Does art create change or react to it? Four creatives discuss their experiences of writing about social and political change and the effectiveness of art. There will be time for questions and discussion with the audience.

We live in a time when we can watch a revolution happening live on the street, filmed on the mobile phone of a person on the other side of the world. What can plays, stories and performance add to such powerful communication of human experiences? Is there more pressure on contemporary artists to consciously express and reflect the political turmoil in the world, than in any other era? Or does it free the artist to produce a different form, and pace, of responding to political change, conflict and corruption?

Panellists:

Ben Power is a theatre maker, director and lecturer in performance, based in Manchester. His recent work, Spring Reign – a play about the conflict in Syria, produced in partnership with Rethink Rebuild Society, toured theatres across the country in Spring 2017. Ben’s work is often socially conscious and created with political intent.

Ruth Daniel is an award-winning cultural producer, activist and social entrepreneur. She is co-director of the organisation In Place of War which works with creativity in sites of conflict to empower young people by sharing tools that enable them to create their own opportunity in challenging contexts.

Dr Beccy Kennedy is a Senior Lecturer in Art History at Manchester School of Art and Route Leader for the MA Visual Culture​. Her research areas include: diasporic and postcolonial art, contemporary political art practices in Asia. Beccy has curated two exhibitions for Asia Triennial Manchester and is co-editor of the book, ‘Triennial City: Localising Asian Art’.

Chair:

Charlotte Keatley is a writer: her award winning, landmark play ‘My Mother Said I Never Should’ is translated into 31 languages, the most performed play ever written by a woman. She writes for theatre, radio & film, as journalist & broadcaster for BBC, has run creative workshops from Sarajevo to Burnley. Her recent play for the RSC dramatised the Georgian civil war and the civilian experience of re-building a country.

This event is part of Celebrating Syria: A Festival of Arts and Culture (events listed here). Tickets are £5 / £3 / free for refugees and asylum seekers.