The Politics and Poetics of Attention: Panel Discussion
23 January 2025 19:00 - 20:00
£6.13
The Politics and Poetics of Attention: Panel Discussion
What does it mean to pay attention –– in art, nursing and daily life?
How do experiences of grief, joy and death shape the ways we attend to the world and others?
Join acclaimed academic and activist Lynne Segal as she chairs a discussion exploring these questions with exhibition artists Emmanuel Awuni and Anj Smith, and poet, author and practicing NHS nurse Molly Case. Together, they will delve into how attention informs their practices, drawing on Simone Weil’s concept of attention and examining the connections between art, care, activism and philosophy. This is an opportunity to explore the profound ways attention can shape our lives and work.
Lynne Segal
Lynne Segal (b. 1944, Sydney, Australia) is a writer and activist who arrived in London over fifty years ago, from Sydney Australia. Quickly involved in diverse campaigns for women’s liberation, justice, equality and social inclusion, these provided the motivations for all her work and writing, beginning with Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism (co-authored with Sheila Rowbotham and Hilary Wainwright) and including her last few books, Making Trouble: Life & Politics; Out of Time: The Pleasures & Perils of Ageing; Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy; The Care Manifesto (co-authored with the Care Collective) and her latest book Lean on Me: The Politics of Radical Care. For over two decades she has worked with several Jewish groups for peace in Israel-Palestine, beginning with Jews for Justice for Palestinians.
Emmanuel Awuni
Emmanuel Awuni (b. 1993, Accra, Ghana) lives and works in London, UK. Awuni received his MA from The Royal Academy of Arts in 2022, and BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University of London, 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include I Know why the Caged Bird Sings, Copperfield, London (2023); walk, Pipeline Contemporary, London (2022); Lamps, Sundy, London (2022); and Hammer, Harlesden High Street Gallery, London (2021). Awuni has participated in numerous group exhibitions, at venues such as Kunst Museum Solingen, Germany (2023); Copperfield, London (2023); Public Gallery, London (2023); PM/AM, London (2022); Nir Altman, Munich (2022); Royal Academy of the Arts, London (2021); Sadie Coles HQ, London (2021); and Harlesden High Street Gallery, London (2020). In 2024 Awuni was artist-in-residence with the the Roberts Institute of Art and his work is also part of the the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.
Anj Smith
Anj Smith (b. 1978, Kent, UK) lives and works in London. Smith studied at Slade School of Fine Art and at Goldsmiths College in London. She has exhibited at institutions around the world, including Museo Stefano Bardini, Florence, Italy; The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK; Mostyn, Llandudno, UK; Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland; Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK; Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville TN, and La Maison Rouge, Paris, France. Smith’s work is also displayed in the collections of many leading international museums including The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; MOCA The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA; the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, London, and the Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland.
Molly Case
Molly Case is a spoken word artist, writer and nurse born and brought up in south London. She currently works at St George’s Hospital, London as a cardiac nurse specialist. In April 2013 she achieved national recognition after performing her poem ‘Nursing the Nation’ at the Royal College of Nursing. Molly has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, Elle magazine and Huffington Post, and was named in the Health Service Journal’s Inspirational Women list and the BBC’s 100 Women list.
In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World is an exhibition of works from the David and Indre Roberts Foundation, at the Fitzrovia Chapel from 8th January to 9th February 2025. Read more about the exhibtion
Thursday 23rd January
Doors at 6.30pm
Panel discussion 7pm to 8pm
£5 + booking fee
