Henna Asikainen, Future Pasts, Hadrian’s Wall; image credit Simone J Rudolphi

Henna Asikainen in conversation with Professor Maggie O’Neil

Join us for an evening of conversation with Henna Asikainen to celebrate Future Pasts. This will be a chance to learn more about Henna’s research, working methods and how they relate to wider thinking around socially engaged practice. We are delighted that Henna will be joined by Maggie O’Neill, Professor in Sociology at University College Cork and Visiting Professor Northumbria University, who over many years has worked with artists and community groups to conduct arts based research, working together to create change.

When: Wednesday 5 July, 5.30-7pm
Where: Gallery North, Northumbria University, Sandyford Building, NE1 8QE (map).
Meet at Gallery North and then we will walk to the Squires seminar space next to the gallery to begin the talk at 6pm.  *The best way to Gallery North is via the university campus off College Street*
​At the heart of Henna’s practice is shared experiences exploring notions of identity and belonging, as well as our relationship to nature and landscape. The Future Pasts exhibition draws together different threads from an extraordinary project spanning three years with people new to the North East. The living legacy of Hadrian’s Wall was a new starting point to explore perspectives of migration, belonging and national identity. 

We invite you to meet at the gallery from 5.30 to visit the exhibition. We will then walk to the Squires seminar space next to the gallery to begin the conversation at 6pm. We'd love to make this an opportunity for discussion, and there will be plenty of time for questions and contributions from the audience.

​​How to find Gallery North and accessibility
The gallery is a ten minute walk from Haymarket bus and metro stations, and a 20 minute walk from Newcastle Central station. The gallery and seminar space is fully wheelchair accessible. More information here.

Travel costs
If you need support with travel costs we have a limited number of travel bursaries. Please email Andrea Carter to find out more: [email protected].

Speaker biographies

Henna Asikainen is a multidisciplinary socially engaged artist, creating work that questions our human relationship with nature, and the complex social and ecological issues that emerge from this. D6’s work with Henna began with a research residency in 2017 and evolved into commissions and a series of walks with community groups. Her recent projects have been built around communal experiences within different landscapes and have examined issues including inequalities in access to nature, migration, and climate justice, while advocating the philosophy of friendship and radical hospitality.  Find out more about Henna's commissions by D6. 

Image:  Forage community walk (Henna picture right)
Maggie O’Neill is Professor in Sociology and Criminology and Director of the Institute for Social Sciences in the 21st Century and UCC Futures: Collective Social Futures at University College Cork. She has a long history of inter-disciplinary, participatory action research and participatory arts collaborations with artists and communities - working together to create change. Her publications demonstrate expertise in critical, cultural and feminist theory as well as participatory, biographical, creative and walking methods towards social change/social justice.  Walking methods: research on the move (co-authored with Brian Roberts) was published in 2020. A special issue of the Irish journal of sociology, Walking Methods in Social Research, was co-edited in 2023. Asylum, Migration and Community  (second edition) will be published in 2024.  She leads an MA module at UCC on  Im/mobilities: forced migration and belonging and a CPD on Criminal Women: Gender Matters. Maggie is a member of the walking artists network and the Walk Create Team.
Future Pasts opening times

For Refugee Week 2023 the exhibition will open on the following days:
Monday 19 to Friday 23 June, 12-4pm, Saturday 24 June, 10-2pm

Following this the exhibition will open on:
Thursday 29 June, 12-2pm 3-4pm *Public tour at 1-2pm - meet at the gallery*
Friday 30 June, 12-4pm
Thursday 6 July, 12-4pm
Friday 7 July, 12-4pm – closing day

 Find out more about Future Pasts.