FREE TRADE
Manchester Art Gallery
May 2002 - February 2003

Commissioned by Catherine Dickinson

I collaborated with Marysia Lewandowska, on a long term research project that was to coincide with the re-opening of the Manchester Art Gallery (MAG). The research culminated with a project entitled Free Trade, the following text is edited from the final proposal.

Our starting point was the simple observation that as objects enter public museum and gallery collections they are inevitably removed from the wider world of exchange. Our project was to  imaginatively reconnect a major collection from the MAG - the Beatson Blair Bequest - to the circuits of trade and exchange from which it originated.

We identified in the Beatson Blair Bequest a beautiful example of Manchester’s particular social, economic and art collecting history, as well as a device with which to explore the history and conventions of the MAG itself.

I contributed to: Decoder; 3rd Biennial for Video Art curated by Nav Haq
Contour 07 18 August - 21 October 2007 The City of Mechelen, Belgium

The invitation from Nav Haq to participate in the Film and Video Biennial Contour  2007 in Mechelen, enabled me to make several visit the city. And, rather than bring a previously made film for exhibition - which is the convention for Biennials - I began to research what kind of film making practices already existed.

Communities don’t just happen, they’re made.

I contributed to What Happens to Us a project curated by Marsha Bradfield and Amy McDonnell to examine democracy as a system of community formation.

The project unfolded in the long-shadow of Britain’s EU 'Brexit' referendum and Donald Trump's election as President of the United States of America. Events that have compelled many to ask about the legitimacy of 'representative' democracy as a system of governance, combined with a willingness to explore alternatives.

What Happens to Us took as its departure Group Material’s Democracy (1988-9); an exhibition which was produced collaboratively, through many round-table discussions on the pressing issues of the day, such as AIDS, cultural participation, election and education.  Today, we'd want to add climate change, mass migration and economic disparity to this mix.

In What Happens to Us  we convened, researched, and endeavoured to make decisions together. The desire was to produce an exhibition and its ethos over time. What Happens to Us hosted workshops, talks, discussions and screenings in four phases during its month - consisting of  Build, Elect, Use and Account to explore the politics in our comming together. ​