Finding Common Ground: Making the Landscape Radical at Tate Liverpool
Finding Common Ground was my first big collaboration with the PMC Head of Learning and Research Sria Chatterjee, and also my last major event at PMC in July 2022. The symposium was envisaged as a two day programme, investigating themes arising from the Radical Landscapes exhibition at Tate Liverpool, a show considering new approaches to landscape in Britain. The first day was a series of academic, artistic interventions and conversations on-site at TL in Albert Dock. On the second day we all gathered at Birkenhead Park, one of the UK’s first public parks, for a picnic and tour by Ruth Colton.
Liverpool holds a special place for me; my first interview in the UK was at Liverpool Biennial and although I didn’t get it, I believed in it long enough to start to imagine a life there. So it felt a bit of a triumph to come back five years later and collaborate on a project by the iconic red pillars on Albert Dock.
Whilst the theme was new to me, Sria had been doing work in the area for some time, and wanted to twist the format of a ‘typical’ academic conference programme. Key to this was inviting three artist respondents to stage their work - Bones Tan Jones, Davinia-Ann Robinson and Delaine Le Bas. As per usual, the artist work was the trickiest portion to pull off, but we managed with a little help from our Liverpool friends. Bones brought an interactive, ‘choose your own adventure’ style video work, with diodes connected to three mounds of soil, which acted as ‘buttons’ to control the narrative.
Davinia and Delaine both staged performance works, with audio and video backing-tracks which needed to work for the in-room and online audience. Luckily I had help at hand with the TL techs, Cathal and Tom. I spent most of the day in the control room with Tom, playing with the Roland vision-mixing desk, which was a bit more analogue than the kit I was used to, but made for very satisfying scene switching.
Panel 1: Fabricating the Rural
10.20 – 10.30: Welcome by Darren Pih (Curator, Exhibitions and Displays, Tate Liverpool)
10.30 – 11.00: Vron Ware (Writer and Photographer), Learning from the Land
11.00 – 11.25: Frederika Tevebring (King's College London), Digging Deeper: Archaeology and Politics at the Festival of Britain and Beyond
11.25 – 12.00: Discussion and Questions chaired by Darren Pih
12.00 – 13.00: Lunch
Panel 2: The Politics of Growing
13.00 – 13.05: Welcome by Sria Chatterjee (Head of Research and Learning, Paul Mellon Centre)
13.05 – 13.30: Jill H. Casid (Professor of Visual Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Going to Seed in the Necrocene
13.30 – 13.55: Claire Ratinon (Food Grower and Writer) Unearthed: On Race and Roots
13.55 – 14.20: Discussion and Questions chaired by Sria Chatterjee
14.20 – 14.50: Tea Break
Panel 3: Ecopoetics and Environmental Justice
14.50 – 14.55: Welcome by Laura Bruni (Assistant Curator, Tate Liverpool)
14.55 – 15.35: Bones Tan Jones (Artist) Dream After Screen (2020) [Interactive Screening] with response by Ama Josephine B. Johnstone
15.35 – 16.00: Discussion and Questions
16.00 – 16.15: Comfort Break
Panel 4: Being in the Landscape
16.15 – 16.20: Welcome by Sarah James (Senior Curator, Exhibitions, Tate Liverpool)
16.20 – 16.40: Delaine Le Bas (Artist) WE Hold It In Our Hands........Ancient & Precious [Performance]
16.40 – 17.00: Davinia-Ann Robinson (Artist) [Performance]
17.00 – 17.10: Closing Remarks with Darren Pih and Sria Chatterjee
17.10 – 18.30: Reception
Afterwards we went to Lerpwl, a boutique restaurant around the corner on Albert Dock, that specialises in sustainable Welsh produce. It was nice to have a chance to join the dinner and speak with the team, as I tend to duck away. Also must mention the hospitality at Hope Street Hotel, where we stayed for two nights!
The Saturday morning, those still in Liverpool joined Ruth Colton for her tour of Birkenhead Park. Whilst it’s not obvious anymore, the introduction shared social spaces in the Victorian era was considered quite radical. The tour explored how the landscaping and architecture of Birkenhead Park relates to empire and colonialism, and how its intended uses have been subverted by the public throughout its history to the present day. I missed the last half hour, running back to London to catch Pearl Jam at Hyde Park! Which I guess is connected since it’s a large public park in London … or is that a stretch.
Thanks to Darren Pih, who curated Radical Landscapes, and co-convened the conference with Sria. And also to Emilia Will, Sarah James and Laura Bruni for their work on the project.
