Quorum, the series of theatre and performance research seminars hosted by the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London, returns for the 2025 Spring semester!
We are pleased to welcome you to our Mile End Campus for Making narratives as an act of decolonial resourcing by Cecilia Wee (she/they) in hybrid form, both online and in-person at Rehearsal Room 2 (RR2) of the ArtsOne building. Refreshments and nibbles will be available for in-person attendees after the presentation.
This paper explores how creative practices can contribute to decolonising resources within community contexts. Drawing on my ongoing research into arts-based participatory action research, community organising / learning, radical philanthropic processes, participatory grantmaking (Hannah Paterson), community-centric approaches to fundraising in the UK, and internationally, I will unpack what decolonising wealth (Edgar Villeneuva) and resources can look like, and how artists and cultural organisations can have a meaningful role in shaping broader understandings of decolonising. I will explore how creative methods of visualising, listening, performing and critical reflection can enable intergenerational, decolonial approaches to learning about community, heritage and futures (AM Kanngieser). This will be discussed with reference to Our Community Inheritance, a project I developed in collaboration with Grenfell NHS Health and Wellbeing Service and Grenfell impacted communities, and work in process with community organisers and activists to reimagine shared civic resources. My research starts from an activist perspective and that of praxis, in other words that we are able to, as Paulo Freire says, ‘reflect and act upon the world in order to transform it’.
Dr Cecilia Wee (she/they) is a UK-based Peranakan artist, curator, researcher, educator, and equalities activist. Cecilia works with diverse media including illustration, printmaking, sound, performance and text, creating experimental strategies and environments for dialogue, resistance and flourishing. Their practice explores bonds created through formal and informal learning spaces, such as cultural institutions, and the legacies of trade union and community organising. Cecilia wrote their PhD on the documentation of Live Art. She has created artist works, books, and exhibitions with organisations including Akademie der Kunste Berlin, NHS Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service and Tate Modern. Cecilia is Tutor at School of Communication, Royal College of Art and part of ecologies and economies artistic duo (CWxWC). www.ceciliawee.com
