollution by Shell and others.
Shell still haven’t cleaned up 60 years of devastated soil and rivers. Campaigner Jane Trowell from Platform and performance poets Sai Murray and Selina Nwulu share their work on environmental justice through video, music, poetry and slides. They encourage you to ‘get the Bus to Nigeria’ to force change to happen.
+ De-Oiling Durham by Transition Durhamwww.transitiondurham.org.uk
Screening of a film documenting their work to reduce Durham’s oil and fossil dependency plus live poetry from Mika Laiho and a discussion about local activism. Transition Durham, part of the Transition Network, is about transitioning our local community to a more resilient state in the context of climate change, resource scarcity and economic insecurity.
Mon 29th June ‘EXIT’ film by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (USA): Screening + panel discussion
6.30pm at Appleby Theatre, Geography West Building, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LE www.dur.ac.uk
EXIT is digital film-art that interprets climate migration data, widely recognised as a key work addressing the theme of climate change and migration. Created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (USA) with collaborators Laura Kurgan and Marc Hansen. Free public tickets available online at www.exitfilm.eventbrite.co.uk . A part of the ‘Human Migration & Environment’ conference www.durhamconference.eu
Diller Scofidio + Renfro are an interdisciplinary New York studio integrating visual art, architecture, performance www.dsrny.com . The work was commissioned by Fondation Cartier (France) www.fondation.cartier.com .
As a part of this city-wide exhibition the Oriental Museum hosts an installation comprising two projected screens at each end of the South Asia gallery (level 2) which present two artworks interwoven together. They focus on Bangladesh which is predicted to undergo levels of flooding that may submerge a quarter of its land over the next few decades or so due to climate change. The unsustainable industrial forces behind this catastrophic forecast are in sharp contrast to the incredibly advanced and sustainable ancient civilization in the Indus Valley, objects from which are displayed here in cases nearby.
Climate Refugees
Resilience
