Event overview
Reacting to planetary permacrisis and the need to collectively imagine new forms of worldmaking, this event analyses the role of audio-visual media in the global dream space.
From the mid-twentieth century, audio-visual media constituted a key site for creating, circulating and debating ideas about an emerging and increasingly interconnected world space. Liberation movements, civil society actors and international organisations such as the United Nations appealed to contested signifiers such as “peace” and “freedom” as they pursued contradictory modernising agendas, ranging from anticolonial worldmaking to liberal-capitalist internationalism and imperial domination. Drawing on and expanding Anna Tsing’s concept, this symposium seeks to chart the audio-visual production and mediation of the “global dream space” that emerged from this historical process.
In the present day, the sizeable archive of this contested “global dream space” is little-known and institutionally and geographically dispersed, but it is also attracting increasing interest in the academic, archival and creative communities. In the face of planetary permacrisis and a collective urgency to imagine new forms of worldmaking, this event seeks to take stock of and analyse the audio-visual project of this global space from multiple perspectives. Through a variety of formats (papers, workshops and screening sessions), participants will place a particular emphasis on presenting diverse audio-visual materials including films, videos, filmstrips, photographs, and television and radio programmes.
The symposium is organised by David Wood (University College London/Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and Miguel Errazu (Goldsmiths) with the support of the UK Research & Innovation “Horizon Europe Guarantee” programme (EP/Z001919/1 and EP/Y015088/1), Centre for Visual Anthropology of Goldsmiths, University of London and SELCS-CMII/Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London.
Day 1
Thursday 4 June
9:30h - 10:00h — Arrival/registration
10:00h - 10:15h — Opening remarks
10:15h- 11:45h —Session 1: Peace, Human Rights and Post-colonial Consciousness (panel)
Suzanne Langlois (York University, Toronto), Anushrut Ramakrishnan Agrwaal (University of St. Andrews), Carlos Navarro González (Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale)
12:15h - 13:45h —Session 2: Interrogating Archives of Development and Technical Assistance (panel)
Ritika Kaushik (University of Warwick), Darren Newbury (University of Brighton), Dalila Missero (Lancaster University), Masha Salazkina (Concordia University)
15:00h - 16:00h —Session 3: Development as Dream and Genre: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (workshop)
Myka Tucker-Abramson (University of Warwick), Peter Sutoris (University of Leeds), Christine Okoth (KCL), Molly Geidel (Dartmouth College)
16:30h - 18:30h — Session 4: Audio-Visual Imaginaries of Liberal World-Making (screening session)
Jennifer Blaylock (Rowan University), Zoë Druick (Simon Fraser University), Marina Dahlquist (Stockholm University)
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jun 2026 | 9:30am - 6:30pm |
Accessibility
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