Formations

The Postcolonial Studies Centre at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Bonington Gallery is pleased to present Formations, a year-long programme of events in response to Black History Month, Black Lives Matter, and the Decolonisation agenda.

NTU’s Postcolonial Studies Centre invites the public to enjoy a year of events which focus on Black History, Literature, Art, and Critical Thinking as central to global creative and intellectual work. The series begins in October 2020 with a month of events led by artists, writers, theorists and students which critically consider the place and impact of Black History Month. The subsequent yearlong programme is accompanied by commissioned work by artist Honey Williams, which will be launched at the end of October with a special event, and displayed in Bonington Gallery. Themed events running throughout the year are prompted by themes or objects and are centrally concerned with making visible the centrality of Black artists and thinkers, and the patterns and materials that connect global creative and intellectual histories.

The series is developed by the Postcolonial Studies Centre at NTU and directed by Dr Jenni Ramone and Dr Nicole Thiara.

Jenni Ramone is Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Studies at NTU. Her recent book publications include Postcolonial Literatures in the Local Literary Marketplace: Located Reading, The Bloomsbury Introduction to Postcolonial Writing, Postcolonial Theories, and Salman Rushdie and Translation. Jenni Ramone specializes in global and postcolonial literatures and the literary marketplace. She is pursuing new projects on Global Literature and Gender, and on literature and maternity. 

Nicole Thiara is Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Research Network Series Writing, Analysing, Translating Dalit Literature (2014-16) and On Page and on Stage: Celebrating Dalit and Adivasi Literatures and Performing Arts (2020-21). She teaches postcolonial and contemporary literature, and her areas of research are Dalit, Adivasi and diasporic South Asian literature.

October 2020
Formation: History
Critical responses to Black History Month

November – December 2020
Formation: Land
‘The soil needs its own dictionary’ – Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, The Grassling.
Events focussing on agriculture, landscape, gardening, and place. Events consider innovative recent writing about the ways in which humans are connected with the living environment and with heritage.

January – February 2021
Formation: Memorials
The place and meanings of memorials, statues, and renowned figures. 

March – April 2021
Formation: DNA
Medical histories, health inequalities, medical controversies around race.

May – June 2021
Formation: Milk
Global practices and representations of breastfeeding in art and literature.

July – August 2021
Formation: Lace
The global history of lace and its use in colonial contexts.

September 2021
Formation: The Book
Re-reading

Exhibition

This exhibition is open to the general public and admission is free.

Preview

If you would like to attend this event please RSVP to confirm your attendance.