Event overview
Seminar series curated by Esther Sayers and Tara Page
Contemporary arts practices make us think differently about the world and disrupts traditional ideas about what research is and how it is done.
This series of events will explore the spaces between practice research and pedagogy to develop approaches that enable an embodied, affective, relational understanding of research.
We are delighted to announce Behjat Omer and Evanthia Tselika to talk about their arts practice.
Refreshments will be provided - all welcome.
Growing up in Kurdistan, Behjat lived there until war forced him to flee in 1997. He experienced both Saddam Hussein's dictatorial leadership and the Kurdish liberation of the Ba’ath party regime in 1991. He was four years old when he witnessed the start of Iran/Iraq war in 1980. This was followed by the Iraq gulf war in 1991, the uprising of Kurdish people in north of Iraq, the civil war in Kurdistan, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and now the current regional problems. His art has always been haunted by these experiences and his understanding of the inherent stupidity of wars fought in the name of religion. As a consequence Behjat engages with political issues and war strongly formulates and communicates from within his work.
The main focus of his practice is the concept of identity displacement, uncertainty, and falsification. The idea of working with the notion of identity first developed during his 11-year battle to gain recognition as a refugee by the UK authorities; a battle coloured by bureaucracy and absurdity. This resulted in his ownership of a collection of “self-ID pictures”: a pictorial representation of his journey from his place of origin to the UK. The ID portrait drawings he subsequently produced can be seen as snippets or snapshots of the individual stories of others. Behjat lived in the UK for over 12 years where he gained a First Class BA at Staffordshire University, and was awarded the prize for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Fine Art. His works have been internationally exhibited in UK, Iran, Iraq, Portugal?, Germany?, Australia, Norway?, and currently he is finishing his MFA program at the Valand Academy, Gothenburg University.
Evanthia Tselika [PhD] is a visual arts researcher, visual art producer and arts educator. She is Assistant Professor and Programme Coordinator of the Fine Art programme, University of Nicosia. Her practice led research is focused on the role of conflict in relation to socially engaged art practices within segregated urban contexts. She has extended research and practical experience in socially engaged and pedagogical art practices with a focus on conflict related contemporary art practices and dialogical structures within the context of divided cities. She has worked, exhibited and collaborated with various galleries and museums in London, El Salvador, Cyprus, Greece, Mexico and Brazil, such as the Municipal Arts Centre in Nicosia, the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, October Gallery in London, the Modern Art Museum of El Salvador, and the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, amongst others.
Dates & times
Date | Time | Add to calendar |
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9 Nov 2015 | 6:30pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
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