Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Event Details

Students at the end of the seminar standing by their figurine outcome (Photo: Claire Wright)

Students at the end of the seminar standing by their figurine outcome (Photo: Claire Wright)

 

Seminar:Conflict Textiles seminar with Year 3 students, School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences
Description: The Politics Department at Ulster University offers the Module “Transforming Violence” to Third Year students from degrees including Politics & International Studies, Politics & International Studies with Criminology, Criminology, and Law with Politics. The Module, coordinated by Dr Claire Wright, invites students to explore different understandings of, and explanations for, political violence before identifying and analysing a broad range of peacebuilding initiatives, ranging from institutional, state-led approaches to grassroots initiatives.

Within this module, and with a view to understanding arts-based approaches to dealing with the multiple effects of violence, curator Roberta Bacic will facilitate a seminar to discuss her own experience, the history of the arpilleras, textile language and the work of Conflict Textiles.

The seminar includes four elements:
  • navigating the digital collection Conflict Textiles
  • presentation of two arpilleras from the collection
  • visit to the exhibition The Search for the Disappeared - currently displayed at the Ulster University Belfast Campus Library.
  • finally, the seminar offers the opportunity for students to try their hands at creating a textile figurine.
The seminar builds on Conflict Textiles’ relationship with Ulster University, offering a unique opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of the relevance of the arpilleras on display in the library and as a result the importance of grassroots approaches to transforming violence. It also furthers the existing collaborations with Claire Wright, who has acted as translator for a series of Conflict Textiles initiatives and events, including the Mujeres Disruptivas/Disruptive Women exhibition.
Commissioned by: School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Ulster University
Date(s): 10th April 2024 - 10th April 2024
Venue: Ulster University, Belfast Campus
York Street, Belfast
Curator: Roberta Bacic
Facilitator: Claire Wright
Outcome: The seminar, delivered by Roberta Bacic and facilitated by Claire Wright, brought to life the relevance of arts-based approaches to dealing with the past, a key topic within the Transforming Violence Module offered by the Politics Department at Ulster University. In the first half of the session, Roberta offered an in-depth explanation of the work of Conflict Textiles and highlighted the close relationship between the collection and the university, with a visit to the Search for the Disappeared exhibition at the UU Belfast campus library. In the second half of the session, the students created their own figurines which denounced forced disappearances in different contexts including Peru, Spain, and Northern Ireland. As a result, the students became protagonists of their own learning experience. This is a seminar which the students will likely remember, as they prepare their final assignments for the module and bring their undergraduate studies to a close.




Documents: • Photo Gallery: Year 3 Students - view