To what extent through history has British identity been influenced by migration? An event with speakers, discussion, Q&A and live music
5.30pm – 7pm, Weds 16th October at Manchester Histories Hub, lower ground floor, Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD
Speakers from the Migration Stories North West project will explore the nature of migrant identity throughout British history and the intersections between the history of migration and issues at the forefront of Black history. Plus we’ll have live music by Jim Parris performing a short set of pieces which resonate with the themes.
There will be an opportunity for open discussion about various perspectives, including questions such as:
– Why are stories of individuals so important for retelling and understanding history? – What do we gain by understanding our history through the lens of migration? – How did colonialism affect migration, and what does it mean for Black history? – Are the migratory roots of historical figures often overlooked or kept hidden? – What do the stories from the project tell us about migration and human rights?
A one-day symposium about socially engaged arts and cultural democracy titled Uncommon Ground crumbled upon the slightest scrutiny, and left a good number of the audience disappointed and let down to say the least. In advance of the event which took place at The Lowry on 22nd March 2018, little information apart from two underwhelming personal blog posts were given as lead-in material. The morning session involved four presentations, and NO discussion or Q&A of any kind. Tweets were welcomed to be responded to later – I wondered if they have replaced real nuanced discussion?
It’s the Economy, stupid!
By mid-afternoon it was clear that nobody was going to bring up the economics of inequality or within the arts, nor how arts can have an impact on such structural inequality. An embarrassing omission given that there is a common understanding of inequality being first and foremostly related to economic and political power. In most symposia or conferences, a subject is usually given some broad sweep overview of the history and key pieces of work and debates that have developed over the decades, plus some critical and fresh perspectives on the gaps – those areas which still need addressing. This kind of basic context was completely absent at Uncommon Ground, an insulting slap in the face for those who have tirelessly worked in the field and against the grain for those decades.
Video of panel presentations from ‘Linking Climate Change with Migration’ public event 7th March 2016 at Kings College, which began with a screening of the film ‘Crossing Footprints’ by Kooj Chuhan. The climate migration panel also included Andrew Baldwin and Alex Randall. The video is approx 40 mins long:
There’s a great twitter feed from Platform of the discussion if you haven’t time to watch this but want a flavour of the points being made – see bottom of this post.
About the event and the climate migration panel:
On Mon 7th March 2016 a leading climate migration panel explored the connection between climate change and migration and the underlying issues such as whether and how migration should be made more visible across public and policy agendas on climate change. This followed a screening of Crossing Footprints, the film by Kooj Chuhan / Metaceptive projects + media, which shows how recent research linking climate change with migration has strengthened our understanding of this enormously, and how artists have begun to articulate this in human terms.
The event was hugely over-subscribed with a waiting list of 35 people, though there were spare seats on the day itself which suggests we should release quite a few more tickets than the venue capacity in future or possibly charge a small amount to ensure attendance. Thanks to all who came, the speakers, the chair, and Fernando Mitjans for filming it.
The ‘Crossing Footprints’ film will be available to watch online soon, once it has been fully signed off after final proofing.
The climate migration panel discussion included speakers:
Richard Black, leading scholar at SOAS on migration in the context of climate change Zita Holbourne, community, union and human rights activist, writer, artist and curator; co-founder of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts Andrew Baldwin, chair of international Climate Change and Migration research network based at Durham University Alex Randall, UK Climate Change and Migration Coalition Kooj Chuhan, artist, filmmaker and curator of the ‘Footprint Modulation’ exhibition exploring climate migration and justice
+ Public launch and screening of the film ‘Crossing Footprints: Human Migration and the Environment’ by Kooj Chuhan / Metaceptive Media, about both the Human Migration and The Environment Conference and the Footprint Modulation art exhibition www.metaceptive.net/footprint-modulation
Chaired by Dr Helen Adams, researcher on human interactions with environmental change at Kings College Continue reading →