Intimacies & Tyrannies: The Colonial Topographies of the Internet

To accompany our current exhibition, With the certainty of tides, still I rise, we present a half-day symposium. A gathering of thinkers, academics for conversation, food, essays and presentations, serving as a catalyst and a launching pad around the ideas inherent in artist Osman Yousefzada’s work and his wider practice.

The symposium brings together two central threads in Yousefzada’s practice: Intimacy, reflected in the deeply personal dimensions of his work and Tyranny, which engages with global narratives shaped by colonial histories. His recent exhibition at John Hansard Gallery and The Box move between these contrasting yet interrelated themes. Drawing on those exhibitions, the symposium will examine intimacy and tyranny through the broader perspectives of contemporary academic thought and artistic practice.

Speakers include:
Dr Syed Mustafa Ali (Open University); Prof Louise Siddons (University of Southampton); Prof Alexandra Anikina (University of Southampton); Prof Dina Lupin (University of Southampton); Prof Stephanie Jones (University of Southampton); Prof Wolfgang Suetzl (Ohio University); Osman Yousefzada; Dr Jaya Brekke (NYMtech); Dr Yaiza Hernández Velázquez (University of Southampton); Prof Tom Trevor (University of Exeter); Dr Omar Kholeif (Glasgow School of Art).