Harsh Light: Amrita Dhallu & Priya Jay
Wednesday 2 December, 7 – 8:30pm
Online (via Zoom)
Free & open to all
Accompanied by BSL interpretation
* we are currently adding subtitles to the footage above, apologies for any inconvenience.
Bloc Projects is excited to present the second instalment of Harsh Light webinars in December 2020. We will continue to examine how the art worlds have (not) coped in 2020, provide space for solace and solidarity, as well as propose some possible futures.
Harsh Light is becoming more than we could hope for. It is a platform for art workers to strategise and decompress during these sick times. We hold the space with critical and embodied care, inviting honest and at times vulnerable reflections from our peers, friends, and colleagues. Past speakers have already helped us think through anti-racist and climate justice work within institutions, and debunk the monolithic preconceptions that are tethered to disability.
The second instalment continues to use the Arts Council England (ACE) “Let’s Create” strategy as a point of departure. Amidst health, political and ecological crises, how do we feel about this vision to “transform a country by culture”? How, if at all, will ACE’s four investment principles of inclusivity and relevance, ambition and quality, dynamism, and environmental responsibility bring about the (art) worlds we want to have?
Under the Mango Tree, an artist-led gathering of regional and international artist-led inititatives in Santiniketan, India
Curator Amrita Dhallu and facilitator Priya Jay work with remembrances specific to loss. Focusing on curation and facilitation as embodied practices, they will talk about the care-based methodologies that lie at the core of their work. They will also discuss their project Maybetude, which explores the entangled relations between being, becoming, decaying, and being born.
About the speakers
Amrita Dhallu
Amrita Dhallu is a curator and researcher based in London. She provides support structures for emerging British artists through commissioning, creating artistic networks and establishing intergenerational learning spaces. Her current research examines care, healing and ethno-futurist discourse within arts education and exhibition-making, supporting artists in re-thinking ways of professional development. She is the lead artist of Camden Art Centre's 2018-19 PEER FORUM. She currently holds the post of Assistant Curator, International Art at Tate Modern, London and is an Associate Board Member for a-n.
Priya Jay
Priya Jay writes, produces and facilitates. Her research interests are broadly in embodied knowledge, technologies of enchantment and cracks in the archives. Priya’s recent work has centred grief (with Fevered Sleep, MAIA Group, Patchwork Archivists and Glasgow Zine Library), happiness (with Wellcome Collection) and care work (with Auto Italia).
The webinar will be recorded and available to view via our website following the event.
This event is free but booking is essential.
Bloc Projects is proud to maintain a public programme that is free for everyone. However, attendees are encouraged to donate to the S2 Foodbank, who are carrying out essential work during this time. To donate either follow the link on our homepage or click the button below.
This programme of events has been generously supported by The Sheffield Town Trust
Amrita Dhallu