Creative Interruptions: grassroots creativity, State structures and disconnection as a space for 'radical openness'
Lead Research Organisation:
Brunel University London
Department Name: Social and Political Science
Abstract
The last decade has seen a surge of nationalisms and a proliferation of anxieties converging around culturally 'different' minority communities and lifestyles. This has been catalysed by economic crisis, (new) media, global flows, and processes of fragmentation of the State and exacerbated in the UK by fractures in the union and the questioning of our role in Europe. As a result, although all communities reproduce divisions and exclusions, certain communities have been disenfranchised in particular ways and have been intensely demonised, objectified and culturally pathologised.
The current uncertainties around immigration, cultural difference, rights and responsibilities are deeply entwined with our research themes of colonialism, race and resistance and our aim to explore the creativity that these circumstances produce. Against current theoretical and conceptual approaches, and by co-producing knowledge with communities, Creative Interruptions will interrogate disconnection as a site of productive resistance and, through a range of creative methods, connect the disconnections found in different communities. It aims to reveal different senses of community by asking what happens when we look at disconnection through the lens of creativity.
Disconnection, and its resultant disenfranchisement, are processes driven by the practice of power relations, through the enactment of law, public policy, and social practices that create obstacles for some communities to participate fully and have their voices heard. This study will examine the cultural politics at work that deliberately invoke and engage with different, marginalised individuals, organisations and networks in society: the low-paid "migrant worker", the racialised black subject, the historically oppressed Northern Irish, the Palestinian filmmaker or post-partition Punjabi citizen. Through five, internationally-linked strands of work (across the UK, Northern Ireland, Palestine, India), this study will consolidate different types of knowledge (academic, community and creative).
Creative Interruptions will contribute to the AHRC's Connected Communities research cluster on 'diversity and dissent' by recognising the key role of the creative industries (including the arts, heritage, media and other forms of cultural production) as major agents for social change, but also by highlighting the role of communities to interrupt dominant discourses and representations in ways not available in authorised cultural discourse. Our central hypothesis is that cultural diversity brings important rewards for individuals, communities and societies. It will explore the relationship between the margins as a site of possibility, pluralities and playfulness but also of disconnection and dispossession. The project will research the local and global dynamics that rupture, alienate and marginalise, foregrounding the creative tools used by communities to cope with such processes of disconnection, division and exclusion.
Disconnection is, therefore, considered as 'a space for radical openness' that is embraced by groups at times to challenge oppressive, imperialist and neo-liberal power structures. Disconnected communities are positioned as having dynamic, fluid identities, and instead of aiming to connect such groups to the centre, to help them to learn how to submit to more normalised modes of communication and cultural production, the research asks what can be learned by the centre from the margins, and how can such lessons be understood, communicated and scaled-up in order to change the centre and connect those on the margins to each other.
Creative Interruptions offers a field-defining, self-reflexive, international research project that works across a range of historical and cultural diversity contexts with multiple communities in order to connect the disconnections and combine disciplinary and public knowledge through community-based participatory research and creative practice.
The current uncertainties around immigration, cultural difference, rights and responsibilities are deeply entwined with our research themes of colonialism, race and resistance and our aim to explore the creativity that these circumstances produce. Against current theoretical and conceptual approaches, and by co-producing knowledge with communities, Creative Interruptions will interrogate disconnection as a site of productive resistance and, through a range of creative methods, connect the disconnections found in different communities. It aims to reveal different senses of community by asking what happens when we look at disconnection through the lens of creativity.
Disconnection, and its resultant disenfranchisement, are processes driven by the practice of power relations, through the enactment of law, public policy, and social practices that create obstacles for some communities to participate fully and have their voices heard. This study will examine the cultural politics at work that deliberately invoke and engage with different, marginalised individuals, organisations and networks in society: the low-paid "migrant worker", the racialised black subject, the historically oppressed Northern Irish, the Palestinian filmmaker or post-partition Punjabi citizen. Through five, internationally-linked strands of work (across the UK, Northern Ireland, Palestine, India), this study will consolidate different types of knowledge (academic, community and creative).
Creative Interruptions will contribute to the AHRC's Connected Communities research cluster on 'diversity and dissent' by recognising the key role of the creative industries (including the arts, heritage, media and other forms of cultural production) as major agents for social change, but also by highlighting the role of communities to interrupt dominant discourses and representations in ways not available in authorised cultural discourse. Our central hypothesis is that cultural diversity brings important rewards for individuals, communities and societies. It will explore the relationship between the margins as a site of possibility, pluralities and playfulness but also of disconnection and dispossession. The project will research the local and global dynamics that rupture, alienate and marginalise, foregrounding the creative tools used by communities to cope with such processes of disconnection, division and exclusion.
Disconnection is, therefore, considered as 'a space for radical openness' that is embraced by groups at times to challenge oppressive, imperialist and neo-liberal power structures. Disconnected communities are positioned as having dynamic, fluid identities, and instead of aiming to connect such groups to the centre, to help them to learn how to submit to more normalised modes of communication and cultural production, the research asks what can be learned by the centre from the margins, and how can such lessons be understood, communicated and scaled-up in order to change the centre and connect those on the margins to each other.
Creative Interruptions offers a field-defining, self-reflexive, international research project that works across a range of historical and cultural diversity contexts with multiple communities in order to connect the disconnections and combine disciplinary and public knowledge through community-based participatory research and creative practice.
Planned Impact
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE RESEARCH?
1) Publics and Communities, particularly those who have been socially excluded, disenfranchised or marginalised
2) Creative and Cultural Practitioners
3) Media
4) Non HES: Statutory, non-governmental and activist organisations working in the field of social justice, equality and diversity
5) Policy makers and bodies
6) Academic researchers in media studies, postcolonial studies, human geography, literary studies, visual cultures, drama and film studies, cultural sociology, social work, conflict resolution and cultural policy, in the UK, Northern Ireland, Palestine, India and internationally
7) Researchers involved in the project, notably the local Community researchers, Digital Researcher, PhD Students and Knowledge Transfer Researchers
HOW WILL THEY BENEFIT?
The project will improve understanding of:
- Disconnection, disenfranchisement and its effects
- The value of arts, media and creativity in addressing the challenges associated with 'disconnection'
- Effective qualitative methods for researching marginalised communities, reflective learning and new and innovative ways of working with disenfranchised communities
- The creative work, tools used and acts led by marginalised communities in historical and contemporary, national and international contexts
- The consequences of marginalised groups' creative acts for the arts and cultural sectors and for communities themselves
- Ways in which the arts and cultural sector might work with marginalised communities and create spaces for 'unauthorised' voices to be heard
- Ways to reduce social divisions and processes of exclusion
- Creative, ethical approaches for engaging with diverse communities in multiple, international contexts and of the potential impact on the way that people interact and connect within and across their various communities
- Research capacity building
WHAT WILL BE DONE TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BENEFIT?
-Our local research partners (e.g. Qattan Foundation and CRCI Punjab), are involved directly in developing cultural interventions and have close links with related ministries and the broader policy community.
-The International Advisory Group will meet annually and will include subject experts and community representatives. The IAG will be consulted regularly and kept informed.
-Community Stakeholder Activities will be held at the outset and during the lifetime of the project through a programme of workshops and consultations, and during the launch, dissemination and end of project stages.
- The PI and CoIs have strong experience of working with community groups in previous (including Connected Communities) projects and during the funded, collaborative RD phase.
- Co-production will enable awareness of the research, secure on-going commitment to it, and ensure it is locally relevant and has potential co-value embedded in the process. The resulting co-produced knowledge should be both relevant and acceptable to research users in the UK, Palestine, India, and beyond.
-The research, emerging findings and media communications will be produced in formats tailored to diverse, international audiences. The website will facilitate a long-term record of achievements, detailing and showcasing outputs, community engagement processes and debates.
- The Institute for Public Policy Research will work with us on crafting policy briefings designed for impact and on our media dissemination strategy.
-Findings will be disseminated to academics from diverse disciplines through conference presentations, articles in international peer reviewed journals and discoverable research mechanisms.
-The impact strategy will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. Community co-production activities will be monitored and feedback sought to inform regular review and updating of our strategy. A year after the end of the project, the strategy will be evaluated through an open-ended stakeholder questionnaire.
1) Publics and Communities, particularly those who have been socially excluded, disenfranchised or marginalised
2) Creative and Cultural Practitioners
3) Media
4) Non HES: Statutory, non-governmental and activist organisations working in the field of social justice, equality and diversity
5) Policy makers and bodies
6) Academic researchers in media studies, postcolonial studies, human geography, literary studies, visual cultures, drama and film studies, cultural sociology, social work, conflict resolution and cultural policy, in the UK, Northern Ireland, Palestine, India and internationally
7) Researchers involved in the project, notably the local Community researchers, Digital Researcher, PhD Students and Knowledge Transfer Researchers
HOW WILL THEY BENEFIT?
The project will improve understanding of:
- Disconnection, disenfranchisement and its effects
- The value of arts, media and creativity in addressing the challenges associated with 'disconnection'
- Effective qualitative methods for researching marginalised communities, reflective learning and new and innovative ways of working with disenfranchised communities
- The creative work, tools used and acts led by marginalised communities in historical and contemporary, national and international contexts
- The consequences of marginalised groups' creative acts for the arts and cultural sectors and for communities themselves
- Ways in which the arts and cultural sector might work with marginalised communities and create spaces for 'unauthorised' voices to be heard
- Ways to reduce social divisions and processes of exclusion
- Creative, ethical approaches for engaging with diverse communities in multiple, international contexts and of the potential impact on the way that people interact and connect within and across their various communities
- Research capacity building
WHAT WILL BE DONE TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BENEFIT?
-Our local research partners (e.g. Qattan Foundation and CRCI Punjab), are involved directly in developing cultural interventions and have close links with related ministries and the broader policy community.
-The International Advisory Group will meet annually and will include subject experts and community representatives. The IAG will be consulted regularly and kept informed.
