Disability culture: A conference, a protest and a ramble

presentation at EVA
photo with thanks to Graham Diprose

To say last week was hectic is an understatement.

it started with presenting my exhibition of Images of protest in social media for the virtual community

 

for the EVA London Conference preconference which is organized by EVA and V&A Digital Futures. It was good to see Wasi Daniju and Rikki Indymedia who contributed to my work. Many thanks to them! Here is the paper from the conference proceedings.

The next day we went full into the first day of the conference with Dan Crow as keynote speaker on How Songkick is using Technology to Change Live Music.

Wednesday became even more exciting when I scooted to Whitehall to join the other anti austerity campaigners for a protest against budget cuts Balls to the Budget and then scuttled back to Covent Garden in time for lunch and to chair a session at the conference. Some friends were arrested. The two parts of my world seem very distant but yet within 10 minutes walk from each other. But my exhibition was on protests in austerity! not so remote after all.

Balls to the Budget placard
Balls to the Budget placard

I so wanted to stay for the Art that Makes itself book launch by Paul and Daniel Brown – Brown & Son because I saw the recording of the talk they gave by Watermans – A symposium supported by the Computer Arts Society addressing topics relating to generative art and its collective histories. Here is a very interesting interview too. But I had a union meeting to get to.

Saturday had a different tempo when I joined Petra Kuppers for a meander jointly lead by the wonderful Stephanie Heit (from the US), in the company of Anna Hickey-Moody , her brother visiting from Australia, Andy, and fellow Scrabble player, Antje Lindenmeyer, lecturer from Warwick University!

Saturday July 11th, 2-5 South Bank River Meander, starting at Adopting Britain exhibit, ending at Tate Modern.

Walk along the river with us, and let’s find our hollows, halls, and underpasses. With optional refreshments at Gabriel’s Wharf or the British Film Institute (whatever your flavors of escape). We met at 2 in the Adopting Britain exhibit, Spirit Level at Royal Festival Hall, about immigration and the UK

so here we are at the start at the South Bank where we introduced ourselves and think about drifting and be conscious of the water and think … I think the week has drained me of the ability to think…I wanted to drink and have an ice cream…

image

and here we are finishing at the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern

at the Turbine Hall
at the Turbine Hall

The day was not finished – it ended splendidly with Zara’s lovely 30th birthday party and I got home after midnight, feeling definitely old and yet a little like Cindrella wondering ‘when was the last tube home on the Jubilee line?’!