Wed 3 Nov 2021 @ 15.00
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
Jordan Well, Coventry CV1 5QP
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Duration: 1 hour
Pay What You Wish
*You will be transferred to an external ticketing website.
This year, Coventry Biennial have commissioned Faye Claridge to co-create a project working remotely with people in prisons in the UK and US. ‘We Bear’ asks participants to create new artworks inspired by themes around the Warwickshire symbol of the chained bear. She paired two folk art paintings from the two countries, showing different treatments of captive bears. These, as metaphors, provided inspiration for participants to explore personal experiences of incarceration throughout the global pandemic.
What does being in prison today have in common with being a chained bear in the Victorian era? How does being a woman change prison experiences and expressions? In this talk, Faye and Dr Anastasia Chamberlen, Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Warwick, will use these questions as starting points and provide a rare opportunity to hear about the practical, ethical and theoretical workings behind an impactful biennial project.
Faye Claridge is an interdisciplinary artist and parish councillor based in rural Warwickshire. She produces contemporary art works in response to historic archives and traditions, believing our current and future identities are shaped by ideas about the past.
Dr Anastasia Chamberlen is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and author of Embodying Punishment: Emotions, Identities and Lived Experiences in Women’s Prisons. Her research has looked at many aspects of prison, including survival strategies, societal relationships to punishment and the role of artistic expression in the experience of punishment.
In partnership with The University of Warwick.
Coventry Biennial is a festival of contemporary art taking place across Coventry & Warwickshire within and supported by UK City of Culture 2021. Expect new work by local and International artists, workshops, performances, talks, tours and much more.
For more information visit: www.coventrybiennial.com
Generously supported by
UK City of Culture 2021, Arts Council England, Coventry City Council, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, University of Warwick, Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park, American Folk Art Museum, Novus, Michigan Prison Creative Arts Project.
Image: We Bear artwork created at HMP Buckley Hall
