Art, a sense of place, belonging and reciprocity in relation to landscape.

    We are delivering a workshop during this conference sharing our collaborative practice and the work created along a section of the boundary of the Peak District National Park during our project GUIDEline. To find out more or to book your place, please go to https://www.morethanponies.info/longview

    This conference will explores themes of place, people and natural landscapes in relation to access to land, National Parks, Public Art Collections and collective acts of ecological care. It aims to re-examine and radically reposition the role that art can play in this time of climate and nature crisis, moving beyond human-centred meaning and extractive narratives of nature in art and wider cultures of landscapes. Taking place in a treehouse venue within a New Forest woodland this two-day conference will dwell upon the urgent intersections of art and landscapes in a time of ecological crisis. Exploring:  

    • Histories and future possibilities of place-based art and historic landscape painting in relation to social advocacy for nature preservation. 
    • Collective and commoning activity as acts of connection, kinship and stewardship.
    • Values of National Parks and Art Collections in belonging to publics and fostering care.
    • Long Views: climate crisis timelines, landscapes viewed from afar, actions beyond a human life span… 

    Alongside presentations and panel discussions the two-day conference (PROGRAMME HERE)  will also include some outdoor sessions, exhibited artworks and the launch of DAI (Digitised Art Index) New Forest edition. The conference is intended for academics, artists and professionals who are interested in taking part in urgent debate and discussion around these ideas.

    Contributors include: Kirsty Badenoch (The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) + Liam Healy (University of Sheffield), David Blandy, Dr Trevor Borg (University of Malta), Constanza Dessain (UWE Bristol), Glassball Studio (Cora Glasser and David Ball), Bo Lanyon (UWE Bristol),  Laura Harrington +  Fiona MacDonald, Dr Marielle Hehir (University of Leeds),  Jennifer Irving, Melanie Jackson (Royal College of Art and University of Plymouth), Jim Mitchell (New Forest National Park), Stephen Nelson  ( Museo d arte Contemporanea Cogliandrino), Dr Colin Perry (Arts University Bournemouth), Lucy Schmid, Dan Shipsides (Belfast School of Art), Dr Rosemary Shirley (University of Leicester), Dr Angela Summerfield.

    Keynote Speaker:
    Kate Soper – Emerita Professor of Philosophy at London Metropolitan University and recently authored Post-Growth Living: For an Alternative Hedonism, Verso, 2020.

    Exhibiting artists:
    James Aldridge, Gemma Gore, Suna Imre, Alys Scott-Hawkins and Tom Hall.

    Co-convenors:
    Dr Melanie Rose (West Dean College of Arts and Conservation and University of Leeds) and Laura Eldret (More Than Ponies and UWE Bristol)  

    Alongside presentations and panel discussions the two-day conference will also include some outdoor sessions, exhibited artworks and the launch of DAI (Digitised Art Index) New Forest edition. 

    This conference has been initiated by artist Dr Melanie Rose, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leeds Arts and Humanities Institute (LAHRI). It is a joint endeavour with artist Laura Eldret who is currently undertaking a PhD at UWE Bristol. The conference is supported with funding from Leverhulme Trust, presented in partnership with New Forest National Park Authority and More Than Ponies. And with thanks to all contributors and their supporting institutions.