A Sense of Place is a 4-day international event that will investigate, question and shed light on 'displacement' and 'integration' in Europe, through the intellectual focus of the role of the arts, culture and media.
In the context of heightened public suspicion, fear and intolerance, and evolving European human rights and immigration policies, A Sense of Place considers the shifting landscape since World War I, looking at how societies are in flux, how cities are in transition, and how rebuilding is taking place at both a physical and psychological level.
The event seeks out the meeting grounds between arts and social policy, theory and experience, the personal and the public. It will offer a critique, identifying best practice and drawing out lessons that can be widely applied. It will provide practical tools for a range of disciplines, such as educational resources and guidance on programming arts by displaced peoples1 into mainstream cultural and artistic activity.
A Sense of Place will include keynote presentations, debates, Q&A sessions and workshops, as well as visual arts exhibitions, performances and film screenings.
A Sense of Place will be a creative and inquiring event focusing on common threads rather than differences, and addressing questions such as:
How do different cultural norms challenge or enrich societies in host countries? How do organisational cultures and institutional frameworks need to evolve to reflect the changing map?
What is meant by integration and who are the key players? How do societies adapt, and what can they gain? Do the arts have a legitimate contribution to make to debates around national identity and displacement?
To what extent are the mass media forming public opinion, as opposed to responding to public opinion? How does the global proliferation of the media2 facilitate or subvert true representation and active citizenship around issues of displacement and integration?
How far are artists with experience of displacement contributing to innovative artistic expression and practice? How does the displaced artist re-encounter or re-define his or her identity within this process?
What is the role of arts-in-education in the integration process? Under what circumstances can participation in the arts be a key to breaking down barriers and overcoming prejudice?
A Sense of Place will be valuable for:
Arts and social policy makers, humanitarian aid workers, social and environmental analysts and officers, academics, educators, funders, arts and media practitioners, architects, cultural theorists, and venue managers. Individuals with personal experience of displacement are integral to the event.
The working language of the event is English
1. The 'Displaced' include refugees and asylum seekers who have crossed national borders as well as those who have been displaced within their own countries on account of war, civil unrest, persecution or discrimination.
2. 'Media' includes print, photography, radio, television, film,digital arts and the internet.
2. 'Media' includes print, photography, radio, television, film,digital arts and the internet.
