Ayo Akingbade, ‘Claudette’s Star’ (2019), film still. Courtesy of the artist.
To launch 'anywhere in the universe' our next project and incremental series of artist commissions addressing the past, present and future of the public library, this event looks closely at artists' enduring fascination with public libraries.
Contributions will span a selection of film and video works from 1950s to the present, including Ayo Akingbade, Alain Resnais, Rosalind Nashashibi, Jeremy Millar, and more to be announced.
The event is co-organised with Dr Dominic Paterson (University of Glasgow) as part of the events programme of the School of Culture and Creative Arts.
Still from ‘Daphne’, Jeremy Millar (2013).
Screening Programme
Claudette’s Star (2019), Ayo Akingbade, 6 mins
Ayo Akingbade's film ‘Claudette’s Star’ explores her own and her fellow Royal Academy Schools students' encounters with art and literature. Much of the film is set amongst artworks from the RA Collection and filmed on site in and around the galleries of Burlington House and within the RA Library: the oldest institutional fine arts library in the United Kingdom. The film’s subjects talk about their literary inspirations and responses to different art works, situating them as active, vocal agents of cultural institutions with a history of exclusion. Akingbade interrogates the notion of the artistic canon and who is and is not included within this.
Ayo Akingbade is an artist, writer and director who lives and works in London. Akingbade works predominantly with moving image, addressing notions of power, urbanism and stance. Interested in the fluid boundaries between the self and the other, she gathers local and cultural experiences in intimate and playful interpretations.
University Library (2004), Rosalind Nashashibi, 7 mins
Rosalind Nashashibi’s ‘University Library’ (2004) explores how individuals use a communal space. Shot in Glasgow University library, it contrasts deserted aisles and close-ups of shelves of books with shots of students engrossed in studying and using library facilities including computers, keyboards and lifts. By unobtrusively filming students and editing the film rhythmically like a piece of music, Nashashibi highlights the routines and patterns behind our everyday activities, which would usually go unnoticed.
Rosalind Nashashibi is an artist based in London. Nashashibi works mainly with 16 mm film but also makes paintings and prints. Her work often deals with everyday observations merged with mythological elements, considering the relationships and moments between community and extended family.
Daphne (2013), Jeremy Millar, 18 mins
Jeremy Millar’s film ‘Daphne’ (2013) examines the organisation and logic of a collection of photographs by taking up elements of the study of the mythological figure of Daphne and her transformation into a laurel tree. The work was made in the Photographic Collection of the Warburg Institute, London, the former private library of German art historian and cultural theorist Aby Warburg.
Jeremy Millar is an artist based in London. He is currently Head of Programme, Writing,
at the Royal College of Art, London.
All the World’s Memories (Tout la mémoire du monde) (1956), Alain Resnais, 22 mins
'Tout la mémoire du monde' (1956) by French New Wave director Alain Resnais pays homage to the National Library of France. For centuries, the library has served as a repository for all the country’s publications, and more. Maps, prints, comic books, priceless manuscripts, gems, and medals all form part of the collection.
Alain Resnais was an internationally acclaimed film director, associated with both the Left Bank Group and the Nouvelle Vague whose unforgettable images have become part of the fabric of film history. His preoccupation with the themes of time, memory and history, and his dazzling exploration of cinematographic technique, made him one of France’s most distinctive and influential filmmakers for over 60 years.
Event Details
This event takes place at Kelvin Hall Lecture Theatre, Kelvin Hall.
Access
Kelvin Hall Lecture Theatre is on the ground floor of Kelvin Hall. The venue is wheelchair accessible with accessible toilets.
Films will be screened with subtitles and captions where available.
Tickets
Free, Drop-ins welcome or book in advance here