-Community Stakeholder Activities will be held at the outset and during the lifetime of the project through a programme of workshops and consultations, and during the launch, dissemination and end of project stages.
- The PI and CoIs have strong experience of working with community groups in previous (including Connected Communities) projects and during the funded, collaborative RD phase.
- Co-production will enable awareness of the research, secure on-going commitment to it, and ensure it is locally relevant and has potential co-value embedded in the process. The resulting co-produced knowledge should be both relevant and acceptable to research users in the UK, Palestine, India, and beyond.
-The research, emerging findings and media communications will be produced in formats tailored to diverse, international audiences. The website will facilitate a long-term record of achievements, detailing and showcasing outputs, community engagement processes and debates.
- The Institute for Public Policy Research will work with us on crafting policy briefings designed for impact and on our media dissemination strategy.
-Findings will be disseminated to academics from diverse disciplines through conference presentations, articles in international peer reviewed journals and discoverable research mechanisms.
-The impact strategy will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. Community co-production activities will be monitored and feedback sought to inform regular review and updating of our strategy. A year after the end of the project, the strategy will be evaluated through an open-ended stakeholder questionnaire.
Organisations
- Brunel University London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Green Shoot Productions (Collaboration)
- Metal Culture (Collaboration)
- Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (Collaboration)
- GA Films Ltd (Collaboration)
- Paper Rhino (Collaboration)
- Runnymede Trust (Collaboration)
- June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive (Collaboration)
- Platform London (Collaboration)
- Cultural Resource Conservation Init. (Project Partner)
- A M Qattan Foundation (Project Partner)
Publications
Pierse, M
(2019)
'Take a Walk in My Shoes: A Civil Rights Education Pack'
Pierse M
(2018)
Back to class - Ireland's working-class literature
in The Honest Ulsterman.
Ramamurthy A
(2016)
Contesting the Visualization of Gaza
in Photographies
Jaganathan A
(2020)
June Givanni's Pan-African Cinema Archive: A Diasporic Feminist Dwelling Space
in Feminist Review
Buckley M
(2017)
Labour geographies on the move: Migration, migrant status and work in the 21st century
in Geoforum
Pierse, M
(2016)
Michael Pierse's review on Irish Women's Writing, 1878-1922
in Irish Women's Writing 1878-1922: Advancing the Cause of Liberty, edited by Anna Pilz and Whitney Standlee, Manchester, Manchester University Press
Mahn,C
(2018)
Partition and the Practice of Memory
Pierse M
(2019)
The New Irish Studies: Twenty-First-Century Critical Revisions
Malik S
(2017)
Top Boy : Cultural Verisimilitude and the Allure of Black Criminality for UK Public Service Broadcasting Drama
in Journal of British Cinema and Television
Vrikki P
(2019)
Voicing lived-experience and anti-racism: podcasting as a space at the margins for subaltern counterpublics
in Popular Communication
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AH/N004094/1 | 01/10/2016 | 31/03/2020 | |||
| 1811810 | Studentship | AH/N004094/1 | 01/10/2016 | 31/12/2019 | Nadeem Aslam |
| Title | "We'll Walk Hand in Hand": Civil rights play puts arts and activism hand in hand |
| Description | A mould-breaking play about 1960s civil rights protests in Northern Ireland was one of the first fruits from a study charting the link between arts and activism. Touring Northern Ireland on the 20th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement, We'll Walk Hand in Hand explored civil rights in the 1960s from today's perspective. Penned by Belfast playwright Martin Lynch, it opened at the capital's Lyric Theatre and toured Newry, Derry, Armagh and Cookstown. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | Untrained actors including refugees and people in the LGBT community were cast alongside professionals in the production, which was a spin-out from research led by Brunel University London and the interviews conducted by Dr. Michael Pierse. Michael Pierse's research contributed to the development of the core ideas of the play, and its methodologies, along with the format of the schools outreach programme and the resulting Education Pack (written by Dr. Pierse). It has also contributed to the exhibition held at the Linen Hall Library, and other outputs, such as interviews with former civil rights activists, which will be used for fresh research (led by Dr. Pierse) on the cultural production of the civil rights movement. Overall this strand of research has the following impact strand • Impact on disenfranchised communities and individuals articulating their concerns through creative practice; • Impact on the history of working-class life in Ireland-and helping communities access/curate/disseminate that research; • Impact in enabling 'dissonant voices' in Irish life articulate views/experiences of exclusion and disenfranchisement through cultural means; • Impact on practitioners and policy makers in areas such as festivalisation, theatre-as-research, and co-production, as they relate to those experiencing social exclusion; • Impact on Irish Studies scholarship, in significantly advancing the study of Irish working-class life and culture, and histories of Ireland's marginalised, through ground-breaking academic research. The most significant activity that encompasses work across the areas above involves two AHRC project, the Research Development Grant (Oct 2014-Mar 2015) project 'Creative Interruptions [] disconnection as a space for "radical openness"' and the Connected Communities large research grant of the same name that stemmed from it and runs from October 2016 - October 2019. Pierse co-ordinated the theatre aspect of the initial 2014-2015 phase of this project, under Malik's direction as PI, working with refugees and a community co-ordinator, Jasber Singh, at the Greenwich Inclusion Project, London. A flavour of this work is available here: https://vimeo.com/129097724 This project enabled a group of refugees from Somalia and Afghanistan to use theatre as a means of reflecting on their experiences and developed methodologies and approaches that were deployed as part of the much larger theatre-as-research strand of the follow-on project. In conjunction with playwright Martin Lynch, Green Shoot Productions, and a range of former Northern Ireland Civil Rights activists, and current LGBT, women's rights, refugee and other community groups, a theatre-as-research process initiated and overseen by Pierse culminated in the major play running at the Lyric Theatre and six other northern Irish theatres in 2018, along with an exhibition, education pack, and multiple community and school performances across Belfast and farther afield; Impact will be evidenced through interviews (like the Vimeo ones above), questionnaires, academic observation (which will be part of publications), audience questionnaires and feedback from participants. |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/civil-rights-play-puts-arts-activism-hand-hand/ |
| Title | 'Mela' |
| Description | Close to 1000 people visited the Preet Nagar Mela (Feb 16-17 and Feb 22-23 2019), marking the culmination of Creative Interruption's work in Punjab. The 'Mela' (festival) was held at the historical site of Punjabi literature and culture, Preet Nagar. Half-way between two of Punjab's most important cities, Lahore (Pakistan) and Amritsar (India), Preet Nagar is located 7km from one of the most militarised borders in the world. Preet Lari, based in the village, is one of the most significant Punjabi-language magazines, running since 1933. Since its inception the magazine embraced the linguistic diversity of Punjab, publishing in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and English, working across the scripts and languages of Punjab. Working through Partition and waves of political unrest in Punjab, Preet Lari represents a Punjabi culture which is inclusive, pluralistic, and which consistently imagines across borders. The Mela was developed to exhibit work undertaken during artist residencies over October and November 2018. The artists were from India, Mauritius, Canada, and students from Srishti Institute for Art, Design and Technology (Bangalore). They worked with local craftspeople, schoolchildren, and grassroots NGOs to produce work that responded to the theme of 'Beyond Borders'. This work was designed to celebrate all kinds of creativity, from brass making and traditional weaving, to singing and folk tales. To make this work accessible to a broad audience, and to connect a new generation to the legacy of Preet Lari, the Mela was held in a former cow and animal feed shed that had been converted into a community exhibition space for the festival in Preet Nagar. By combining the traditional format of an exhibition with talks, performances, singing and dancing, and by using a site which is recognisable to people living in smaller rural communities (a farmhouse and out buildings), the Mela attracted an incredibly diverse audience, from people working in the creative economies in Amritsar and Delhi, to local children in neighbouring villages, and craftspeople and workpeople who had helped with the preparation of the Mela, from doing electrical work to labouring. The Mela gave this broad audience two performances from the singer and academic Madan Gopal Singh (and Chaar Yaar) and the Punjab University (Patiala) group, which demonstrated how fluid storytelling, music and spirituality has been in the Punjab. This work has been funded by the Punjab strand of Creative Interruptions led by Churnjeet Mahn (CI, University of Strathclyde). Along with Churnjeet, the Mela team was made up of: Ratika Singh and Samia Singh (exhibition designers), Raghavendra Rao KV (art director), and Anne Murphy (UBC, Canada). The Mela was hosted by Poonam Singh and Rati Kant Singh who edit and publish Preet Lari. Part of the art shown during the Mela, and a VR film about the Mela, will be shown at the BFI as part of the Creative Interruptions festival in June 2019. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The first arts 'Mela' held by Preet Nagar (in collaboration with Dr. Churnjeet Mahn) has injected new capacity to the former utopian arts community which was virtually destroyed by Partition. Over 1000 people participated (30 in organising, 200 engaged in preparation, rest attending). The research has helped to create vital economic and skills capacity amongst grassroots organisations near the Indo-Pak border outside Amritsar. By bringing artists together with local craftspeople and grassroots NGOs, vital new cultural and economic opportunities were created for people traditionally marginalised from mainstream cultural and political representation. The first arts 'Mela' held by Preet Nagar has injected new capacity to the former utopian arts community which was virtually destroyed by Partition. Over 1000 people participated (30 in organising, 200 engaged in prep, rest attending). |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/preet-nagar-mela-cultural-festival-amritsar-india/ |
| Title | Alors on Dance |
| Description | Alors on Danse is a short film is an exploration of African cultural diffusion. African dance has changed the world and created a global culture. From Shaku Shaku to tribal dance styles, Alors on Danse presents a raw and untraditional exploration of movement. African dance is birthed from our joy, pain, anxiety, ego, fears, love, and ancestors. From Beyonce to Michael Jackson, to Shakira, African dance has created waves on global stages. Paris is a melting pot of African migrants and some of the best afro-beat dancers in the world. Alors on Danse follows five iconic dancers through the streets of Paris reflect the ways in which African dance has traveled and evolved. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The film was screened at the BFI at the Creative Interruptions festival in June 2019. |
| URL | https://youtu.be/5kdqFtXtBq4 |
| Title | Black Britain on Screen |
| Description | Black Britain on Screen was commissioned to GA Films with George Amponsah as director. The film documents how screen media in the UK have been used as a space for resistance. The film is a drama-documentary that talks with more than 10 BAME filmmakers, producers, and film representatives in the UK to unveil what are the causes, the obstacles, and the solutions of BAME representation in the UK film industry. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Film is publicly available on the Creative Interruptions website. It has been used in learning and teaching contexts and is a useful resource for other academic researchers. |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/creative-interruptions-commissions/black-britain-on-film/ |
| Title | Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution - Programme Notes |
