AHRC-funded research project ‘Tate Encounters’ has been shortlisted this week for the THE ‘Research Project of the Year’ Award.
Tate Encounters is a three-year research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Diasporas, Migration and Identities Programme. The project, which started in April 2007, involves three collaborative institutions: Tate Britain, London South Bank University and the University of the Arts London, through Wimbledon College of the Arts.
Tate Encounters aims to provide an in-depth account and analysis of the reciprocal meanings of a sustained encounter between London South Bank University students who have a migrant family background and an important national cultural site (the Tate).
The project aims develop knowledge and understandings of how narratives of Britishness are contained, constructed, and reproduced within the curatorial practices and collection of Tate, and of how such notions are received and valued by different migrant and diasporic family members within the context of the active material/visual cultural practices of everyday life. From this encounter the project will develop new curatorial and educational perspectives relevant to wider and more culturally diverse audiences and will contribute towards cultural change within the Museum and Galleries sector.
The AHRC’s Chief Executive, Philip Esler says, “That Tate Encounters has been shortlisted for this award indicates the extent to which arts and humanities research can give insight into some of the most pressing social challenges of our age and help facilitate a richer sense of belonging.”
For the 2008 Awards the THE received an impressive 500-plus entries which paint a picture of a higher education sector that is innovative, imaginative and inspirational.
The winners will be announced at the Awards evening on 23 October.
For further press information please contact Jake Gilmore, AHRC Communications Manager tel: 0117 987 6773
Notes to Editors:
Arts and Humanities Research Council - Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,000 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.
‘Diasporas, Migration and Identities’ is an AHRC funded five year £5.5 million trans-disciplinary research programme. It was launched in response to the need for a multi faceted insight into the culture of diaspora and migratory communities. The programme presents the opportunity to bring together research on traditions, languages, religions, material culture, visual and performing arts. The challenge for this research programme is two-fold: to further our historical and cultural knowledge about diasproas and migratory communities, and to break new ground in how we study, theorise and model them. The aims of this five year programme are to research, discuss and creatively share knowledge related to the impact on identity, culture, the imagination, place, emotion, politics and our human tendency to assemble into communities. In order to stimulate the wide participation and contribution of arts and humanities scholars, several different schemes were created to fund research projects, workshops, networks, conferences and seminars. Interdisciplinary engagement and collaborative work with partners in the public sector, the cultural sector and the wider community were also important elements. The programme is led by Professor Kim Knott, based at University of Leeds. www.diasporas.ac.uk/