engage - engage International Conference 2010

engage in the
visual arts

engage/enquire International Conference
3-5 November 2010
Broadway, Nottingham Media Centre
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Nottingham Contemporary
and venues across Nottingham during the British Art Show 7

The art of influencing change

How can art impact on change?

The engage International Conference has become a major annual event that brings together over 200 arts and education professionals from the United Kingdom and other countries. In 2010 engage and enquire have collaborated on a joint conference, The Art of Influencing Change.

The engage/enquire International Conference aimed to:

Stimulate debate about gallery education and issues affecting practice
Inform delegates about current cultural and educational policies annd developments in the visual arts
Raise the profile of gallery education
Provide networking opportunities for delegates

Conference programmer: Julia Harris.

Theme

Rapid developments in the 21st century are creating opportunities and challenges for arts and education professionals. We are confronted by environmental issues, developing technology, globalisation and changes to political agendas and policies.

This year's engage/enquire International Conference considered how those working in the visual arts can be best equipped to influence change now and in the future.

How do artists and arts organisations respond to global and national changes? What are the opportunities and responsibilities for arts educators resulting from these changes?

Can the sector influence political agendas and environmental issues, and does it have a responsibility to influence what is going on in the wider world?

How might the arts, audiences and resources reshape in response to environmental and technological as well as financial changes, and how can the arts be resilient and sustainable?

To answer these questions, the conference:

Looked at key challenges facing the arts and education world and considered how artists, educators and policymakers are taking socio-political responsibility and influencing change
Examined the role of technology and digital collaboration in reaching new audiences
Heard from the 'champions of change', focusing on future forecasts, pioneering models and revolutionary social projects
Highlighted tools and strategies for arts educators to influence change now and into the future.

As well as a lively programme of presentations and debates, breakout sessions will provide a more intimate platform for discussion. Hear case studies, engage with activism and learn about dynamic education projects.

Speakers and Contributors

Professor Anne Bamford Director of the Engine Room at the University of the Arts London on the importance of quality in arts education to influence 21st century change processes
Sam Bower, Co-Founder of greenmuseum.org on how greenmuseum.org uses new forms of art education, leveraging technology to create an online museum to serve the emerging global environmental art movement
Ruth Catlow, Co-Founder and Co-Director of furtherfield.org on arts and technology, activism, education and the Zero Dollar Laptop Project - part of furtherfield.org's media art ecologies programme
Deborah Dean, Visual Arts and Exhibitions Manager, and Rachael Evans, Audience Engagement Officer, from Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery and future arts professionals Nottingham's young ambassadors showcase interpretation material for the British Art Show 7
Roanne Dods, co-founder, Mission Models Money, on artists, people, meaning and money in changing times
Lisa Edgar, Head of Education at ffotogallery (Cardiff) discusses Vision On - a holistic programme of digital media art, learning and participation, which developed new audiences through creative technology
Johnny Gailey, Children and Young People's Programme Manager, Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh) and Director of Air Iomlaid – a visual arts project linking children in Skye and Edinburgh using new technology
Paula Marie Hildebrandt, co-curator of Überlebenskunst, a project by the Federal Cultural Foundation and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), which aims to identify alternative approaches and groundbreaking new models towards ecologically sustainable living
Phyllida Hancock, Leadership Facilitator from Contender Charlie on the art of influencing change
Jonnet Middleton, Artist, on Unitypanda, a Web 2.0 experiment with online and offline communities in 'peer panda production' which unites 500 people from different age groups and cultural backgrounds to knit 100 pandas
Hannah Rudman, Director of Envirodigital on The Digital Planet: the potential of online spaces for greener, more environmentally sustainable performance, audience engagement and participation
Shelley Sacks, Reader in Art and Principal Lecturer and Director of the Social Sculpture Research Unit at Oxford Brooks University on Social Sculpture: the connection between inner and outer work in the shaping of a humane and ecologically just society
Phyllida Shaw, Researcher, writer and facilitator will be chairing Friday's session on the future and how arts educators can equip themselves to influence change
Jim Shorthose, on creative networks
Laura Sillars, Programmes Director, FACT, discusses the development of new international education/collaboration programmes
Jon Treadway, Director of Regular Funding at Arts Council England, on economic conditions and sustainable business models in the visual arts, and future funding mechanisms
Jane Trowell, Educator, PLATFORM, and artist Rebecca Beinart discuss the impacts of PLATFORM's 2009 artist-activist exhibition and season of events, 'C Words: Carbon, Climate, Capital, Culture'.

A selection of speakers

Deborah Dean,
Visual Arts & Exhibitions Manager, Nottingham Castle and Art Gallery

Phyllida Hancock, Contender Charlie

Ruth Catlow, co-director of Furtherfield

Jim Shorthose, Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University

Jane Trowell, Rebecca Beinart, Ruth Catlow, Anne Cunningham

Jane Trowell, Educator, Platform
Rebecca Beinart, artist
Ruth Catlow, co-director of Furtherfield
Anne Cunningham, Chief Exec, Art House