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Ali Eisa

Staff details

Ali Eisa

Position

Lecturer in Fine Art

Department

Art

Email

a.eisa (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Ali is an artist working with installation, found objects, photography, collaborative and socially engaged practice

I am an artist and educator based in London. I co-founded the Lloyd Corporation, a collaborative project with artist Sebastian Lloyd Rees working together since 2010. Our practice utilizes sculpture, installation, performance and participation, often taking inspiration from informal cultures, local economies and found objects. I have over 15 years experience in arts education, community arts and youth work. I have facilitated participatory arts projects exploring issues of identity, human rights, representation and inclusion for marginalised communities, including young people from refugee, asylum and migrant backgrounds. I managed the Learning & Participation at Autograph (2015-2023) and have developed socially engaged projects with numerous galleries, museums and arts institutions. I am a facilitator for A Particular Reality, a collective of students, alumni and educators exploring anti-racist art practice and participatory research. I have a background in social circus.

Academic qualifications

  • MA Visual Sociology 2015
  • BA Fine Art 2010

Teaching and supervision

I am a lecturer on the BA Fine Art (Studio Practice) and contribute to BA Fine Art (Critical Studies)

Current PhD Supervision:
Yeu-Lai Mo. (2024-27). ‘Archiving the disappearing history of the British Chinese Artists’ Association and the Chinese Art scene from late 90’s to early 2000’s in the UK, an East Asian diasporic art history. A movement or moment?’

Research interests

My collaborative art practice Lloyd Corporation (with artist Sebastian Lloyd Rees) focuses on site-specific installation, the readymade, object biography, informal cultures, vernacular aesthetics, globalisation, urban life, consumption, waste economies.

My socially engaged and participatory practice focuses on inclusive practice, equity, race, identity and representation, photography, visual activism, archives, memory, participatory action research, alternative arts pedagogy.

Grants and awards

2024: Research Impact Fund Award
Pilot research study explores intersectional approaches to disability and identity in arts and education through participatory workshops and interviews. A Co-research project with A Particular Reality

2023: Early Career Research Award
Examining the role collective creative practice can play in addressing marginalisation and exclusion experienced by BIPOC students. A Co-research project with A Particular Reality.

Publications and research outputs

Art Object

Article

Audio

Book Section

  • Thinking Differently: Race & Identity in the Classroom Eisa, Ali . 2024. Thinking Differently: Race & Identity in the Classroom. In: Lydia Ashman, ed. 11 x 11 Resource for Educators. London: Cubitt.
  • Race, Rights & Representation Eisa, Ali . 2024. Race, Rights & Representation. In: Kate Watson and Becky Warnock, eds. Terms Of Engagement 2.
  • Naked City Eisa, Ali ; and Rees, Sebastian. 2022. Naked City. In: Melanie Buhler, ed. The Art of Critique. Milan: Lenz Press / Frans Hals Museum. ISBN 9791280579102

Conference or Workshop Item

  • Naked City Eisa, Ali ; and Rees, Sebastian. 2023. 'Naked City'. In: City Guests - Artist Talks & Screenings. 37PK, Haarlem, Netherlands 14 October 2023.
  • Lloyd Corporation Eisa, Ali ; and Rees, Sebastian. 2022. 'Lloyd Corporation'. In: Contemporary Art Talk: Lloyd Corporation. Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom 19 October 2022.
  • Vibrant Matters Eisa, Ali ; and Rees, Sebastian. 2022. 'Vibrant Matters'. In: Vibrant Matters. Brighton CCA, United Kingdom 2 April 2022.

Digital

Exhibition Catalogue

Project

  • Canvas(s) Eisa, Ali . May 2016 – June 2017 Canvas(s).

Show/Exhibition

Professional projects

As Learning & Participation Manager at Autograph (2015-23) I developed and facilitated numerous participatory arts projects focusing on inclusion, agency and representation for marginalised communities. I specialise in working with young people with complex support needs including from refugee, asylum and migrant backgrounds, neurodiverse and disabled people, chronic health conditions, homelessness, at risk of exclusion. This included socially engaged workshops, mentoring, long-term multi-partner projects with grassroots community organisations, advocacy and rights groups and arts and heritage institutions (Counterpoint Arts, All Change Arts, Imperial Health Charity, Triborough Virtual School, Headway East London, Action Space). I developed Rights in Focus Conference (2017, 2018, 2023) to create a professional platform for critical discourse on rights and arts engagement for practitioners at the intersections of art and social justice.
https://autograph.org.uk/projects-research/

I am an experienced mentor supporting artists to develop their creative practice and careers. I have mentored artists with disabilities and complex support needs through organisations including Action Space and Shape Arts. I am a regular visiting tutor for The Other MA (TOMA) supporting artists who have faced barriers in accessing art education and the art world.
https://actionspace.org/
https://www.toma-art.com/