Faculty of Arts » Faculty of Arts Events Calendar

06/05 4pm-5:30pm: Whose Stories are told by Ethnographic Museums with African collections from Colonial contexts?

Arts Faculty Resource — Fri, 01 May 2026 15:00:37 GMT

When: 16:00 - 17:30, Wed, 06 May '26

Where: OC1.04

Please join us for the first of our occasional series in Critical Museum Studies on Wednesday 6^th May | 16.00-17.30 | OC 1.04

Whose Stories are told by Ethnographic Museums with African collections from Colonial contexts?

Njabulo Chipangura (Maynooth University, Ireland)

The Manchester Museum which is a part of the University of Manchester holds approximately 35,000 ethnographic collections mostly dispossessed from local communities and ordered and categorized according to geographical regions of Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and Asia. The African collection is the largest with over 15 000 provenanced objects and an estimate of 1500 unprovenanced objects. In this paper – I will look at what it means to relationally care for African collections from colonial context in view of collaborating with and giving access to diaspora African communities as part of decolonisation. An empirical practice of decolonisation informed by notions of relational care and the disobedient museum will be presented drawn from my own practice and positionality having been the curator of this collection between 2022 – 2025.I argue that curating with care is not only a way of work but is a theoretical perspective that challenges structural discrimination, sexism, racism, systematic injustices and colonial legacies in museums. Care is also extended in this discussion to look at what it means to care for each other’s pluriversality of epistemologies and ontologies by subverting epistemicides that are still embedded in museums. I will use examples drawn from an object handling workshop that I hosted at Manchester Museum as part of Africa Day Celebrations in May 2024. The aim of this workshop was to collaborate with communities in Greater Manchester of African heritage to gather new information about objects of African origin in the collection of Manchester Museum. Thereafter, new stories and new meanings were reimagined transcending usual anthropological discourses that traditionally treat African objects as timeless representations of cultures of the “other”. Using this workshop as a contact zone of engagement - I present curating as a space of social care that facilitated dialogue and building of active relationships with diaspora communities.

Respondent: Chao Maina (University of Warwick)

We hope to see you there! The event is open to all, but please email jamie.larkin@warwick.ac.uk if you would like a calendar invite.

19/05 10am-12pm: Caribbean Centre, Work in progress workshop for post graduate students

Arts Faculty Resource — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:16:15 GMT

When: 10:00 - 12:00, Tue, 19 May '26

Where: Room FAB 5.01

03/06 10am-4pm: Working with Publishers Workshop

Arts Faculty Resource — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:55:00 GMT

When: 10:00 - 16:00, Wed, 03 Jun '26

Where: Scarman House

18/06 11am-12:30pm: 'What Is at Stake in Filming Acts of Healing?' presentation & workshop

Arts Faculty Resource — Wed, 06 May 2026 11:44:22 GMT

When: 11:00 - 12:30, Thu, 18 Jun '26

Where: FAB6.02

18 June, 11am-12.30pm, FAB6.02

'What Is at Stake in Filming Acts of Healing?' presentation & workshop

This presentation and workshop draw on Peter Snowdon's ongoing work on a film about the act of healing as a physical and non-physical gesture. He will draw on both his work of filming 'alternative' health practitioners (osteopaths, Alexander teachers...), and his own recent training in the field, making reference to how medicine, illness, and the healing arts have been represented visually across time and space. The material will be framed to be of interest not only to historians and practitioners of visual art and film, but also to anyone concerned with 'embodied inquiry'.

25/06-26/06: GHCC Workshop: Between Thompson and the Global: Rethinking Labour History

Arts Faculty Resource — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:51:06 GMT

When: Thu, 25 Jun - Fri, 26 Jun '26

25/06 9am-26/06 5pm: GHCC Workshop: Between Thompson and the Global: Rethinking Labour History

Arts Faculty Resource — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 11:31:15 GMT

When: 09:00, Thu, 25 Jun '26 - 17:00, Fri, 26 Jun '26

26/06: "Becoming Visible: Trans Histories in Weimar Film and Culture” - a one-day exploratory workshop

Arts Faculty Resource — Wed, 06 May 2026 16:00:09 GMT

When: Fri, 26 Jun '26

Where: Institute of Advanced Study Seminar Room, University of Warwick

We are inviting researchers and gender-diverse community members to take part in a one-day exploratory workshop: “Becoming Visible: Trans Histories in Weimar Film and Culture”.

Date: 26 June 2026

Location: Institute of Advanced Study Seminar Room, University of Warwick

This workshop will bring together academic researchers and trans community members to explore trans representation in Weimar-era film and visual culture.

Participants will:

Engage in discussions about archival and lost films.
Take part in creative exercises such as storyboarding and critical fabulation to explore historical materials.
Collaborate with trans community members to inform research methodologies and contribute to inclusive scholarship.

Who can participate

Researchers with an interest in film studies, visual culture, queer and trans histories, or related fields.
Trans or gender-diverse people who are interested in sharing their lived experience and contributing to research and creative discussions.

Benefits of participation

Contribute your expertise or lived experience to an interdisciplinary research project.
Collaborate across academic and community perspectives to shape future research directions.
Participate in creative methods that complement academic approaches.

Time commitment: One full day (Friday 26th June 2026)

Reimbursement: A £10 Warwick Food & Drink gift voucher will be provided as a thank-you for participation.

Confidentiality: Your contributions will be anonymised in line with University of Warwick data protection policies.

If you are interested in participating, please complete the Expression of Interest formLink opens in a new window. If you require further information, please contact Dr. Molly Harrabin (Molly.Harrabin.2@warwick.ac.uk). Further details will be provided when the form closes on 5th June 2026. This event is made possible with the contribution of the Society & Cultures Spotlight Programme and the IAS Conversations Fund.

Best wishes,

Molly

Dr. Molly Harrabin (she/her)