Collective Imaging and Imagining

COLLECTIVE IMAGINING was the inaugural symposium of the VISIBLE JUSTICE research collective and took place on Saturday, 27 October 2018 at London College of Communication. This day-long series of talks and presentations looked at how cultural practices and the visual arts can create meaningful interventions into existing legal and political frameworks.

Artists are pairing with activists, journalists, lawyers and NGOs to examine the practical and ethical implications of their work and to test new forms of interdisciplinary cooperation. The symposium drew together paired speakers to discuss their creative collaborations, addressing concepts of justice, advocacy and efficacy in response to the urgent needs of the current political climate.

I convened and hosted this symposium, as well as curating a pop-up accompanying exhibition, featuring the work of the artists involved, as well as that of photojournalist Shahidul Alam, then a political prisoner in Bangladesh. His niece and chair of PEN International both gave keynote addresses, and I curated an exhibition of his images. Alongside the support of other universities and cultural institutions, such public activity contributed to Shahidul's eventual release. He would go on to be awarded an honorary doctorate from UAL.