| Description | In 1982 The Palestine Film Unit archive was destroyed and its contents stolen during the Israeli invasion of Beirut. It is now known that the Israeli military seized it. Access is controlled by the military and denied to Palestinians. As part of the Creative Interruptions project which explores artistic expressions of disenfranchised communities that challenge power, researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have participated in the work of digitizing and restoring Palestinian films from the 1970s and the early 1980s. Cultural genocide has 'a direct impact on [a] people's capacity to stay alive' (Wolfe 2006). The restoration of five films marks an important retrieval of Palestinian revolutionary cinema. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | We view this recovery as an 'interruptive' act. We hope that this project supports the wider endeavour to restore Palestinian cultural memory in the face of Israel's systematic destruction of Palestinian cultural artefacts since 1948. In terms of Palestinian cinema, it has been left to individual artists and filmmakers to retrieve and restore such films from scattered locations across the world. The films we have restored were found in private collections, held by filmmakers families, treasured belongings that have been inaccessible to wider society. Filmmaker Azza El Hassan found two films relating to Hani Jawharieh in his family home. Ismail Shammout's family had located two of his films amongst his personal materials. Filmmaker Kassem Hawal had kept a copy of Palestinian Identity. We aim to return these films to Palestinian archives as well as to share them with an international public. We hope by doing so to enable a deeper understanding of Palestinian cinema history and visuality including its revolutionary era. The collection works together to enhance our understanding of the ways in which the filmmakers of the period produced a cinema in which the preservation and development of culture and social identity was at the heart of the movement. These five films all emphasise the produc on of culture. Zaharat Al Madain highlights the symbol- ic role of the city of Jerusalem, Pales ne In the Eye pays homage to the lmmaker Hani Jawha- reih, Ismail Shammout's lms use music and pain ng to narrate history and the aims of the libera on movement, and nally Pales nian Iden- ty highlights the intellectual ideas that in u- enced the PLO's Arts and Culture Unit and gives witness to the diversity of its cultural produc ons in the face of se ler colonialism. The collection also highlights the range of ways in which films were produced during this period: in collaboration with public funded broadcasters in the Arab region; independently through the Palestine Film Unit; as well as in collaboration with progressive filmmakers in the Arab world to cement an alternative Arab Cinema in which the cause of Palestine was embedded at its heart. |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/cinema-of-the-palestinian-revolution-programme-notes/ |
| Title | Creative Interruptions |
| Description | This short film includes interviews with Greenwich Inclusion Project youth group in 2015, a Community Co-Investigator on the Creative Interruptions Research development award. It is based on the themes of the project around disconnection, marginalisation and state structures. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | This film was part of the RD phase of the Creative Interruptions project and was used as a tool to engage the participants with the key issues of the project and to communicate their stories of disconnection in a film format. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/129097724 |
| Title | Departures: A radio play of an abortion seeker having to travel to England |
| Description | Departures is a radio play depicting the personal account of an abortion seeker having to travel to England for her treatment. Join us on Friday 28th September at 6pm at The Sonic Lab Sonic Arts Research Centre Queen's University Belfast. A collaboration between Alliance for Choice Belfast, Creative Interruptions and Green Shoot Productions, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | TBC |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/departures/ |
| Title | Launch of Rambagh Gate exhibition |
| Description | Dr. Churnjeet Mahn worked with the Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (CRCI) to co-design the delivery of in-depth interviews with people traditionally marginalised by 'top-down' heritage management in their areas and made recommendations on inclusive heritage that were incorporated into the delivery of the HRIDAY plan. At the Rambagh Gate, part of Amritsar's pre-Colonial wall being restored by CRCI, this included working against existing practice in Amritsar to destroy or remove encroachments on historical sites in order to include the communities and groups who have repurposed historic sites for everyday use (the encroachments at the Gate include a food market, a school and a colonial-era printing press). Resulting action also included using traditional skills in sign-painting to improve the aesthetic appearance of the market (involving over 50 stalls and several hundred stall workers) and designing information sessions on the Rambagh Gate's history for school-children (involving over 100 children). This is the first time the Gate has been accessible as a public space. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | In both contexts described above, the majority of participants reported that this was the first time they realised the Gate had historical significance. This insight during the process, led the team to approach the Municipal Government of Amritsar with plans to create a 'pop up' People's Museum that could bring together heritage narratives connected to the Sikh Empire, Partition and the local forms of creative and cultural resilience as evidenced in the school, the market and the printing press. We changed the perception of the market from an encroachment to a valid part of the Gate's history as evidenced by Amritsar city granting permission for our initiatives and its subsequent plans to make the Gate a permanent community space. This is the first time the Gate has been accessible as a public space. The Sikh Foundation called the museum, 'a participatory space narrating people's stories and creating a revitalized perception of Amritsar' . This new museum space has attracted thousands of interactions on social media (Facebook and Instagram), national press coverage in India, and hundreds of visitors who have positively reported on the accessibility and value of learning about neglected aspects of Amritsar's heritage. Associated outcomes include a new network for heritage professionals encouraging community engagement in Amritsar called Creative Interruptions with over 20 members who collectively work with approximately 300 community members and engage with a large number of tourists. |
| URL | http://www.indiaheritagewalkfestival.com/heritage-walk-rambagh-garden-rambagh-gate |
| Title | Unburied |
| Description | Sally Fenaux Barleycorn's short film, Unburied, is a visual poem of pain and remembrance. Dedicated to those buried in the waters, to their lost-at-sea souls; it is a moment for heartbreak, guiding their souls back home. In this piercing and heartbreaking piece, Sally uses the Kola nut, and the significance of the ritual behind it, as a narrative device. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The film was screened at the BFI at the Creative Interruptions festival in June 2019. |
| URL | https://youtu.be/j4LFv0VA33M |
| Title | Workers |
| Description | Ten individuals give personal and sometimes moving accounts of warehouse and food factory work, and reflect on their creative lives within and beyond the workplace. Their stories reveal some of the harsh employment conditions in contemporary capitalist workplaces in these sectors, and confirm the power inequalities inherent in them. Three of the narrators also look back to earlier decades, remembering their working experiences in food production. A great deal, like repetitive work, uncertain hours and easy dismissal, has stayed the same. But, taken together, the films evoke a story of how workplace experiences have changed over a forty-year period with intensified pressure on agency workers in warehouses through higher productivity targets, longer distances to cover each day, and computerised policing of breaks. The films explore workplace experiences within people's wide-ranging stories, enabling the person at the heart of each story to choose how to narrate their place within it. Each narrator reflects on matters of importance to them beyond work and management regimes, such as their creative lives and their relationships with other people. Using multiple and varied narratives, the films disrupt taken-for-granted and common sense categories often used to stereotype people such as 'factory workers', 'warehouse workers' or 'migrants'. Perhaps there is a solidarity to be found in this that may one day bring about a challenge to oppressive workplace conditions. Director: Jay Gearing (Red7 Productions) Producers: Jay Gearing and Ben Rogaly Researcher: Ben Rogaly (Sussex University) |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | The film countered class racism against working-class people by valuing vernacular creativity. It created greater awareness of the multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-national working-class in the UK. It helped create a better understanding of working conditions in the warehouse and food supply sectors The film was premiered in Peterborough on 5th June 2018 (80 people attended the June screening). Live community event 1st October 2018 (by invitation).This community event was held in collaboration with Gladstone Community Association, Peterborough and included a screening of Workers. It was attended by approximately 150 people. (see https://creativeinterruptions.com/gladcaevent/) Dinner for potential film narrators and other artists in Peterborough May 2017 Dinner for film narrators and showing of first cut of Workers April 2018 Screening, Portcullis House, Westminster. Arranged by a Member of Parliament. (However, the screening had to be cancelled because MPs were busy with an urgent Brexit question.) Invited Screening and Q and A, 13th November 2018, Queen Mary University of London, Centre on Labour and Global Production |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/workers/ |
| Description | There is a deep inequality in the CCIs, which is demonstrated through the relationship between 'race', class, citizenship status and levels of cultural participation in cultural production. Cultural production, whether in live arts such as theatre or dance, visual arts or broadcast media, plays a central role in shaping everyday society and sharing experiences. The social value of arts for wider democratic projects that are more inclusive and accessible for different people to partake in, is underpinned by the ideas of connection and collaboration between different people and communities, which suggests an openness towards cultural difference. Therefore it is of deep significance to see how different communities are represented and are able to represent themselves through the arts and media. Through a collaborative research, we have assembled a range of stories and perspectives on the role of creativity and resistance in a hostile world. This has spanned mainland UK, Northern Ireland, Palestine and India. The research has revealed how creative acts have agitated for social change. Creative actions themselves, and acting together creatively, can at the same time offer vital sources of hope. Storytelling is an effective example to see how everyday people employ creative means to share or interpret their experiences. The research indicates that a way of working, which embraces anecdotal and knowledge based on peoples' lived experiences, can lead to change for a more values-driven approach for policy-change around tackling social inequalities. |
| Exploitation Route | Learnings for the Creative and Cultural Industries, especially in relation to cultural participation, diversity and inequality. Learnings for communities about building solidarity through creative means. Learnings for the academy about disciplinary and collaborative methodologies. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Findings emerging from the different strands of 'Creative Interruptions' research have been used in a number of strand-specific ways for community engagement, empowerment, co-creation and co-research. Findings and their initial and emerging impact are described more fully within the artistic and engagement activities listed for this award. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Debate: "What lies ahead" for Britain in Europe |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/fieldwork-update/ |
| Title | Website |
| Description | The dynamic website for Creative Interruptions - http://creativeinterruptions.com - has been up and running since June 2017. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The website provides news and updates about project-related activities including conferences attended, journal articles and book chapters published and other forms of public engagement. |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/ |
| Description | 'Voices that SHAKE' and Creative Interruptions Collaboration |
