We Listen to Understand (2024-25)
Artist in residence, Wellcome Trust Re-imagining Leadership, Newcastle University
Since October 2024 I have been artist in residence with the project which uses participatory action research to reflect on psychological safety, leadership and inclusion within the university, through dialogue with a core group of staff from multiple job roles. I see my role as that of creative note-taker, both insider and outsider, responding to group discussions and reflecting on my experience of being precariously employed in the institution for five years as an associate lecturer.
This page features work in progress including moving image, photography and drawings created in dialogue with the research project. The group operates under Chatham House Rules, meaning that ideas and experiences are shared in confidence. This emphasis on anonymity has been central to structuring the creative process which plays with visibility and invisibility, speaking and not speaking. The title for this work is drawn from the ‘ground rules’ and ethos established for participatory action research undertaken by the group: We remember that ‘listening to understand’ is different to ‘listening to reply'.
My work aims to create a space for reflection and dialogue around power structures and psychological safety within the institution and to amplify the voices of people who are often marginalised within those structures. The drawings are compressed notations from participatory research sessions, which are then made visible in moving image work. The video on the left relates to the central image 'mark my words' and features ambient sound recorded on campus. I am currently working on a series of interviews to accompany this work.
The residency has been disrupted by industrial action taken by staff facing redundancy and budget cuts, also referenced in the work. As a result a planned exhibition and series of events was postponed until later in 2025.