S.O.C.I.A.T.E.                             next event: Daniel Baker - suspect

Studies of Conflict: Initiating Art, Thought & Enquiry - Fresh Perspectives Through Art

A collaboration between PhD researchers at Wimbledon College of Art (WCA) and The Royal College of Art (RCA) with The Imperial War Museum (IWM).

Aims:

The aim of SOCIATE is to bring together and stimulate the activities of the individuals involved across the three institutions who believe in, or question, the power of Art to inform and change perspectives of war; also to disseminate the results of any collaboration to the public and wider museum and research communities.

Outcomes:

-          encouraging researchers to consider the IWM’s themes within their research topics

-          generating seminars and conferences

-          producing publications and documentation of SOCIATE’s activities

-          producing new artworks

-          disseminating through lectures, discussions, exhibitions and publications

Contact: info@sociate.org

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Upcoming Events:

Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, June 16th – 21st

During Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month, June 2009

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Past Events:

18th May 2009: A critical panel to discuss with curator Nick Dubois his exhibition 'Combat Paper Project' Courtauld Library Gallery, London. 

Combat Paper Project UK Tour

www.combatpaper.org

To accompany their exhibitions at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London (15^th May-26^th June) and the Phoenix Gallery Brighton (3^rd July-15^th August), members of Combat Paper Project will be traveling through the UK from mid-June to mid-July, collaborating with humanitarian and cultural organizations to reach both conflict veterans and the general public.

CPP brings together war veterans, many suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who pulp their uniforms to make paper as the basis for cathartic artworks. The project has been successful in helping veterans rebuild their lives, as well as raising public awareness of the realities of war and the difficulties those involved face in its aftermath. Through their UK tour CPP will be organising workshops, inviting veterans of conflict to share their experiences and engage in paper and art-making. Combining dedicated workshops for those affected by conflict with public demonstrations of their technique, CPP strives to give a voice to some of those most directly involved.

During their UK tour, members of the group will be equipped with a portable hand-operated paper-making machine which assembles easily and requires no external support, enabling them to stage demonstrations either indoors or outdoors. The group can also give talks and presentations, and has a variety of documentary footage on dvd from a US film director who is working on a feature-length film about the project.

CPP is a non-partisan organisation which aims to bring together conflict veterans and members of the public irrespective of their political background or specific war experience. Their work has been acquired by Harvard and Princeton libraries and the Library of Congress.

For further information please contact Nick Dubois: nicolas.dubois@courtauld.ac.uk

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Seminar on The Anfal: Kurdish Genocide

Saturday 14th March 2009,

Imperial War Museum

Lambeth Road

London SE1 6HZ

Organised by Osman Ahmed: osmankahmed@yahoo.co.uk

The Seminar  included presentations by the following distinguished speakers:

11:00 - 11:10am    Welcome and introductions by Dr Malcolm Quinn,

                              Reader in Critical Practice & Research Coordinator at Wimbledon

                              College of Art, University of the Arts London (UAL).

11.10 - 11:30am    Presentation by Osman Ahmed, PhD candidate at Wimbledon College of Art, UAL, and Anfal artist.

11:30 - 12:00noon Mr Shoresh Haji, Kurdish writer and academic working closely with Human Rights Watch USA

                              from 1992-94: Anfal Campaign   Against the Kurds

12:00 - 12:15pm    Short Documentary Film 'Road Back to Hell', by Gwynne Roberts

12:15 - 12:30pm    Dr Kamal Mirawdeli, poet and specialist on the Middle East, in particular the Kurdish issues,

                              reading his poems on the Anfal.

12:30 - 1:00pm      Questions and Discussion

The afternoon was a pilot event for a conference to be held in 2010.