| Organisation | Platform London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Our project, part of Strand 1 of the research on creative anti-racissm, was called #MappingUs and was a collaboration between Brunel University London and Voices that Shake! We funded this series of workshops as an opportunity to offer the space to six young artists from Becton, Poplar, Elephant and Castle, Brixton, and Landbroke Grove to elaborate on what it means to create new maps for our ends through film, photography, and zines. These workshops aim to explore how specific communities use the media, film and creativity to challenge exclusion. The following questions which we raised through the research were the focus of the three workshops in this series: What are the historical lessons learnt from past screen-based 'interruptions', specifically those led by Black and Asian film practitioners in the UK? What are the screen-based creative and artistic strategies that the UK's Black and Asian communities have employed to resist structures of racialised power they consider oppressive? What kinds of narratives do people tell to stand for or against the ongoing racialised processes that generate disconnection, division, and exclusion in the UK? |
| Collaborator Contribution | Shake facilitated the workshops. The first workshop took place in the MayDay Rooms on Sunday 17th where each young person was given a disposable camera and took photos of their 'home'/community. We developed and spread those photographs around the room and then discussed their representations and meanings. This session also investigated media reporting and stereotypes of "truth", "history", and "art", whilst also reflecting on the business of advertising and media representations and why these narratives exist. The rest of the programme developed on this and focused on creating alternative narratives around our neighbourhoods from youth perspectives. Through this first part of the workshop we aimed to examine the local and global dynamics that rupture, alienate, and marginalise as well as the creative tools used by communities to cope with such processes of disconnection that result from being disenfranchised through media representations and power structures in our society. |
| Impact | A series of workshops for aspiring youth filmmakers in partnership with Voices that Shake! 4-5 films to come out of the workshops |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Ben Rogaly and Jay Gearing Collaboration |
| Organisation | Paper Rhino |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Prof. Ben Rogaly will be working with Filmmaker Jay Gearing and the University of Sussex to complete the film work of Strand 2 (looking at migrant workers in East England). As part of his work in the production of this film Ben Rogaly will conduct audio recordings with film subjects about their working life histories. This will build on relations already established with potential participants, yield both data for analysis of the post-In/Out EU referendum context and raw material for use by the film maker. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Jay Gearing of Paper Rhino Films (film-maker) will work with Prof. Rogaly to interview selected participants from among food and factory warehouse works in East England. . T Editing of films by Jay Gearing. |
| Impact | In progress |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with GA Films (Strand One) |
| Organisation | GA Films Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Professor Sarita Malik and Dr Photini Vrikki are working with award-winning director, George Amponsah (GA Films) to direct and produce a film about the personal experiences of a number of black producers and activists who were involved in creative (screen) activist practices in the past, or who are currently active. |
| Collaborator Contribution | GA Films will produce 'Creative Interruptions' - a film that aims to bring together diverse anti-racist creative activists who have worked with screen media and digital media by interviewing them on film. The film will make more visible the cultural history of anti-racist screen practice by listening to their stories, and will explore some of the broader connections between 'Blackness' and 'creativity' on the margins. The film will be positioned as a representation of voices that can change the dialogue around diverse Black communities, creativity, and activism in the UK. |
| Impact | Filming is in progress. The aim is for the film to be delivered in May 2018. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with June Givanni, Pan African Cinema Archive |
| Organisation | June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Prof. Sarita Malik and doctoral candidate Aditi Jaganathan will work with June Givanni's Pan African Cinema Archive to co-curate an exhibition/seminar profiling the 'anti-racist' audio-visual work of artists and activists since the 1970s. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Providing access and guidance to the June Givanni Pan-African archive for Prof. Sarita Malik and doctoral candidate Aditi Jaganathan on the Creative Interruptions project Also consulting with Sarita Malik and Aditi Jaganathan to share expertise and networks linked to historical and contemporary creative work particularly AV work that has addressed state racism and racialised marginalisation from the 1970s onwards; in particular also the work that has emerged from within the UK's African, Caribbean and South Asian diaspora who share histories of colonialism, imperialism and resistance. |
| Impact | Ongoing |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with Runnymede Trust |
| Organisation | Runnymede Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Research from the Creative Interruptions project can feed into the Runnymede's reports and long-term studies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Runnymede will work with the CI project team to deliver some of the following goals: Runnymede Policy Briefing (Spring 2019) and a Dissemination event. Interim Briefing to start an ongoing conversation, backed up by final briefing paper. 2. Dissemination event: Mini festival/conference/symposium. 3. Dissemination: Runnymede's 50th anniversary event - screening using Commissioned (young) filmmaker and/or series of short documentaries using young people. 4. Dissemination event: using an urban geographer - arts-based project that embodies the Creative Interruptions project 5. `Big Messages': Defining the research process which improves the narratives around race and class and marginal communities. 6. `Big Messages': mounting either a or a series of Institutional challenges - e.g. RSA, BBC etc. using `Big Messages' to be defined by Sarita Malik. Links possibly to RSA `creative citizen' or Labour party's national plan for the arts. Could be led by Clive Jones - Runnymede Chair 7. Impact: Pedagogical - wider based/follow on research project from Sept 2019 onwards. Arts' educative impact(s). To inform policy on the arts. Wider impact - improving democracy. |
| Impact | Ongoing |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Cultural Resource Conservation Init. and Churnjeet Mahn Collaboration |
| Organisation | Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Dr. Churnjeet Mahn (Co-Investigator on the project) will work with CRCI to deliver the following strand of research: 'Along the Grand Trunk Road: Disconnected Heritage and Memory in Post-Partition Punjab'. This strand facilitates an inter-faith dialogue between Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims by modelling a collective understanding of heritage that challenges the partitioning of heritage, memory and communities |
| Collaborator Contribution | The local Community Partners CRCI Punjab) bring intensive knowledge of the local political, economic, social and cultural contexts of India and have strong research experience and key networks that will facilitate impact generation. |
| Impact | Ongoing |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Greenshoot Productions and Michael Pierse Collaboration |
| Organisation | Green Shoot Productions |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Co-Investigator, Dr. Michael Pierse is working on the project's first collaborative creative output 'We'll Walk Hand in Hand' - a major new play on the subject of 'civil rights'with renowned playwright Martin Lynch and his company, Green Shoot Productions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Green Shoot Productions will be working with groups across Belfast to create a play, an exhibition, and a schools education pack on 'Civil Rights: Then and Now' tying in with the 50th anniversary of the Northern Irish Civil Rights movement. |
| Impact | In progress |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | MetalPeterborough and Ben Rogaly Collaboration |
| Organisation | Metal Culture |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Prof. Ben Rogaly is collaborating with MetalPeterborough to host potential and selected participants in the research work of Creative Interruptions in eastern England. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MetalPeterborough provided and hosted a dinner for potential participants in the work of Creative Interruptions in eastern England on 22nd May 2017. Among the twenty-three people attending were Peterborough-based artists Chris Porsz, who provided inspiration through a presentation from his Reunions project, Jay Gearing of Paper Rhino films, and photographer Hannah Saunders, as well as Jabeen Shafee, city resident and member of Creative Interruptions International Advisory Group. One aim of the evening was to bring people who might participate in the film work being developed in this Creative Interruptions research strand, with locally-based artists. The film work will focus on those who have spent part of their working lives employed in Eastern England's food factories, packhouses and retail distribution centres. This participatory approach is intended to involve the people who will appear in the films as much as possible in the creative process. This involves working together to explore people's creativity in making the intensive work in the UK's food and warehouse sectors manageable, or at least bearable, for example through humour or forming friendships across ethnic or national social boundaries. At the same time, taken together, the films will develop a bottom-up critique of the degradation of employment conditions in these sectors. Importantly, when employers seek workers, what they get are people. Celebrating this, the films will also draw attention to the everyday creativity of factory and warehouse workers outside the workplace, which often goes unnoticed or is undervalued in class-based notions of what counts as culture. |
| Impact | Dinner event as described above |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Runnymede and Creative Interruptions Collaboration |
| Organisation | Runnymede Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Led by Prof. Sarita Malik, the Creative Interruptions project has forged a collaboration with the Runnymede Trust the UK's leading independent race equality think tank. Prof. Malik is working with the Runnymede Trust in a consultancy role vis-a-vis arts and cultural equality and diversity issues. We will be producing a co-written policy briefing and report. At the end-project Creative Interruptions festival (see https://creativeinterruptions.com/festival/ there is a joint briefing planned on Monday 17th June 2019, with a potential policy briefing paper being launched. We also recently collaborated with Runnymede Trust to write a series of posts for our project on their website Race Matters. Our first post, in which we argued that "art provides a space in which stories that are often overlooked or misrepresented by mainstream media find a voice" was posted on the 7th of February. See https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/creative-interruptions-arts-and-resistance-in-a-hostile-world |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Runnymede Trust is collaborating with the project to co-write the policy briefing and report on the role of the arts vis-a-vis arts and cultural equality and diversity issues. We are currently in discussion with them to commission a short film tying together some of the project themes. We would then hope to advertise through Runnymede bulletins, twitter etc to elicit applications for a tight turnaround responsive short film (planned for end-project festival in June 2019). The Runnymede Trust is also hosting a series of posts for our project on their website Race Matters. |
