Today we announce the panel of industry experts who will shortlist the applications for the Institute of Imagination’s second Cultural Residency at the Imagination Lab, exploring the theme of Empathy.
Introducing the panel
With expertise spanning the performing arts, child and youth engagement, visual arts, architecture, design and empathy, we’re thrilled to welcome this impressive panel to the Imagination Lab, to support us in finding our next resident or resident group to work with our audiences over the next few months.
‘We believe that the Imagination Lab is London’s most innovative and imaginative space for learning and discovery and now, for our second Cultural Residency, we’re searching for a dynamic and collaborative performance-based project to bring a new energy to the space. We’ve received over 60 applications for the residency, combining disciplines and spanning arts, sciences and digital technologies. It is a pleasure to welcome such an expert panel of judges to help us find a concept that will ignite our visitors’ imaginations and bring together children and adults alike to explore the theme of empathy, a theme which is relevant to our changing world now more than ever, in a meaningful and collaborative way.”
Gareth Binns, Chief Executive of the Institute of Imagination
Kimberley is a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher and a Candoco Artist, including teaching for Candoco Dance Company nationally and internationally. Kimberly co-teaches the Candoco youth group, Cando2 at The Place, and is Dancer-In-Residence for GOSH Arts at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Alongside this, she runs her own inclusive contemporary dance company, Subtle Kraft Co., which she formed with fellow dancer Anna Bergström. Kimberly, pictured centre as part of Moments: Revisited, brings a wealth of performing arts and audience engagement expertise to our panel. Image from ‘Moments: Revisited’, photography by Roswitha Chesher
Clare is an award-winning artist and curator and Director of the Empathy Museum, a series of participatory art projects which travel across the world, dedicated to helping look at the world through other people’s eyes. With a focus on storytelling and dialogue, the Empathy Museum explores how empathy can not only transform personal relationships, but also help tackle global challenges such as prejudice, conflict and inequality. Clare is also the creator of the Museum Of, The Ministry of Trying to Do Something About It and Feast on the Bridge for the Thames Festival. Clare is a fantastic addition to the panel, helping us to focus on the theme and its variety of exciting potential applications across art forms and disciplines.
Peju is an educator and curator, currently an Associate Lecturer and tutor on the MA Applied Imagination course at Central Saint Martins and an Assistant Curator for Tate. Peju’s background in art, architecture and design underpins her work in the cultural sector, where she takes an interdisciplinary approach to projects. Through work across a variety of cultural spaces Peju has focussed on rethinking the everyday use and engagement with collections and archives and leads the first Young Curators Group at Barbican. Peju’s interdisciplinary experience and her focus on the study and application of imagination will help us to find a project that fuses subject disciplines and reflects our focus on the power of imagination. Image copyright Peju Oshin
Jess Joyson
Jess is the Institute of Imagination’s Lab Manager and along with our Experience and Learning team, crafts our programme of events and outreach at the Imagination Lab, where this year’s Cultural Residency will be based. Jess is a former secondary school teacher and member of the Teach First Learning and Development team. She has a wealth of experience in child and adult learning and engagement, blended learning and education leadership and will help the panel think about how projects can connect to our audiences in the Imagination Lab and beyond in a meaningful way.
Words from our panel
“The individual human experience and the way we form connections with one another is a huge influence to me as a dance artist. So, I strive for empathy and a genuine sense of caring to always be a part of what I do. Working inclusively means being open and responsive to the needs of individuals and developing empathy is essential. The theme of this cultural residency is a powerful stimulus for an inclusive project and I’m excited to help the Institute of Imagination to find an innovative concept to develop over the coming months.”
Kimberley Harvey
In response to the theme, Kimberley has written an insightful article exploring what inspires her practice and how empathy plays a part in her work. Read Empathy Within An Artistic Approach exclusively on Imagination Matters.
“I am absolutely delighted to be a judge for the 2019 Cultural Residency. In a world where we are overwhelmed and sometimes too busy to think about the individual and the small things which can have an impact, empathy is the light in the dark that creates and maintains personal connections. I’m sure this opportunity will create more room to imagine the possibilities of future projects and initiatives if we all embedded a little more empathy into all areas of our practice.”
Peju Oshin
“Taking the imaginative leap to see the world from another person’s perspective is at the heart of what it means to be human. Engaging people with experiences that explore our shared humanity is central to our work at the Empathy Museum so I’m delighted that Empathy is the theme of this new and exciting residency with the Institute of Imagination and to be invited to be on the panel.”
Clare Patey
“I very much look forward to welcoming the panel to the Imagination Lab and to finding the next Cultural Residency to inspire and develop our visitors together. Last year’s residency was a wonderful way to engage the audiences we work with and we saw real developmental benefits for participants – I look forward to seeing the new ideas that have been put forward in response to our 2019 theme of Empathy and where that will take us.”
Jess Joyson
The theme
Our Cultural Residencies are inspired by the diverse themes that we explore as part of our Imagination Matters campaign and this year we are focussing on Empathy. We invited applicants to respond to theme with a project that would encourage participatory performance for visitors to the Imagination Lab. As always with our residencies we encouraged applications from across the fields of arts, sciences and digital technologies.
The cultural residency is kindly supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Arts Council England and the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.
