Dawn Felicia Knox awarded Collaborative Doctoral Award
D6: Culture in Transit and Northumbria University are delighted to announce that Dawn Felicia Knox has been awarded a Collaborative Doctoral Award supported by the Northern Bridge Consortium.
Congratulations to Dawn who will work across both organisations to embark on research focussing on colonialism, climate crisis and mass human migration through decolonial processes of curation.
The quality and range of applications was truly impressive and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to apply.
Dawn says: ‘It is an honour to undertake this research in dialogue with D6: Culture in Transit and the extraordinary artists and organisations in their networks. Drawing from ecological systems of interdependence, I look forward to collectively developing decolonial ways of working to cross-pollinate ideas, facilitate exchange and strengthen resilience in the face of climate change. In this time of environmental and geopolitical precarity, I am grateful to have the opportunity to put research into practice by collaboratively working to support the vital ecosystems effecting change both locally and across the globe’.
The PhD will be supervised by Donna Chambers, who is professor of Critical Cultural Studies in the Department of Arts and Environment at Northumbria University. She says: ‘Two of the most critical, interconnected issues facing society today are the climate crisis and mass human migration. And a deep understanding of how colonialism lies at the foundation of these twin challenges is crucial for social justice. This collaborative research project will explore these complex interconnections using decolonial curating as a critical arts-based methodology. At the heart of this endeavour is our long standing conviction in the power of the arts to make positive change in our society and we are immensely excited to be working with Dawn and D6 on this significant project.’
Dawn’s studentship will be based between Northumbria University and D6 in Newcastle.
Clymene Christoforou, D6’s Director, says: ‘The impact of colonialism remains in the social, political and environmental fabric of our world - we see its legacy in climate change which in turn is leading to the forced displacement of many millions of people. This is a complex and often overlooked aspect of colonialism. It is a rich field for exploration with artists, academics and scientists and this PhD is a fantastic opportunity to shed light on the past to help us build a better future through decolonial approaches. We are delighted to be collaborating with Dawn and look forward to connecting her with our international programme and the visual artists we work with.’
The PhD is also supported by Fiona Crisp, Professor of Contemporary Art at Northumbria and co-lead of the Cultural Negotiation of Science research group in the Department of Arts and Environment, and external adviser Sophia Yadong Hao, Director and Principal Curator at Cooper Gallery, Duncan and Jordanstone College of Arts and Design at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Congratulations to Dawn who will work across both organisations to embark on research focussing on colonialism, climate crisis and mass human migration through decolonial processes of curation.
The quality and range of applications was truly impressive and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to apply.
Dawn says: ‘It is an honour to undertake this research in dialogue with D6: Culture in Transit and the extraordinary artists and organisations in their networks. Drawing from ecological systems of interdependence, I look forward to collectively developing decolonial ways of working to cross-pollinate ideas, facilitate exchange and strengthen resilience in the face of climate change. In this time of environmental and geopolitical precarity, I am grateful to have the opportunity to put research into practice by collaboratively working to support the vital ecosystems effecting change both locally and across the globe’.
The PhD will be supervised by Donna Chambers, who is professor of Critical Cultural Studies in the Department of Arts and Environment at Northumbria University. She says: ‘Two of the most critical, interconnected issues facing society today are the climate crisis and mass human migration. And a deep understanding of how colonialism lies at the foundation of these twin challenges is crucial for social justice. This collaborative research project will explore these complex interconnections using decolonial curating as a critical arts-based methodology. At the heart of this endeavour is our long standing conviction in the power of the arts to make positive change in our society and we are immensely excited to be working with Dawn and D6 on this significant project.’
Dawn’s studentship will be based between Northumbria University and D6 in Newcastle.
Clymene Christoforou, D6’s Director, says: ‘The impact of colonialism remains in the social, political and environmental fabric of our world - we see its legacy in climate change which in turn is leading to the forced displacement of many millions of people. This is a complex and often overlooked aspect of colonialism. It is a rich field for exploration with artists, academics and scientists and this PhD is a fantastic opportunity to shed light on the past to help us build a better future through decolonial approaches. We are delighted to be collaborating with Dawn and look forward to connecting her with our international programme and the visual artists we work with.’
The PhD is also supported by Fiona Crisp, Professor of Contemporary Art at Northumbria and co-lead of the Cultural Negotiation of Science research group in the Department of Arts and Environment, and external adviser Sophia Yadong Hao, Director and Principal Curator at Cooper Gallery, Duncan and Jordanstone College of Arts and Design at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
More about Dawn
Dawn is a multimedia artist working to create interventions, dialogues and multi-layered installations that explore toxicity, remediation and transformation. She often works in collaboration with scientists, community members and fellow artists to collectively learn from the dynamic ecosystems we all inhabit.
In 2022, she was commissioned by Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art to create an installation for the Hinterlands exhibition. Her work The Felling explored deep time, pollution and the way self-seeding plants remediate the post industrial landscape. This was investigated through one plot of land in Felling, Gateshead, which was a swamp during the carboniferous period, a working mine during the industrial revolution and is now a contaminated brownfield site. Dawn was able to study ferns found on the site 320 million years apart; some trapped in coal seam fossils and others on the site now working to undo the contamination still left by the extraction of coal.
In 2024, Dawn was invited to create three interlinking installations along with a series of conversations and workshops at Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, drawn from her work at the Felling site and researched at ASCUS Laboratory. One of the installations, Rhizosphere, explored the dynamic exchanges between plants, fungi and microbes communicating just below the soil. The work dug through the layers of time to unearth the architecture of bioremediation knitting together in our wastelands.
As a curator she has worked with internationally renowned organisations, including the Amber Collective in dialogue with artists and community activists to facilitate wider conversations about ethics, collectivism and social justice. She is one of D6’s Associate Artists.
Find out more here: www.dawnfelicia.com