| Impact | Blog Posts Planned report and policy briefing Planned Film |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 'We Must Dissent' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | One of the groups we worked with on our 'Connecting Civil Rights' Creative Interruptions project strand was based in Belfast's Market area. They were campaigning for housing rights within this newly 'gentrified', traditionally working-class area of the city. The group, which emerged from the Pangúr Bán Cultural Society in the district, were led by professional theatre facilitator and Londoner now living in Belfast, Matt Farris, and by our Creative Interruptions Community Co-Investigator, Fionntán Hargey, who hails from and works in the Market area. Using co-creative drama methodologies, they engaged with Market residents, young and old-some who could remember, and were involved with, the original Northern Irish Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s, some who are agitating for civil rights in the city today-under the theme of 'The Right to the City'. These residents feel that new commercial developments ongoing and planned for their area have been oriented toward private profit rather than social gain, and they have recently been involved with a campaign against a proposed £55 million office development beside their homes. They argue that these developments are not doing enough to include social housing that can benefit the homeless and those in need of housing in the area. Our theatre project produced several outputs. The first, a major play, We'll Walk Hand in Hand, was co-produced with community (non-professional) actors from this Market group, the LGBTQ community, a group of women campaigning for reproductive rights, and refugees and asylum seekers from across Belfast, resulting in a collaboration that toured theatres across Northern Ireland in the Spring of 2018. Some of those who acted in this play, performed in the most prestigious theatre venues in NI, had never even been to a theatre. Further outputs include a performance by our LGBT group about the experiences of LGBT people growing up in NI (performed in Belfast in August 2018); a radio play on abortion rights, recently completed and premiering on International Safe Abortion Day 2018 (www.september28.org/); a live performance, in December 2017, on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers who have travelled to Ireland; and this final piece, a short film developed as part of our work with the Pangur Bán group. It is entitled, 'We Must Dissent'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/watch-our-belfast-film-we-must-dissent/ |
| Description | 70 Years of Nakba - A Collection of Palestinian Short |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In Gaza today, thousands of individuals have participated in what has been named the Great March of Return. This popular resistance has resulted in the death of 30 civilians including the cinematographer, Yaser Murtaja. A unique programme of short films aims to reflect on the events of 1948 that marked a decisive turning point in the Middle East. The majority of Palestinians were expelled or fled as the state of Israel was established. History is generally written by the victors and this is also true of the history that is recounted by cinema. Yet, there were always film makers who were determined to document the destruction of over 500 Palestinians villages, the fate of the people in refugee camps and their resistance. A programme of 9 short films by a diverse group of Palestinian film makers recalled this forgotten history at Showroom in Sheffield, HOME in Manchester and Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham at the beginning of May 2018. The first part of the programme reflected directly on the events of the Nakba (the 1948 Catastrophe) and the dream of return through animation, oral testimony and digital technology. The second part explored contemporary experiences, through traditional documentary, docu-drama and the film essay. The Screening was introduced by Dr Anandi Ramamurthy, from Sheffield Hallam University, Co-Investigator for Creative Interruptions, an Arts and Humanities Research Council Project that aims to explore the way in which disenfranchised communities use the arts to have their voice heard. Post-screening discussions took place with Dr Dani Abulhawa (Sheffield Hallam University) in Sheffield, Ruth Abu Rashed (University of Manchester) in Manchester, and Dr Marwan Darweish (University of Coventry) in Brimingham |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/70-years-nakba-collection-palestinian-shorts/ |
| Description | A Future for Public Service Television - Launch event at the British Academy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A new collection titled A Future For Public Service Television, edited by Des Freedman and Vana Goblot has been published by Goldsmiths Press. The collection examines not only the unexpected resilience of TV as cultural pastime and aesthetic practice but also the prospects for public service television in a digital, multichannel ecology (http://futureoftv.org.uk/news/). Sarita Malik, who contributed a newly commissioned chapter on Diversity to the book, mounts a critique of current diversity policy in public service television. At the launch event at the British Academy on 18 April 2018, Sarita spoke about the disconnect between 'in real life' diversity and institutional diversity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/future-public-service-television-launch-event-british-academy/ |
| Description | AHRC Heritage Research Case Study on website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Creative Interruptions was selected as a case study for the AHRC heritage research project website. This is a curated selection of in progress or recently completed AHRC-funded heritage research projects which articulate with the aims of the AHRC Future Heritage Strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://heritage-research.org/case-studies/creative-interruptions-grassroots-creativity-state-struct... |
| Description | AHRC International Development Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) hosted an International Development Summit- 'Mobilising Global Voices', at the British Library, London on Wednesday 7th June 2017. The Summit aimed to showcase and discuss the unique and important contribution that AHRC-funded research (and of the arts and humanities more widely) makes to policy and practice in International Development and to cross-disciplinary and collaborative research which addresses a range of global challenges. The theme of the summit - 'Mobilising Global Voices' - indicated an aspiration to add to previous events and consultations by bringing the voices and perspectives of researchers, partners, cultural and development organisations and diverse communities in Low and Middle countries more strongly into debates about how arts and humanities research might contribute to international development. Sarita Malik (PI), Churnjeet Mahn (Co-I) and Gurmeet Rai (community partner) took part in the 'Mobilising Community Voices' panel, chaired by Professor George McKay (University of East Anglia). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/sarita-malik-churnjeet-mahn-and-gurmeet-rai-at-the-ahrc-internation... |
| Description | Academic talk delivered at ICOMOS conference, Delhi by Churnjeet Mahn |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Academic talk delivered by Churnjeet Mahn at ICOMOS conference, Delhi This was a high-profile conference for professionals. Churnjeet Mahn also attended a special panel on community engagement and heritage, |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://icomosga2017.org/ |
| Description | Action, not theory: Diversity in creative industries, Blog piece for Runnymede Trust Race Matters website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Sarita Malik, Project Lead on the Creative Interruptions project (with which Runnymede has collaborated) suggests that a new, radical system is needed to tackle the gap between diversity in policy and diversity in practice in the cultural and creative industries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/action-not-theory-diversity-in-the-creative-industries |
| Description | Arts and Resistance in a Hostile World, Blog Piece for the Runnymede Trust Race Matters website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Arts and Resistance in a Hostile World: As Runnymede embarks on an arts and research-based project with Creative Interruptions, academics Sarita Malik, Panayiota Demetriou and Photini Vrikki explain what the initiative is, and why it's important. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/creative-interruptions-arts-and-resistance-in-a-hostile-world |
| Description | BAFTA awards night for AHRC Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | BAFTA awards night for AHRC Research: Professor Sarita Malik attended this event along with Dr Photini Vrikki, (Research Fellow in Digital Humanities for Creative Interruptions) and award-winning filmmaker George Amponsah. They met with a number of professionals who have submitted to the awards and got a good sense of the kinds of research films that become award-winning and cutting-edge. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/winners-for-the-ahrc-research-in-film-awards-2017-announced/ |
| Description | Ben Rogaly in the Cheltenham Science Festival - Populations and People, June 9th 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Following his participation at the Cheltenham Science Festival 9th June 2017 Ben Rogaly writes about 'Populations and people', oral histories, memories and migration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/ben-rogaly-in-the-cheltenham-science-festival-populations-and-peopl... |
| Description | Ben Rogaly on BBC Radio 4 Farming Today - Seasonal and migrant workers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Ben Rogaly was on BBC Radio 4's show 'Farming Today - Seasonal and migrant workers' speaking about the ways in which the role and status of seasonal and migrant workers in the UK are changing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/ben-rogaly-on-bbc-4-farming-today-seasonal-and-migrant-workers/ |
| Description | Ben Rogaly's Contribution to organisation of Planet B festival in Peterborough July-August 2017. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Ben Rogaly contributed to the organisation of Planet B festival in Peterborough July-August 2017. A video of the festival was made by community collaborator and filmmaker Jay Gearing - https://vimeo.com/234651744. Prof. Rogaly also published an article in the festival newspaper The Precariat: https://issuu.com/peterboroughenvironment/docs/the_precariat |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://issuu.com/peterboroughenvironment/docs/the_precariat |
| Description | CINEMA OF THE PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Until recently films produced by the Palestinian Film Institute were thought to have been either looted or destroyed during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. As part of the Creative Interruptions project which is exploring artistic expressions of oppressed communities, researchers at Sheffield Hallam University participated in the work of retrieving Palestinian films from the 1970s and the early 1980s. Azza El Hassan, a Palestinian film maker, resident in the UK, found the films of Hani Jawharieh (1939-1976) in the latter's family home and this prompted further search. After uncovering the existence of films in private homes, it has been possible to digitise and restore a number of them to make them accessible to the public, to support the restoration of Palestinian cultural memory in the face of Israel's systematic destruction of Palestinian cultural artefacts since 1948. Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution screened these newly restored films, along with a modern reflection on these films. Discussions were held with filmmaker Azza El Hassan, Restoration Director; Dr Anandi Ramamurthy, Co-Investigator, Creative Interruptions, Sheffield Hallam University; Director Kassem Hawal and Samia Labidi, Palestine Film Collection, Cine-Palestine, Paris |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/cinema-of-the-palestinian-revolution/ |
| Description | CINEMA FOR ALL |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | KEYNOTE AND WELCOME: Creative Interruptions Co-Investigator, Dr Anandi Ramamurthy, spoke about Palestinian Cinema: Inside Out - exploring dominant themes and aesthetics within cinema of Palestine, whilst also highlighting the diasporic and refugee cinema coming out of Lebanon, Syria and even Europe/US. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://cinemaforall.org.uk/about-cinema-for-all/projects/community-cinema-conference-and-film-socie... |
| Description | Cinema Palestino 2017: Reels of Memory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, Cinema Palestino presents Reels of memory, a reflection on history and memory in Palestinian cinema: an afternoon of films, talks and discussions. The event is a collaboration between Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange and Sheffield Hallam University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/cinema-palestino-2017-reels-of-memory/ |
| Description | Civil Rights Now! An evening of performances with Green Shoot Productions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A rehearsal reading of a new community play on LGBT experiences, and a special screening of a Market Community short film on their campaign for housing, "We Must Dissent". Also exhibited were first clips from the NVTV documentary on our Lyric Theatre Play, "We'll Walk Hand in Hand" and the Linen Hall Exhibition, "Civil Rights: Then and Now". Guest Speaker: Belfast Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Hargey Finger food and refreshments were provided and entry was free. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/civilrightsnow/ |
