In a globalised context, conditioned by mass migrations of peoples – across national and ethnic boundaries, and from dispersed rural environments to dense urban centres – the idea that art and architecture can convey stable representations and values has come undone. At the same time, practices of place making are no longer considered the domain of the professional, nor as an inherent/given act, but as an ongoing, repeated, negotiated and contested process.
If the ‘place’ of art and architecture is already filled, and by competing stories, what else is to be told? What new responsibilities does this telling imply?
Over two days, the Telling Places conference considers place as a space loaded with ‘familiar’ significance, whether this be personal or collective. We are interested in the objects, the artifacts, the means, and the processes that narrate the creation of such places, as well as those that challenge, question or negate such places.
2 day Symposium 4 - 5 December 2007
Organisers: Nick Beech, Laura Cinti, Christiana Ioannou, Christos Papastergiou, Léa-Catherine Szacka and Anna Tchernakova. (The Bartlett School of Architecture & The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL)