Be Curious 2017
Be Curious 2017
Students and staff from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies are participating in the Be Curious festival this Saturday at the University of Leeds.
Be Curious is a yearly festival at the University of Leeds which showcases research done at the university and highlights the relevance it has to Leeds and the Yorkshire area. It is a free interactive public event aimed at everyone with an interest in the region and is suitable for all age groups and families.
PhD students Gill Park and Elspeth Mitchell, along with Professor Griselda Pollock, will be showcasing the history of Pavilion at an exhibition stand in the Parkinson Court. There will also be an additional programme at the Hyde Park Picture House as part of the presentation of this lively cultural force in Leeds.
Pavilion is an active organisation in contemporary art based in Leeds which commissions new art work and runs events. Its roots go back to 1983 when it was founded by graduates from the Department of Fine Art (now the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies). It opened in a disused park pavilion on Woodhouse Moor in Leeds as the UK’s first Women’s Photography Centre.
Gill Park is also the Director of Pavilion. She said of her PhD research:
“Since its very beginnings, Pavilion has been engaged with the research into art and visual culture that is being produced at the University of Leeds, particularly relating to feminist and postcolonial studies in the visual arts.
“More recently, I have returned to the university to work with Gail Day and Griselda Pollock, to research the significance of Pavilion as an artistic innovation. The resources of critical curatorial studies and feminism are providing particularly helpful in enabling me to think about Pavilion’s impact, past and present.”
Dr Claudia Sternberg will be taking part in the Culture Zone at the festival where the programme includes a diverse mix of history, religion, storytelling and more. Claudia will share some of the research being undertaken as part of In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time – a project which brings together academic and community-based researchers from Britain and Germany to explore the little known history of civilian internment. There will be a chance to find out about ‘enemy aliens’ during World War I and the internment of 1,500 civilians at Lofthouse Park Camp.