| Description | Co-Designing Research - University of Barcelona Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 23rd November, Sarita Malik (PI) along with her colleague Monica Degen, from Brunel University London's Department of Social and Political Science, led a workshop titled 'Co-Designing Research: Opportunities and Challenges for Collaborative Projects' at the University of Barcelona. As academics that have used co-creation processes in their research, Malik and Degen were invited by the University to bring together academics and non-University collaborators to discuss the opportunities and challenges of working together. One of the key questions of the workshop was, 'how can research projects be designed and developed in mutually beneficial ways, and with outputs and legacies that are useful for academic and wider knowledge?' The workshop was attended by students, activists, academics and local cultural organisations interested in engaging in an open dialogue in order to exchange experiences and learn from each other about how to co-produce meaningful research for both the non-academic and academic sector.Those who attended the workshop have set up an on line group with the aim to continue these important discussions around collaborative research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18BVjFHHGwTub1t6Wok0LOv0vizISGkRc |
| Description | Conference (Ben Rogaly on 'Re-Scaling Citizenship Struggles in Provincial Urban England' at AAG) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Ben Rogaly was at the AAG conference in Boston, discussing the local level struggles by nationals of central and eastern European EU countries for a 'right to the city' in the UK after the vote to leave the EU in the UK. Abstract Title: Re-Scaling Citizenship Struggles in Provincial Urban England |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/ben-rogaly-on-re-scaling-citizenship-struggles-in-provincial-urban-... |
| Description | Connecting Civil Rights |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This short film encompasses interviews Dr. Michael Pierse and team conducted with Irish civil rights activists from the late 1960s and 1970s, who were calling for an end to discrimination in jobs, housing and many other aspects of life in the Northern Ireland of the time. Their interviews are interspersed with clips from our co-produced community play, 'We'll Walk Hand in Hand', which took as its central theme 'Civil Rights: then and Now'. 50 years after the original civil rights struggle in the north of Ireland, as our play process conveyed, many civil rights concerns remain. The film was shown as part of an exhibition taking place in the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, from July-August 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/connecting-civil-rights/ |
| Description | Creative Interruptions: Festival or Arts and Activism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Creative Interruptions: Festival of Arts and Activism provided an opportunity to reflect on the Creative Interruptions project, showcase some of the art produced during the research, and combine this with a range of talks, roundtable sessions, workshops, exhibitions, films and live performances that bridge activism and creativity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/festival/ |
| Description | Daisy Hasan at the 'New Perspectives in Participatory Arts' Conference at UEA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our project manager, Daisy Hasan, presented a paper at the conference 'New Perspectives in Participatory Arts' Conference at UEA on the 22nd of May 2018. Her paper, part of the panel on Theatre and participation, was titled "Promises to Keep: Creative Collaboration and Interruption in a Northern Irish Theatre Project" and discussed the co-production elements of our project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/daisy-hasan-at-the-new-perspectives-in-participatory-arts-conferen... |
| Description | Developing Best Practice in Community-Based Research on Partition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Creative Interruptions team organized a workshop on Developing Best Practice in Community-Based Research on Partition on the 18th of November 2017 at the University of Strathclyde. This workshop was designed to foster a focussed discussion around issues of community-based research with, and around, lives that have been impacted by Partition. Looking beyond traditional historiographies of Partition in South Asia, this workshop considers the global dimensions of Partition through comparative contexts (Ireland and Palestine) and comparative issues (migrant communities in the UK) in order to expand and diversify the archive of Partition history and knowledge. With a focus on using creative and participatory methods in a range of international case studies, we aim to identify emerging routes into a new kind of global history of the experience of Partition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/developing-best-practice-in-community-based-research-on-partition/ |
| Description | Dinner at MetalPeterborough |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | MetalPeterborough hosted a dinner for potential participants in the work of Creative Interruptions in eastern England on 22nd May 2017. Among the twenty-three people attending were Peterborough-based artists Chris Porsz, who provided inspiration through a presentation from his Reunions project, Jay Gearing of Paper Rhino films, and photographer Hannah Saunders, as well as Jabeen Shafee, city resident and member of Creative Interruptions International Advisory Group. One aim of the evening was to bring people who might participate in the film work being developed in this Creative Interruptions research strand (led by Ben Rogaly), with locally-based artists. The film work will focus on those who have spent part of their working lives employed in Eastern England's food factories, packhouses and retail distribution centres. This participatory approach is intended to involve the people who will appear in the films as much as possible in the creative process. This involves working together to explore people's creativity in making the intensive work in the UK's food and warehouse sectors manageable, or at least bearable, for example through humour or forming friendships across ethnic or national social boundaries. At the same time, taken together, the films will develop a bottom-up critique of the degradation of employment conditions in these sectors. Importantly, when employers seek workers, what they get are people. Celebrating this, the films will also draw attention to the everyday creativity of factory and warehouse workers outside the workplace, which often goes unnoticed or is undervalued in class-based notions of what counts as culture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/dinner-at-metalpeterborough/ |
| Description | Dr Ramamurthy's work mentioned in The Guardian |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Kehinde Andrews, writing in The Guardian, argues that "activists should be proud of campaigns such as Rhodes Must Fall, yet dissatisfied with how little the role of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in British history is understood." Dr Ramamurthy's work has been cited as "work that will still be neglected" despite the efforts of a number of universities to decolonise their curriculum. There is long road ahead. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/dr-ramamurthys-work-mentioned-in-the-guardian/ |
| Description | Film Première of "Workers" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Premiere held on 5th June 2018: Ten individuals give personal and sometimes moving accounts of warehouse and food factory work, and reflect on their creative lives within and beyond the workplace. This series of short arthouse documentaries is bought to you by Red 7 Productions with the University of Sussex for creativeinterruptions.com Directed by Jay Gearing and produced by Jay Gearing and Ben Rogaly The films involve a diverse range of people, including both British nationals and international migrants. In revealing some of the harsh employment conditions in contemporary capitalist workplaces in these sectors, the films confirm the power inequalities inherent in them. But the films tell stories from multiple perspectives. Through positioning workers as creative actors they raise questions about the tendency to reduce people to a category such as 'factory worker', 'warehouse worker' or migrant. Further, the films locate workplace experiences within people's wide-ranging biographies, enabling the person at the heart of each story to choose how to narrate their place within it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/film-premiere-of-workers/ |
| Description | Global Challenges Research Fund and Collaborative Research: A Connected Communities International Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Churnjeet Mahn (University of Strathclyde) and Gurmeet Rai (Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative, India) were at the University of Easy Anglia on the 6th of June 2017 to talk about Creative Interruptions: Grassroots Culture, State Structures and Disconnection as a Space for 'Radical Openness'. This AHRC-funded day symposium was focused specifically on collaborative research, including co-production, across the Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF), and brought together collaborative researchers and partners from the UK and internationally to discuss practice and potential in collab- oration and development. The event took place a day prior to the Mobilising Global Voices International Summit, held at the British Library on 07 June. At the British Library summit, Churnjeet and Gurmeet and Sarita Malik (PI) contributed to a session titled, 'Mobilising Community Voices', discussing the international basis of the Creative Interruptions project and the arts and humanities-led approaches used in co-production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/global-challenges-research-fund-and-collaborative-research-a-connec... |
| Description | Heritage Lottery Project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Without Dr. Churnjeet Mahn's research the Heritage Lottery Project (with conducted original interviews and produced an exhibition) would not have been able to produce the publication Making Lives, Making Communities: South Asians in Scotland (2018) which was launched at the Scottish Parliament and is co-authored by her. Nicola Sturgeon spoke at this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/ |
| Description | Keynote Address |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sarita Malik delivered the opening keynote address at the Black Film British Cinema Conference 2017 at Goldsmiths and the ICA on the 18th May, 2017. The 'sold-out' conference took place on 18th and 19th of May. The conference marked nearly 30 years since the original Black Film, British Cinema conference at the ICA and its subsequent publication, both of which, as Malik discussed in her address, have been a huge influence on scholars exploring race, culture and the politics of representation. Some of its core thinking was led by scholars such as Kobena Mercer, Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy. The aim of the two-day conference was to consider the politics of race in contemporary British cinema and visual practice, as well as to provide a space to reflect on almost 30 years of black film production vis-a-vis the institutional, technological, textual, cultural and political shifts that have occurred during this period. In her talk, Malik examines the "social, political, economic and affective structures through which visual culture is constituted", arguing that, "Black British film has been a key site of struggle which has been, more or less, racially governed through various frames such as 'institutionalised diversity' and 'the creative economy'. But that it has also demonstrated radical potential as a form of culture that can provoke, disrupt and recode normative understanding of the British experience". Malik highlights the importance of strategizing around the "spaces of representation from which black film might be able to resist racialised forms of governance, for example, in terms of commissioning, funding, distribution or policy." Malik's keynote relates to Strand 1 of the Creative Interruptions project which researches the politics of past and present anti-racist screen media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/the-politics-of-race-in-contemporary-film-and-digital-practice-18-1... |
| Description | Keynote Address (Ben Rogaly's Keynote at the 'Territory, Mobility, Labour' conference) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This keynote by Ben Rogaly, at the 'Territory, Mobility, Labour' conference in Padova, discussed the ways in which the growing, packing and processing of food in eastern England has long involved the employment of seasonal, temporary and/or migrant workforces. The paper will revealed capitalist workplaces to be sites of discipline and control, in spite or because of which non-unionised workers occasionally find means to resist, assert their dignity and experience solidarity and conviviality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/ben-rogalys-keynote-territory-mobility-labour-conference/ |
