Miss Elizabeth Wewiora
| Biography | I am a visual artist, curator-producer and educator, specialising over the past 14 years on socially engaged approaches to practice. I create art projects in this way, as I am interested in work which explores ethics of care and how collective creative experiences can promote positive social change. Regardless of which creative hat I am wearing, I employ participatory and collaborative methods of making with local communities, to ensure multiple voices are represented within the work. I work mostly in photography but am interested in the expanded notions of what the medium can be, often playing with alternative processes, such as lumen printing, cyanotypes or photo-collage. Often photography is the starting point as I find the medium particularly accessible for others to engage in. Depending on how the collaborative process of making develops, however, works may develop into textiles, installations, text works, moving image or publications. I am currently undertaking a PHD (practice based) at the University of Salford, currently exploring 'expanding the discourse of socially engaged approaches to practice across higher education and cultural sectors'. I am the MA Programme Leader on the MA Art and Design programmes at University of Salford, which includes two dedicated social practice courses (Socially Engaged Art and Socially Engaged Photography). I am also the Head of Social Practice at Open Eye Gallery, a photography organisation taking a national lead in social practice and co-authored models of working, In Liverpool North West England. I coordinate the Socially Engaged Photography Network, a national initiative to profile and accelerate socially engaged photography practice in the UK. I continue to deliver freelance curatorial projects as part of the Wewiora and Booth project (an agency which puts audiences at the heart of its programming), including major national touring projects such as Tall Tales, SIXTEEN and consultancy work for organisations such as SIGNAL film and media. Often my work , whether as a practitioner or producer, takes place outside of the gallery, working on short and long term residency projects, across health, care, social housing, justice, learning, heritage and environmental settings with organisations such as Allotment Society UK, NHS England, Centre Point, CCA Glasgow, AA2A residency programme and Manchester Histories. |
|---|---|
| Research Interests | I am particularly interested in research areas including ethics of participatory practice, sustainability in the arts, arts and health, socially engaged photography, civic role of cultural organisations, collaborative practice, arte util and relational aesthetics. |
| Teaching and Learning | I’m currently programme leader for the MA art & design programme at the University of Salford including teaching on the Creative Research Module and Definitive Practice module, and leading & teaching the Real World Context module, Approaches to Engagement & Developing Socially Engaged photography practice module on the course. I’ve previously taught as a visiting lecturer on curation, social practice and professional development modules at Manchester School of Art, UCLAN, Leeds College of Art, university of Cumbria and the University of Falmouth |