InDialogue symposium 2019

InDialogue is a collaborative artistic research project between Dr Rhiannon Jones and Dr Heather Connelly. Conceived in 2012, whilst both where in the midst of their PhDs in Fine Art, InDialogue was created as an extension of their own practices and aims to provide a platform and hospitable environment for artistic research, experimentation, interrogation and discussion about and through dialogue. Due to the impact of InDialogue on the arts and research community the 2019 symposium is the fourth iteration of InDialogue Symposium event that aims to follow and expand the core values of InDialogue: knowledge sharing, dialogue, and interdisciplinarity, to create a space of intellectual interaction and imagination for the future in society. InDialogue 2019 continues the series of international events as part of an ongoing research project, that interrogates how arts researchers and cultural organisations use dialogue in and as practice. The underpinning research is evidenced through the medium of exhibition, publishing, public debate, conference and commissioning of new work. The research explores the contemporary landscape of dialogic practice, across all contemporary visual arts and performance practice. The impact of InDialogue2019 is noted through the way it attracted a variety of participants from beyond a particular institution to make sure that dialogue happens beyond and between institutions, creative and cultural venues and across boundaries. The evidence of this is through a breakdown of the institutions and disciplines, who are at different stages in their career, artists, academics, arts professionals and researchers and students from a range of Universities, geographic backgrounds and countries. The status and range of international artists who attended have enabled us to further establish InDialogue’s international reputation and raise awareness of both The University of Derby and the University of Lincoln. Partners: Dance4, InGoodCompany, Nottingham Contemporary, Derby Theatre, Deda, Mansions of the Future University of Derby, University of Lincoln, CVANEM. In summary, the methods employed are varied and carefully curated to provide a series of distinct cultural spaces to generate new forms of thinking around the nature of dialogue. This iteration of InDialogue brought UK and International based artists and researchers together, providing a dedicated time, to push the boundaries in thinking about the use of DIALOGUE and SITE within PRACTICE, across the disciplines of art and design. We invited proposals that activated a variety of regional cultural venues Derby Theatre, Déda, S.H.E.D, Mansions of the Future, Nottingham Contemporary. The themes decided by Jones and Connelly, harnessed the potential afforded in the temporary occupation of, and movement between these sites in order to expand the examination of dialogic practices. Selected artists responded to the thematic call, and proposed ways to occupy and alter activities within the sites. Jones was interested in how methodologically, this would generate research spatially by moving the discourse between sites, shifting the locus of discourse between people and place. To this end, InDialogue sought techniques to inhabiting the in-between spaces and the in-between of linguistic construct of dialogue (dia meaning through / from the word) being that which is active and engaged disrupting the rhythms and creating a hybrid space and time. Including an InDialogue commissions, a guided walk facilitated by artist Tom Hackett ‘A Song for Derby’, 2019, taking delegates between sites for InDialogue2019. The decisions made by Jones and Connelly for InDialogue 2019 took an evidently varied approach in order to methodologically engage with a wide range of individuals, practices, methods, forms and materials. Focusing on dialogue as: • knowledge and production • artistic and curatorial process • interactive and collaborative practice • translation and intercultural communication. It has supported over 250 international artists and researchers, created 2 UK based international residencies, financially supported by 10 UK leading Cultural Organisations and H.E partners, and has reached over 100 participants from 12 countries and funding (in kind and cash) reaching 163k to date.