Initiated by artist Evelina Šimkutė, the Šilainiai Project is a collaborative endeavour based around the micro district of Šilainiai on the outskirts of Kaunas. On Friday Evelina led UCLan students on a photo walk around the area, which is home to a community of over 50,000 people over 7 districts.

Built in the 80’s, the district was one of the last large scale urban settlements before the break up of the former Soviet Union. As Evelina recalls, “I grew up in Šilainiai. My family was one of the first settlers and I still remember the smell of the freshly painted floor.”

Students spent the day engaging and interpreting the area as part of their ongoing research into the city and its environs.

On Wednesday UCLan travel bursary students arrived in Kaunas, Lithuania for a week-long research project based around the theme of ‘transition’. Inspired by the contrasts and comparisons between the two distinct locales, both students and staff will engage with a range of activities in collaboration with Vytautas Magnus University and local artists from Kaunas.

Serving briefly as the country’s capital, Kaunas has a long and varied history as well as a being a hub for artists and photographers including the annual Kaunas Photo festival, which launched on Thursday.

Following orientation with the city, students and staff will research locations, peoples, and histories as part of a week long project culminating in research outputs and a publication.

Six Uclan students; Alistair Grimley, Molly Albin, Sam Jackson, Laura Creighton, Bryony Jones and Adam Hewitt, are on a field trip to China, stopping in Baoding and Beijing.

With a range of specialisms including photographers, film makers and one journalist, the crew are in the process of creating a film featuring the thoughts and aspirations of the students at UCLan’s school in Hebei.

The team spent 4 days in Baoding, situated in the Hebei province, where they connected with the media students at the University there.

The documentary showcases the mutually beneficial link between the two universities, and demonstrates UCLan’s impressive international standing.

The first full day in Baoding saw introductions between the two sets of students, with individual work being discussed and shared.

2 HBU students, Yolanda and Optimus, were interviewed, and both proved to be strong characters, excited to visit the UK in the near future.

The gang were also treated to a tour of the campus, including a pretty impressive university library, and got to see the facilities available to the students there, from TV studios to Animation rooms and music facilities.

The next day involved a visit to the beautiful Lotus gardens where we heard Selena and Annie’s side of the story, both of whom seem to enjoy Hebei, but are also thankful for the opportunity to visit the UK, and see more of the world.

Since moving onto Beijing, Adam and Bryony have been busy editing the footage into a short film, while they and the other students work on their individual personal projects, working in their own specialisms, as well as helping each other to create multi-disciplinary projects.

The trip is subsidised as part of the Travel Bursary scheme at UCLan, which has allowed students across a range of courses to take advantage of the international links the University has cultivated, regardless of financial situation.

SEEN AND UNSEEN

Curated by Sara Foryame, Co-curated by Amy Dean

 

The show features work from nine female artists of colour, based both in the UK and internationally, exploring thoughts, ideas and experiences on the theme of representation. Through mixed media, photography, film and installation, this show brings together a diverse breadth of artists from various backgrounds; engaging in dialogue on how they have been represented and how they would like to be represented.

 

Online catalogue: https://issuu.com/reconnectingarts/docs/representation_catalogue_issu

 

More about the exhibition: http://www.recpnnectingarts.com/seenandunseen

The Project:

My work poses questions, to myself and to viewers, posing questions about identity politics and the idea of home and displacement.

The constant travels and the various identities I have lived, have led to artificial memories. Where is home? And who am I? Questions many of us often ask ourselves at some point in our life, or even, questions asked by other people, strangers finding ways to define us into roles we may not necessarily fit. I am the product of the collision between the many cultures that exist in my family and how does a piece of paper, a document define who I am? Should it define anyone? The project explores the personal journey of travel and identity by using collage of passport papers to mask the identity of myself and family members.

The video that accompanies this project, continues the exploration of the identity of a visible Muslim woman. In the current political climate, we are all very familiar with this topic within the media from the burkini ban to islamophobia on a rise often targeting visible Muslim women. The video brings together sourced sound clips from various media outlets discussing, debating and condemning the scarf around the world.  A scarf on one’s neck or handbag has never caused so much controversy than the scarf on one’s head. The project explores how the media sculpts, prods and squeezes the depiction of Muslim women and their scarf that means so many different things to each individual. I remove the woman from the image, making no room for assumptions, and ask the viewer what does the scarf mean now?

15 second video link: https://vimeo.com/93301398

(Full Video was most recently shown in Los Angeles at the Wayside Gallery)

A few images from the day out to Manchester Metropolitans Special Collection. As part of the first year module, Photography and Narrative, the students have to research and produce their own photo book.

Gary Bratchford