Those left behind: radical dependency arts and refuge

Join us in the new Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC) for The People’s Global Summit: Co-Building a New EcoSocial World leaving no one behind on 29 June!

The People’s Global Summit brings together individuals and communities, people of lived experiences, along with global organisations to co-build a Global Values Declaration for a new eco-social world that will be delivered to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum in July 2022 and will create a catalyst for further global action.

We will host a satellite hub on the opening day of the Summit where you can enjoy a live-stream of all the Summit sessions throughout the day and take part in live discussions and workshops. UNESCO RILA is delighted to perform the opening Keynote address and Live Panel. We hope that you can join us during this historic Summit.

Registration for the Keynote Address and Panel Discussion is required. The rest of the day is a drop-in: come by whenever you can! Attendance is entirely FREE and open to all.

Join the discussion on Twitter! #PeoplesSummit #LeavingNoOneBehind #newecosocialworld @ecosocialworld @UofGUnescoRILA

Content advisory: Please note that the UNESCO RILA keynote contains descriptions of human trafficking and gender-based violence.

DIRECTIONS Google maps is not yet updated with the building location - so click here for a dropped pin. Enter from the walkway at the corner of Byres Road and University Place.

KEYNOTE ABSTRACT

Those Left Behind: Radical Dependency, Arts and Refuge

In many of the world’s cultures the idea of personhood extends to the realm of nature and to the spirit or ancestral realm. For western notions of statehood and scholarship such animation is at best troubling and at worst derided.

In this keynote panel discussion four scholar-artists will focus on four dimensions of what is ‘left behind’ and ‘who is left behind’. Together they call for a restorative frame which allows for the integration of forms of knowledge and understanding from those experiencing the loss and damage in eco-cultural life. It is here that the challenge of cultural justice can be more widely considered, and the beginnings of a theory of restorative integration might be developed.

To accomplish this Hyab Yohannes will present his concept and empirical stories from those who have been left behind, and from the carceral experience of Eritrean refugees. Piki Diamond will present her work in the bicultural space of Te Titiriti o Waitangi and the widening of perspective brought by acknowledgment, through Pepeha, of the radical dependency we have on the land, and ancestral knowledge. Tawona SItholé will speak of Dare – the circles of belonging that we remake in new places and form as children. Alison Phipps will then develop the discussion through a focus on what arts and cultural justice work can bring to the need for both restorative and regenerative integration.

Programme:

08.10 - 08.30 Welcome

Join us for a welcome coffee or tea before we start. Light refreshments will be available throughout the day.

08.30 - 09.00 Keynote Screening

“Those Left Behind: Radical Dependency, Arts and Refuge”

Livestream of UNESCO RILA recorded Summit Keynote with:

• Prof Alison Phipps UNESCO Chair, University of Glasgow
• Dr Hyab Yohannes CUSP N+, University of Glasgow
• Tawona Sitholé MIDEQ & UNESCO RILA, University of Glasgow
• Dr Piki Diamond Māori Academic Advisor, Auckland University of Technology

09.00 - 10.00 Keynote Live Panel Discussion

Streamed via Zoom to the People’s Global Summit and including public Q&A session.

Chair: Professor Anne Anderson, OBE FRSE Vice Principal Emerita University of Glasgow and Director of the Further Education Portfolio, UK National Commission for UNESCO

10.00 - 12.00 Mini Workshops

Come and enjoy free hands-on sessions with our UNESCO RILA Artists in Residence which demonstrate the work of our team and articulate the importance of diversity, belonging, reciprocity and equity.

• Music making / immersive soundscapes
• Poetry
• Textiles

10.00 - 16.00 Livestream of Summit & Open Mic sessions

Drop into the Seminar Room throughout the day to watch the Summit streamed online.

Take part in the Open Mic sessions, where participants around the world can upload their contribution to the Summit and make their voice heard.

Speaker Biographies

Hyab Yohannes is a researcher with a Ph.D. in the Realities of Eritrean Refugees in a Carceral Age from the University of Glasgow, where he currently works as Academic Coordinator for UKRI-funded Culture for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace Network Plus project.

Piki Diamond is Māori (indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand) a descendant of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāpuhi tribes with British heritage stemming from Sussex. She is an academic developer and doctoral candidate at Auckland University of Technology, who co-designed Ako Aronui (an indigenous alignment to the UKPSF) and is developing a Tiriti-honouring curriculum. ‘Honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi’ (Treaty of Waitangi) is at the heart of her research and teaching; where her decolonising approach is focused on the one’s consciousness of their conscience, that is the relationship of one’s morals and collective ethics. Piki currently working with staff in the School of Critical Science (Health) in developing their Tiriti-honouring curriculum. Piki has been a collaborating researcher with UNESCO RILA and Art Lab on the wisdom that is prevalent in indigenous cultures which offer new ways of being, doing and knowing.

Tawona Sitholé is a poet, playwright, mbira musician, educator and facilitator. His ancestral family name, Ganyamatope, is a reminder of his heritage, which inspires him to make connections with other people through creativity, and the natural outlook to learn. As co-founder of Seeds of Thought arts group, Tawona’s work involves supporting and facilitating access to the creative arts. He is Artist in Residence with UNESCO RILA, and a Research Associate on MIDEQ (MIgration for Development and EQuality).

Alison Phipps is the holder of the UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts and Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow. Alison has twenty years of research experience in using creative and intercultural methodologies.