Drawing on the strong industrial heritages of Leeds and Bradford, this conference examines the role of protest and political activism in twentieth and twenty-first century art.
Bradford and Leeds have significant archival holdings relating to activist art. In Leeds we have the Archive of Sculptor’s Papers, part of Leeds Museums and Galleries and housed at Henry Moore Institute. In Bradford there is the Special Collections on Peace, Politics and Social Change, which stems from the University of Bradford’s Department for Peace Studies that was established in 1973 and has since developed into an independent library.
This conference questions the role politics should play in art today and how we understand the porous boundary between mass protest and art making. We’ll look at the histories sitting perhaps underappreciated in our archives and how they can they guide us into the future.
Image: Installation view of ‘The Third Campaign: A Project by Neal White’, looking from outside the galleries at the bridge link between Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery. © Neal White. Photo: Jerry Hardman-Jones.
