Come Together Right Now
happy to be one of only five MA Fine Art students 22/23representing Camberwell University that took part in 'Come Together, right now'.
this workshop is a collaboration with three different universities:
Camberwell College of Arts UAL, the Ontario College of Art & Design University, Toronto, Canada (OCAD U) and City and Guilds of London Art School (CGLAS). creating a two-part international online research event that aims to form a new online community of artists.
"Can art solve the world’s problems? Do Art Schools produce what the world needs? In the context of an ever more complex world artists are increasingly exploring new territories of collective civic responsibility. Climate emergency, social equality and decolonising our approaches to the individual artist genius have become dominant themes within contemporary practice.
This two-part event will explore the potential of collective civic responsibility and encourage groups of students to work collectively to produce speculative projects for presentation."
Sessions:
Workshop: Friday 29 September 2023, 3pm (UK) / 10am (Canada)
Led by artists Cole Swanson (OCADU), Smriti Mehra (CGLAS) and Jacob V Joyce (UAL), participants will be invited to explore new methodologies for global community in relation to expressions of selfhood, identity, and individuality. Contemporary artistic practice which is often framed as intrinsically embeded and inward will be turned outward, dismantled and decolonised.
Talk: After the brief introduction to the session, the three invited artists (Cole, Jacob, Smriti) will be invited to speak about their own practices for 15 - 20 minutes. This will be open to all students. After this, the invited artists, participating students and college staff will work in a separate chat room.
Provocation for group debate: After the artist presentations, one of the hosts will summarise briefly and invite Cole, Jacob and Smriti to present provocations for a discussion.
Task: At the end of the session, you and the other participating students will be asked to respond to a task that will be set by Cole, Jacob and Smriti. You will work in small mixed groups over the following couple of weeks, meeting a couple of times online with college staff from the 3 institutions.
Public Seminar: Friday 20 October 2023, 3pm (UK) / 10am (Canada)
This publicly bookable event will invite selected participants to showcase the outcomes of the project exchange. We invite open and experimental approaches to subject and format. This event will be attended by the selected students, lead artists, faculty, and invited guests from all three university communities for feedback and a robust discussion regarding the proposed ideas and art projects.
an overview:
'Come together, right now' has been an interesting experience. I wish we had more time as I think we could definitely do more. I was lucky with my group, we took the rout of collaborating as we all agreed it would be the best way to fully experience this workshop of international schools and people 'coming together', and coincidentally our personal projects aligned.
We spoke about history, ancestors and nature. We went on different topics but reverted to trees, because of how long they can live, we all agreed that they are the true witnesses of history. And of course the fruits are their children, some stay, others taken and exported.. We continued to death, dirt and the idea of how we once were then turn in to nothing-ness. circle of life. ..
These sessions coincided with yet another tragedy that hit Palestine, and as i always spoke strongly about my fruits and identity, i only though it was appropriate to bring it in to this "come together right now" as we need to for the sake of all innocent civilians. The whole Arab nation have been, and still are, mourning the killings and murders of our loved ones in Palestine for at least the past 75 years and still counting. My heart breaks with everything that is happening today, with every lost child, with every lost mother, with every lost father, with every lost grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. But it breaks even more when I see those who are quiet towards the injustice that has been hitting and still is. History is constantly repeating itself and clearly something needs to be changed.
In this presentation I included a small example of what white washing and ethnic cleansing can do to a nation and a people. The Java Cakes would have not existed if it wasn't for the Palestinian oranges, and although its within the name, the general public doesn't realize the association. Telling such stories help highlight the important of preservation, and I believe this is definitely possible through, writing, conversation and art. I used Nader Nahdi as a perfect example of how that can happen; with the art of baking, filming and story telling he help showcase the history of Java Cakes in such a colorful manner, although brief, it was enough to bring awareness. And as artists and creatives that is the least thing we can do.
Today I mourn every innocent soul that has been taken with brutal force before its due time, regardless of its background, timeline or religious beliefs. I mourn the loss that the world has witnessed throughout centuries. I mourn full heartedly today.
May you all rest in peace.
i took a picture from out last session together. Friday 20th oct 2023
on the same day, i found this new jaffa donut like cake. i got to try after our meeting.
Screen shots from the presentation we gave.
those are images that highlight parts i am in or presented.
I also presented two shot clips of Nadir Nahdi, who is an Instagram influencer, that perfectly desplays and comments of the history of Java Cakes in a create way.
with everything that is currently happening
I tried my best to be active and show my solidarity.
- i attended all three peaceful walks for Gaza that took place in Oct 14th, 21st and 28th, 2023.
- I donated money to trust worthy associations that are helping aid workers.
- I attended a Charity event filled with music, poetry, food and hand made crafts with all proceeds going to help the hospitals and doctors.
i have to say the number of attendees in those peaceful walks, protests and charity events made me cry, I'm so happy to see such support. which again fits in perfectly in such workshops and sessions as this one "come together right now".
may we reach a day where we always come-together not just in bad times but in good times as well.
all three peaceful walks were organized by a group called 'Friends of Al-Aqsa' FOA. They regularly campaign for freedom and justice in Palestine. they usually announce their walks on social media;
these are just two videos to document the march. i only remembered ti film at the end of it, so you can see people scattered around walking home.
charity event 'Gather For Gaza' took place on Thursday 26 October 2023. it was organized by the Arab British centre. they too use social media to advertised on such events:
on the left are just two of 8 or 10 performances that happened throughout the night.
it was beautifully organized with amazing artists.
