After School – Collective Strategies
Overview Talks Workshops Open Call Group Exhibition
After School – Collective Strategies is a public programme consisting of a series of talks and workshops, running from May to June 2019, and culminating in a group presentation in the autumn.
A collaborative effort between pic.london and London College of Communication (University of the Arts London), the programme explores collective ways of working both conceptually and in action, and considers them as strategies that can be helpful, especially for early stage artists who often struggle in the extremely challenging period after graduating.
Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome at Black Mountain College, 1949.
The programme, held over three Saturdays, invites you to think and act to unleash the transformative energy of collective ways of working, in order to open up the possibilities of making changes that are otherwise unimaginable.
The talks are open to all (book here). For the workshops a group of 18 participants will be selected through an open call, with the results of the workshops being shown in the public group presentation.
All talks and workshops take place at the London College of Communication building at Elephant & Castle, London.
Contributors
Anthony Luvera is a socially engaged artist, writer and educator who has collaborated with people who have experienced homelessness in cities and towns across the United Kingdom for over fifteen years. The long-term collaborative projects he creates with homeless people and other community groups have been exhibited widely in galleries, museums and public spaces, including Tate Liverpool, London Underground’s Art on the Underground, British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Belfast Exposed Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, PhotoIreland, Malmö Fotobiennal, Goa International Photography Festival, and Les Recontres D’Arles Photographie. Anthony is an Associate Professor and Course Director of MA Photography and Collaboration at Coventry University. He contributes to the public education programmes for the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, Royal Academy of Arts, The Photographers’ Gallery, Barbican Art Gallery, Magnum, and community photography projects across the UK.
Ellen Mara De Wachter is a writer and curator based in London. She is a frequent contributor to Frieze magazine, and her writing has featured in exhibition catalogues and publications such as The White Review, Art Monthly, Art Quarterly, World of Interiors, Mousse, Garage, Elephant, The Quietus, Art Review, Flash Art International and on BBC Radio 4.
Her book ‘Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration’, published by Phaidon, explores the phenomenon of collaboration in the visual arts and its potential in society at large.
David Morris is based in London. He is a research fellow and editor at Afterall, and teaches at University of the Arts London. His work explores different approaches to artistic research, education and exhibitions, with a particular focus on experimental, collective and interdisciplinary practices. He is co-editor, with Sylvère Lotringer, of Schizo-Culture: The Event, The Book (Semiotext(e)/The MIT Press, 2014) and co-editor, with David Teh, of Artist-to-Artist: Independent Art Festivals in Chiang Mai 1992–98, among other publications.
Through exhibitions, workshops and broadcasts Hal Silver explored how collective thought is formed and the relationship of the individual to the group.
Hal Silver first stopped working together in 2013 and experienced a period of inactivity. Following a resurgence throughout 2014 brought about by invitation and opportunity Hal Silver once again stopped working together in Sweden, Denmark, France and the UK. Following a number of years during which no direct signals from Hal were detected, a familiar communication channel appeared to open in early 2019. Hal Silver is yet to be confirmed.
Ellen Mara De Wachter is a writer and curator based in London. She is a frequent contributor to Frieze magazine, and her writing has featured in exhibition catalogues and publications such as The White Review, Art Monthly, Art Quarterly, World of Interiors, Mousse, Garage, Elephant, The Quietus, Art Review, Flash Art International and on BBC Radio 4.
Her book ‘Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration’, published by Phaidon, explores the phenomenon of collaboration in the visual arts and its potential in society at large.
David Morris is based in London. He is a research fellow and editor at Afterall, and teaches at University of the Arts London. His work explores different approaches to artistic research, education and exhibitions, with a particular focus on experimental, collective and interdisciplinary practices. He is co-editor, with Sylvère Lotringer, of Schizo-Culture: The Event, The Book (Semiotext(e)/The MIT Press, 2014) and co-editor, with David Teh, of Artist-to-Artist: Independent Art Festivals in Chiang Mai 1992–98, among other publications.
Through exhibitions, workshops and broadcasts Hal Silver explored how collective thought is formed and the relationship of the individual to the group.
Hal Silver first stopped working together in 2013 and experienced a period of inactivity. Following a resurgence throughout 2014 brought about by invitation and opportunity Hal Silver once again stopped working together in Sweden, Denmark, France and the UK. Following a number of years during which no direct signals from Hal were detected, a familiar communication channel appeared to open in early 2019. Hal Silver is yet to be confirmed.
Alejandra Carles-Tolra is a Spanish photographer and facilitator based in London. Her work examines the relationship between individual and group identity, and how the latter shapes the former.
Her work has been published and exhibited internationally, including The Guardian, CNN, Vice, Huffington Post, NYTimes’ T Magazine, Circulation(s) in Paris, Unseen Amsterdam, PHotoEspaña and the Wuhan Art Museum in China. In 2017 she was awarded the Jerwood Photoworks Award and was a finalist at the 2018 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She has worked with a variety of universities, art institutions and charities delivering photography courses and participatory workshops.
Hemera Collective is a curatorial group focusing on the expanded field of photography and lens-based media. Working with artists as well as archives, Hemera curates exhibitions, organises public programmes, produces commissioned works, and offers collection advisory. Our philosophy is to be open to collaboration through a range of specialisms, and that exchanging knowledge and ideas brings forward the most engaging projects. Hemera is part of the Board of Trustees for Brighton Photo Fringe where we contribute to the future of this vital festival.
Grace Samboh is a curator based in Yogyakarta and Medan, Indonesia. She questions (a little bit) too many things all at the same time and believes that every person needs at least three copies of themselves. Her recent curatorial projects are: A travelling museum that restarted a conversation on our recent democracy “The Unsung Museum” (2016-2018); A multiple way of exchange(s) ‘Banyak-banyak’ (‘Many-many’) within a platform of Gertrude Contemporary Art Space (Melbourne, 2014-2015) called The Independence Project; A year of artistic research ‘Tahun Tanah 2015’ (The Earth Year) with Jatiwangi art Factory (Majalengka, West Java). With Hyphen, her partners in curiosity, she is unraveling datas, facts and stories about Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia (Indonesia New Art Movement, 1975-1989). With Yogyakarta Biennale Foundation, she is taking care of Equator Symposium’s programming (2012-2022).