| Description | LOVE AND DESIRE UNDER OCCUPATION AND DISPOSSESSION |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Love of all kinds is put to the test as Palestinians attempt to maintain normalcy and intimacy while living under occupation and siege in the screening Love and Desire in Palestine. Screened in Cardiff, Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester, the programme curated by Cinema Palestino and Creative Interruptions.com was released to roughly coincide with Valentine's Day. The three works by Palestinian filmmakers reveal what are day to day realities for the people of their country, but remain largely unknown to the rest of the world. Bonbonné is an unexpected portrait of love behind bars, as a Palestinian couple resort to an unusual contraception method during the husband's incarceration in an Israeli prison. Director Rakan Miyasi highlights the de-humanising effects of imprisonment as the couple are strip searched or made to take communal showers, being touched and seen by fellow prisoners and Israeli guards instead of each other. In a particularly elegant piece of camerawork, the couple talk separated by a glass screen, their ghostly reflections superimposed onto each other's faces. Condom Lead has no dialogue and all takes place in one apartment, the smooth camera movements and orderly lines of the set setting a harsh contrast to the violence heard off screen. Brothers Mohammed and Ahmad Abou Nasser explore a couple's search for intimacy in the midst of violence. Each time that the sounds of gunfire and bombing interrupt them the husband blows the unused condom into a balloon for their small child to play with. As the days of conflict wear on their lost moments of intimacy pile up in corners and float about the apartment, nothing but air. Gaza calling, the most emotionally impactful of the films, tells the story of two young men struggling to reunite with their families after being separated by the Israeli restrictions on travel between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Nahed Awad pays particular attention to the systems of bureaucracy used to hold people in limbo, as the audience watches endless footage of documents being moved from location to location, achieving nothing. As someone who knew only a moderate amount about the Israeli/Palestine conflict going into the cinema, this film was the most eye-opening about the struggles of daily life living under the Occupation. The bureaucratic system that controls their movement is described by director Awad in the Q & A as 'psychological torture', and the term rings true, as Hekmet spends years trying to obtain a visa for her son to reunite with her in Ramallah, only to be constantly disappointed. Although the editing is at times confusing, as the frequent cuts between the young men and their families were somewhat difficult to follow, Gaza Calling paints a compelling and much needed picture of daily life under the Occupation. Bonbonné and Gaza Calling include many shots of the beautiful Palestinian countryside as the characters travel through it, the lovely rolling hills adding insult to the fact that so many people cannot return to this place that is their homeland. In Gaza Calling one of Mustafa's sisters complains that the media prefers to show Palestinians as victims not people, focusing on the parts of Gaza which are most destroyed. As the impasse in Palestine continues, these films at least do something to right that wrong. After the screening at HOME in Manchester the audience had a chance to write postcards to young people in Gaza - a token of love in a hostile world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/review-about-the-love-and-desire-programme/ |
| Description | Mapping Us in collaboration with Voices that Shake! |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our project, part of Strand 1, was called #MappingUs and it was a collaboration between Brunel University London and Voices that Shake! We funded and produced this series of workshops as an opportunity to offer the space to six young artists from Becton, Poplar, Elephant and Castle, Brixton, and Landbroke Grove to elaborate on what it means to create new maps for our ends through film, photography, and zines. These workshops aimed to explore how specific communities use the media, film and creativity to challenge exclusion. The following questions were the focus of the three workshops that structure this series: What are the historical lessons learnt from past screen-based 'interruptions', specifically those led by Black and Asian film practitioners in the UK? What are the screen-based creative and artistic strategies that the UK's Black and Asian communities have employed to resist structures of racialised power they consider oppressive? What kinds of narratives do people tell to stand for or against the ongoing racialised processes that generate disconnection, division, and exclusion in the UK? The first workshop took place in the MayDay Rooms where each young person was given a disposable camera and took photos of their 'home'/community. We developed and spread those photographs around the room and then discussed their representations and meanings. This session also investigated media reporting and stereotypes of "truth", "history", and "art", whilst also reflecting on the business of advertising and media representations and why these narratives exist. The rest of the programme developed on this and focused on creating alternative narratives around our neighbourhoods from youth perspectives. Through this first part of the workshop we aimed to examine the local and global dynamics that rupture, alienate, and marginalise as well as the creative tools used by communities to cope with such processes of disconnection that result from being disenfranchised through media representations and power structures in our society. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/our-new-project-mappingus-in-collaboration-with-voices-that-shake/ |
| Description | MeCCSA Annual Conference London South Bank University, 10-12 January 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The CI project team including Dr Photini Vrikki (Research Fellow in Digital Humanities on Creative Interruptions) and doctoral candidate Aditi Jaganathan presented at the MeCCSA Conference on a panel titled: Creative Interruptions: Narratives of Struggle, Power and Politics. The panel was well-received and sparked a lively discussion on the themes of creativity and agency. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://meccsa2018.org/ |
| Description | Media Commentary (Halle Berry: Was her Oscar win worthless? - Sarita Malik comments on BBC News) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In an article posted on the BBC website (29th June 2017), Neil Smith discussed actress Halle Berry's Oscar win which she regarded as meaningless especially in light of the fact that no black stars were nominated for major acting awards at the 2015 Oscars. Neil Smith asked Professor Sarita Malik, an expert in diversity and screen media, if Berry was right to feel aggrieved. Prof. Malik provided deep insight into the "burden of representation that has historically been placed on black actors, films and representations more widely". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40428717 |
| Description | Michael Pierse on NVTV with political activist Lynda Walker |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview: Michael Pierse talking to political activist Lynda Walker, regarding the campaign for civil rights. The interview was broadcast by NVTV on Saturday 1st Sept at 7.15pm, and repeated the following day at 5.10pm. It also appeared on their website soon afterwards.(NVTV broadcasts across the Greater Belfast area on Freeview Ch7, and on Virgin Ch159.) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/nvtv/ |
| Description | Mixtape with Rehana Zaman and Aditi Jaganathan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the exhibition programme for Speaking Nearby, Rehana Zaman and Aditi Jaganathan shared a collection of references, music, words and visuals on and around the representation of women of colour in TV and Cinema. Aditi is a PhD candidate at Brunel, University of London and is affiliated to the Creative Interruptions project. Aditi's current work looks at the nexus between Black and brown cultural production in Britain, with a particular interest in creativity as decolonial praxis. Through her PhD, she explores the ways in which Black and brown creativity, audio-visual culture specifically, interrupts narratives of British coloniality, from the 1980s to the present. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/mixtape-with-rehana-zaman-and-aditi-jaganathan |
| Description | NI theatre production on film |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | NVTV documentary on our Lyric Theatre play "We walk hand in hand" in an exclusive preview prior to broadcast. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/watch-our-theatre-production-on-film/ |
| Description | Off frame aka Revolution until Victory (2015)-Film screening-11th & 12th July, HOME, Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a film screening in which Co-IAnandi Ramamurthy took part. Using archival material, the film explores popular representations of Palestine. A Q and A with the director followed the screening. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/off-frame-aka-revolution-until-victory-2015-film-screening-11th-12t... |
| Description | Omar (2013) Film Screening-7th May, Birch Community Centre Brighton Grove, Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Co-I Anandi Ramamurthy organized this screening of an action-packed drama with insoluble moral dilemmas and tough choices. Following the screening she conducted audience research via a discussion with the audience about their impressions of the film. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/omar-2013-film-screening-birch-community-centre-brighton-grove-manc... |
| Description | On cinematic interruptions - The experience of Palestine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Researcher blog by Dr. Anandi Ramamurthy on Cinematic Interruptions - The experience of Palestine |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/c3riimpact/anandi-ramamurthy-blog-palestine-film/?doing_wp_cron=1506728692.1... |
| Description | Panel at the American Association of Geographers in April 2017 (by Co-Investigator Professor Ben Rogaly) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Ben Rogaly was at the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting in Boston.Ben spoke on a panel session on Brexit, race and migration on 07th April, 2017. This panel discussion was put together in response to the seismic shifts that have been, and are still, taking place in British political culture in light of the June 2016 referendum result to leave the European Union. Two key developments have seen a substantive change in the way migration and race are discussed in political discourse - first the referendum campaign itself which took positions on immigration which would previously have been considered to be 'beyond the pale' into mainstream discussion. Resultant increases in racial violence - including the murder of a Polish man in Essex - have led to a palpable change in public culture for many people, stretching the image of the UK as somewhere traditionally open to diversity to its limits. The second development has been the changes which have happened in government as a result, and a marked hardening of rhetoric on migration - including suggestions that firms should list foreign workers and schools should list non UK born children. At the time of writing - late 2016 - the fate of current EU citizens in the UK is uncertain. There is so much to unpack from these changes, and so many discussions to work through. This panel discussion brought together people who were expert in different aspects of the geographies of race and migration in a UK context to explore what has happened since June 2016, what the future implications might be, and how best to respond to them. Key questions and issues discussed included: The referendum campaign itself Racial violence and discrimination since the referendum The position of EU citizens in the UK Discourses of empire in British public life Place, belonging and migration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/upcoming-aag-annual-meeting-brexit-race-and-migration/ |
| Description | Plenary Speech (Ben Rogaly on 'Migration', racisms, and the creative resistance of food sector employees) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Ben Rogaly was a plenary speaker at the 'Approaches to migration, language and identity' conference, held at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) 4-6 May 2017. The aims of the conference were to to bring together scholars working on any aspect of migration, language, and identity. This three-day conference offered a forum for researchers working in the fields of politics, geosciences, linguistics, anthropology, economics, sociology, social (economic, legal) history, literature, and more to gather together and exchange ideas. The conference was motivated by the increasing awareness of the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of migration as well as its implications on language, culture, and identity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/upcoming-ben-rogaly-at-the-european-society-for-rural-sociology-con... |
