Real Rights, Digitising The Past For A Sustainable Future, Timespan, 2020
crafting nations: UK capacity building
Throughout the summer of 2020 D6 hosted Crafting Nations, a series of 3 capacity building workshops for artists and partners of our CONTESTED DESIRES programme. In conversation with artists, producers, curators and heritage professionals we explored the role of arts, culture and heritage across Europe and parts of the Caribbean to gain a deeper understanding of its impact in defining who we are. These conversations were captured through podcasts and written reflections by Degna Stone, a poet and poetry editor based in Tyne and Wear. She is a contributing editor at The Rialto, a co-founder and former managing editor of Butcher’s Dog poetry magazine, and an Associate Artist with The Poetry Exchange. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University and received a Northern Writers' Award for her poetry in 2015. Her latest pamphlet Handling Stolen Goods is available from Peepal Tree Press.
The theme - Crafting Nations - could not be more timely. Across the world we are seeing protests calling for equality for all citizens, for a reappraisal of the relationships we have with each other and for the way in which our histories are edited and our heritage is presented. These demands are neither new, nor confined to one country. From the removal of historic statues and proposals for new memorials, to demands for educational reform, we are rightly calling into question the connection between the past and the present, interrogating the ways that national identities are crafted.
The theme - Crafting Nations - could not be more timely. Across the world we are seeing protests calling for equality for all citizens, for a reappraisal of the relationships we have with each other and for the way in which our histories are edited and our heritage is presented. These demands are neither new, nor confined to one country. From the removal of historic statues and proposals for new memorials, to demands for educational reform, we are rightly calling into question the connection between the past and the present, interrogating the ways that national identities are crafted.
crafting nations: the need for radical changeThe first conversation of Crafting Nations was facilitated by Cristina da Milano from ECCOM and community artist and writer, François Matarasso. We invited Tiger de Souza (Volunteering, Participation and Inclusion Director at the National Trust) and Sajida Carr (Director of Operations and Development at Creative Black Country) to dig deeper into the constructs of Crafting Nations with the CONTESTED DESIRES artists and producer partners. >>
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crafting nations: the need for radical common senseIn July, we were joined by Director, Sadie Young and Digital Heritage Curator, Jacquie Aitken from Timespan, a cultural institution based in the Scottish Highlands. Timespan seeks to ‘weaponize culture for social change’, not only challenging heritage narratives both locally and globally but considering how they connect, moving beyond the telling and entrenchment of one side of the story around Scotland’s colonial past. >>
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crafting nations: the need for radical understandingOur third Crafting Nations conversation was driven by artist, cultural activist and founder of Fresh Milk Annalee Davis and an exploration of her work across Barbados, the Caribbean region and internationally. This rich discussion addressed: How do racism and colonialism differ in their legacies today, and how do they shape national imaginations? >>
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