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Artist Talk: Cultural Activism/Cultural Diplomacy at the John Jones Project Space

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Time 19:30
Date 25/09/14
Price Free

Join artists Karl Ingar Røys and San Zaw Htway for a discussion around the role of artistic activism in transitional societies. Chaired by Cassandra Needham, Curator of John Jones Project Space.

How can art engage and stimulate civil society? How can an artist maintain freedom of expression within an oppressive political situation?    

Taking Karl Ingar Røys’s current exhibition Burmese Days as a starting point, the speakers will look at cultural production in Burma before and after the military regime, and will discuss the role of art within societies currently undergoing political upheaval: 

Karl Ingar Røys initially studied Law at the University of Tromsø in Norway before graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art in 2000. He is currently studying his Masters in Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen in Norway researching the role of cultural activism in transitional societies. Røys has exhibited internationally.

San Zaw Htway was studying at the University in Yangon when he was arrested for involvement in efforts to re-establish the All Burma Federation of Students Union (ABFSU). Aged just 24, he was sentenced to 36 years' imprisonment by the military government but was released in 2012 following a presidential amnesty. Whilst in prison, San Zaw Htway created collage art from old food wrappers and plastic packaging to cope with his solitary confinement and poor living conditions.

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