ART Launch
On 13 September, a public event was held to launch Art Rights Truth (ART). ART is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by the Centre for Applied Human Rights and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Over the next three years and through a mixed methods approach that includes interviews, ethnography and commissioning artwork in York, Canada, Colombia and beyond, ART aims to answer the question: can the arts save human rights?
Project lead Professor Paul Gready introduced the project, explaining how the idea for the project was developed and its main research aims. The hypothesis is that in an increasingly hostile context for human rights, the arts can help support the development of new ways to conceptualise and engage with human rights. Paul’s introduction was followed by a presentation from ART Co-Investigator and Colombia Truth Commissioner Alejandro Castejillo-Cuéllar. Alejandro unfortunately couldn’t join us in person, but he was able to connect from Colombia to talk about his work on developing sonic and sensorial art as part of Colombia’s Truth Commission. Finally, Anishinaabe curator, artist and educator (and treasured member of the ART Advisory Board!) Wanda Nanibush spoke with project Co-Investigator Ana Bilbao about Indigenous art and decolonising the museum, with a particular focus on Canada. With around 100 guests, the event was well attended and made for engaging discussion during the Q&A session and at the wine reception afterwards.
