Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Art, Archivesand

Publics

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

On Documentation?Where does the urge to document and archive come from?

• (Lack) of sense of place and history• Need for validation of cultural / social practice• Trans/Formation of Identities

Archives as ‘mirrors of ourselves’

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Art Practice

Recording Circulation

Documentation Validating

Archive Memory

Public(s) Influence

History/ies Identity/ies

Civil Society

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Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Interface: Research Centre

• Established in 2004 through major successful funding bid (SPUR II)

• Major initiative in A&D in the UK with 21 members of research staff and dedicated research facilities

• Based on distinct areas of excellence in research activities of School of Art and Design - Textiles & Fine Art

UU, Belfast campus refurbishment, 2006

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Research Aims• Focused Exploration of key processes in

innovative research practice in Art and Design:

[1] inherited models of practice and categories of value

[2] impact of digital media and new technologies of production, distribution and mediation of art and design

• Situated in context of wider social/economic/political arena of Northern Ireland and globally = the ‘glocal’

Interface @Corporation Street - Archive

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Research Objectives• Trans- and Interdisciplinary research and

postgraduate provision• New partnerships and forms of

collaborations and practice in Art and Design

• Development of new ways of thinking and working at local, national and transnational level

• Prototyping, testing and evaluating of new models of practice

• Cross-border dimensions in the Irish context

• Outcomes with international reach• Building of critical mass in Art and Design

research

Alistair MacLennan

Dr. Kate Wells

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Research Strands

- Art and its Locations

- Fabric Forward

- Customisation and Construction

- Hybrid Textile Configurations

Platforma

Trish Belford

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Art and its Locations:

Research Foci

- Art in Contested Spaces

- Art and Documentation

Willie Doherty

Workshop, 2006

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Interface Resources• Dedicated researchers / archivist• Research and thinking space• PhD research opportunities• Provision of MA Art in Public• Opportunities to network and collaborate• Image and sound production, post-production and display equipment• Storage space• Technical and clerical support staff

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Interface Activities

Connecting Prototyping

Facilitating Testing

Discussing Documenting

Negotiating Archiving

Speculating Disseminating

Experimenting Evaluating

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Documentation and Archiving• Critical dialogue: performance, interventionist, process-oriented practices• Narratives related to contestations and conflicts• Creative processes, (audio-) visual work and curatorial interventions• Inquiry into local archives and community-based memory (ARE, Catalyst, Beat Initiative, Duchas)• Strategies for documenting and re/materialising - Generating Public Pedagogies• Securing Memory - Producing Publics

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

I confess that I was there:Art, Archives and Location

• A programmed series of events in December 2006

• Inquiry into archives related to creative practice: Artpool, Budapest; Trace Archive, Cardiff; North-West Visual Arts Archive, Derry; Peter Haining, Dundee

• Focus on Artists’ interventions in repositories of records and the re/materialisation of archives

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Public Art Strategy for West Belfast (PAS)

• DSD commissioned consultancy• West Belfast and the Greater Shankill area

Aims:• Public Art Trail• Connection to City Centre and Laganside• Links to existing public art projects• Visibility of West Belfast and Greater Shankill area to promote tourism and economic regeneration

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Deliverables of PAS

• Community participation methodology• Stakeholder audit• Map and audit of existing public art• Map and audit of other relevant projects• Strategic map of potential sites for public art• Survey of potential funders• Review of key documents and policies• Seminar on Public Art• Report

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

PAS Process

• Forms of documentation• Strategies of re/presentation and positioning• Power relations and vested interests• Pragmatics/ Public(s)• Trust building with communities• Media format - authority and authenticity• Oral accounts - episodic memory / memory of fear• Maps - factual memory• Reports / minutes - procedural memory

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Creative Transformations• AHRC funded workshop and networking project

• PI: Prof. Ruth Morrow

• Community oriented creative processes

• Conversations on determination, risk, failure, and

unquantifiable success

• Documentation/ Validation of marginalised

practices

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Performing the ArchiveProviding Interrogative

Moments

• AHRC funded Doctoral Research Training Provision• Collaboration with University of Sunderland• in association with Locus+, Public Art Agency Newcastle upon Tyne• Series of workshops and colloquia between November 2006 – October 2007• Related book and online learning resource: Arkive City; www.interface.ulster.ac.uk/arkivecity

Funded by The Department of Education

and Learning NI and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Art out of the Ordinary

• Collaborative project with CityArts Dublin• Folk Memory and material culture• Related to Loraine Leeson’s exhibition Art of Change• Two seminars, public interventions, • Planned publication