| Description | Plenary by Anandi Ramamurthy on Palestinian Cinema - Inside Out |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Co-Investigator Anandi Ramamurthy delivered the plenary lecture at the Community Cinema Conference organised by Cinema For All (7-9 September). This year the theme of the conference was 'Ourselves on Screen'. This focus on self-representation fits with the research in the Palestinian Cinema Strand, which focuses on the voice of Palestinian filmmakers in cinematic representations of Palestine. The lecture highlighted the transnational nature of Palestinian cinema as well as some of its central preoccupations: the intersection between the ordinary and the extraordinary; the articulation of historical narratives; the representation of contemporary and historical traumas as well as resistance to colonialism, racism and occupation, highlighting the humour and diverse creative practices that Palestinian filmmakers employ. The response at the conference was enthusiastic with film clubs from across the country exploring possible films for screening. Cinema for All now includes Palestinian films in its list. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/palestinian-cinema-inside-out/ |
| Description | Press Release: Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PRESS RELEASE CINEMA OF THE PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION 11 June 2018,17.00-20.15 FREE The Void Cinema, Owen Building Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield SB1 1WB Until recently films produced by the Palestinian Film Institute were thought to have been either looted or destroyed during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. As part of the Creative Interruptions project (www.creativeinterruptions.com) which is exploring artistic expressions of oppressed communities, researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have participated in the work of retrieving Palestinian films from the 1970s and the early 1980s. Azza El Hassan, a Palestinian film maker, resident in the UK, found the films of Hani Jawharieh (1939-1976) in the latter's family home and this prompted further search. After uncovering the existence of films in private homes, it has been possible to digitise and restore a number of them to make them accessible to the public, to support the restoration of Palestinian cultural memory in the face of Israel's destruction of Palestinian cultural artefacts since 1948. Cinema of the Palestinian Revolution will screen these newly restored films, along with a modern reflection on these films. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/pressreleasepalestine/ |
| Description | Punjab Workshop (2018) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Churnjeet Mahn's research on folk culture in late colonial Punjab led to workshops in Oct-Nov 2018 and an exhibition in Feb 2019 on the connection between heritage, memory and folk-culture. Collaborations between creative professionals and traditional craftspeople to produce exhibition material created new economic opportunities for skilled but low-paid workers. Two young women practicing embroidery commented that, 'we saw ourselves as professionals for the first time'. They used their new skills to increase their hourly rate in the market from 200 rupees a day (£2) to 600 rupees (£6). This is one example of 20 similar collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.creativeinterruptions.com |
| Description | Research subjects or co-creators? Making public outreach count, Blog piece for Runnymede Trust Race Matters website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | What does it mean to collaborate with different communities as part of an arts or media project? Dr. Sarita Malik and Dr. Panayiota Demetriou of Creative Interruptions do not shy away from exploring the challenges of such 'outreach'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/research-subjects-or-co-creators-making-public-outreach-count |
| Description | Reviews of The Palestinian Revolution at the ICA on 20 November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On the 20th November, Anandi Ramamurthy and Azza El-Hassan, hosted the screening of three newly uncovered Palestinian movies as part of the London Palestine Film Festival at the ICA. The screening attracted more than 150 audience members and has opened discussions around the ways in which settler colonialism erases the cultures of the colonised. Writing for the Frieze website, Nathan Geyer says: "The devastating consequences of the Israeli invasion are recorded in Kassem Hawal's film Palestinian Identity (1984), which captures the ruins of war-torn Beirut in the wake of the lost archive. Israel's aggression in Lebanon caused the tragic destruction of more than 85 Palestinian schools and kindergartens, and significant institutions including the PLO Research Centre were razed to the ground. Hawal's film unflinchingly accuses Israel of directly targeting Palestinian cultural institutions; the destruction of the Gaza Cultural Centre earlier this year bears witness to the ongoing threat to Palestinian identity today." Creative Interruptions Co-Investigator, Dr. Anandi Ramamurthy reflects: "In challenging the destruction of Palestinian culture, I hope the films will give back to Palestinians and an international audience a knowledge of Palestinian film history". "Film might not produce massive social change," she concludes, "but in a sense it can offer a trigger for that social change." See https://creativeinterruptions.com/reviews-of-the-palestinian-revolution-at-the-ica-on-20-november/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/reviews-of-the-palestinian-revolution-at-the-ica-on-20-november/ |
| Description | Sarita Malik on 'Diversity in Television: On Screen, Off Screen and in the Boardroom' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Sarita Malik chaired this timely event on Diversity in Television: On Screen, Off Screen and in the Boardroom at the Royal Society of Chemistry, at the Burlington House on the 19th of September 2017. The event highlighted: Representation of society on-screen: diversity on-screen talent, considering race, religion, disability and class Behind the camera: delivering diversity in production and supporting writers, producers and directors from diverse backgrounds to develop creatively Diversity and decision making: representation of minorities in senior management positions and how to accelerate the rise of executives from diverse backgrounds. This event will provide an opportunity to discuss the practical solutions to improve representation of people from all backgrounds within the television sector - including those identifying as BAME, working class, disabled and LGBT. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://creativeinterruptions.com/sarita-malik-on-diversity-in-television-on-screen-off-screen-and-in... |
| Description | Sarita Malik speaks at the Tate Modern Workshop "Art and Inequality: New Perspectives" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Creative Interruptions PI, Sarita Malik, gave a talk at an event on Arts and Inequality at Tate Modern on 20 June. The talk was part of a workshop developed through a new partnership between Tate and The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) based at the LSE's International Inequality Institute. Sarita's talk focused on issues of racialised inequality and art and the ways in which the Creative Interruptions team is addressing the issue. Racism is alive and well, says @_SaritaMalik. What we are trying to do is to unpack the relationship between race and creativity and how we can deconolise it beyond the several boundaries that exist, and take it beyond the limitations that sustain it. @Tate @LSEInequalities pic.twitter.com/yeElNLKMDd - Creative Interruptions (@CreativeInterr) June 20, 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/sarita-malik-speaks-at-the-tate/ |
| Description | Sarita Malik, Keynote Address, The Cultural Contexts of Black British FIlm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Sarita Malik delivered the invited keynote address at this conference that marked 30 years since the first Black Film, British Cinema Conference at the Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA). Over 200 people attended the 'Black Film British Cinema: The Politics of Race in Contemporary Film and Digital Practice' 2017 Conference at Goldsmiths University London on May 18-19 2017. This conference was organised by University of Greenwich, Goldsmiths, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and co-supported by the Sociological Review Foundation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=10523 |
| Description | Screening Palestinian Cinema |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange and Co-Investigator Dr Anandi Ramamurthy of Sheffield Hallam University have organised a series of screenings with discussions to explore ways in which a variety of audiences engage with films produced by Palestinians in the UK, as well as ways to build audiences for Palestinian Cinema through networking with independent Cinemas as part of the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/screening-palestinian-cinema/ |
| Description | Screening of Workers at GLADCA event at Peterborough |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On the 1st October we were part of an event in Peterborough where there was a screening of five of the ten Workersfilms. Organised around the AGM of the Gladstone Community Association, the event included an introduction to Creative Interruptions by Ben Rogaly and Photini Vrikki, as well as a Q & A with Jay Gearing, Director of Workers, and two of the films' narrators. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/gladcaevent/ |
| Description | THE FESTIVAL CINÉ-PALESTINE 2018: INDELIBLY CELEBRATING PALESTINIAN CINEMA IN PARIS. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Work from the Palestine research strand led by Co-Investigator Dr. Anandi Ramamurthy was showcased at this screening. Brought together by a perennial and voluntary group of film buffs, passionate about Palestinian cinema, the 4th annual film festival of the Festival Ciné-Palestine (FCP) was very successful. The film festival took place from 25 May to 3 June 2018. Twenty-seven films were screened, including two French premieres. Audience numbers reached nearly 2000 to watch 22 screenings on the programme in our five partner cinemas: Luminor Hôtel de Ville and 3 Luxembourg in Paris, Melies in Montreuil, Ecran in Saint Denis, and Studio in Aubervilliers. FCP is driven by its ambition to showcase Palestinian film directors, discover and launch emerging talent so they can give the present another side of History and tell their own stories, and deconstruct stereotypes about Palestine. FCP has the will to raise the awareness of the increasingly wider public concerning the quality and singularity of Palestinian cinema and fill the gap in distribution that persists in France. By listening to our public and responding to the expectations from the artists, the film festival has evolved this year to become bigger and has broadened considerably its mission both in numbers and in the diversity of events offered to the public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://festivalpalestine.paris/2018-highlights |
| Description | Theatre for Critical Thinking: Working With Schools in Northern Ireland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This short documentary illustrates one of the outcomes from the Northern Ireland strand of Creative Interruptions. Entitled 'Connecting Civil Rights', this strand of our project was founded on co-production methods in drama workshops, which were conducted over 2017 and 2018 with a range of community groups affected by civil rights issues in the north of Ireland today. These groups, drawn from campaigning organisations seeking asylum-seeker, abortion, socio-economic and LGBTQ rights, culminated in a play, We'll Walk Hand in Hand, which toured across Northern Ireland in 2018 and was followed up by a range of community-outreach activities. One of these activities-our Schools Outreach initiative-used scenes from the original play, along with community theatre techniques pioneered by the famous dramatist and campaigner Augusto Boal, to facilitate critical thinking on contemporary rights issues. The result, documented above, suggests the power of theatre in enabling critical dialogues and debates about controversial issues that don't always get discussed in schools. We're planning further follow-on events over 2019, and are working on an education pack that will help integrate these activities into the GCSE Citizenship and Learning for Life and Work curricula, following consultation with educational authorities and feedback from students and teachers. This programme of schools activities was part of a collaboration between Creative Interruptions Co-Investigator (and Queen's University Belfast academic) Dr Michael Pierse and the playwright Martin Lynch's theatre company, Green Shoot Productions, and facilitated by a range of actors and theatre professionals led by Tom Finlay, who discusses here the process of linking up with schools. ( For the documentary: - See https://creativeinterruptions.com/theatre-for-critical-thinking-working-with-schools-in-northern-ireland/) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://creativeinterruptions.com/theatre-for-critical-thinking-working-with-schools-in-northern-ire... |