The Online Home of the Canterbury Arts Conference (CArtsCon)
The sixth annual Canterbury Arts Conference (lovingly known as CArtsCon) took place at the Canterbury Baptist Church from July 9 to 12, 2019. The theme for the conference was “Changing the Narrative”.
This was the first time in the history of the conference that the word ‘Art’ did not feature in the theme. The looseness allowed for interesting and diverse topics across the arts spectrum.
#CArtsCon2019 brought together nearly 30 speakers and presenters and plenty of rewarding sessions for participants. A summary of events and photographs can be found below.
Welcome Reception
The event was launched during a welcome reception by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Councillor Stephen Westgate, on Tuesday, the 9th July. This was prefaced by quick speeches by CArtsCon co-directors Dr Jill Kiefer and Dr Julian Ng.
A highlight of the welcome reception was the announcement of the winners of the schools art competition, and the presentation of prizes. This year, a new category was added for students in Years 1 to 3. The theme for this year’s competition was ‘A Different Story’. Prizes were sponsored by Cowling and Wilcox and Warnborough College. First prize winners received an additional bonus in the form of having their artwork framed by Edge Framing in Hythe. Congratulations to all our winners.
Day 1
Julian Ng welcomed everyone before Jill Kiefer kicked off the day with an interesting presentation about the conference theme entitled “Don’t Confuse Facts with the ‘Facts'”. May Enamama from Taiwan then led the audience on a soap-making workshop where lucky conference-goers got to cut a piece of their own soap for keeps.
Esther Coren and Jacqueline Tallent brought along a team including Jane Brooke and colleagues from East Kent Mencap to showcase their efforts in developing a community choir for people with learning disabilities. The genre-changing literary talents of Christopher Marlowe as envisaged by Julian Ng ended up the morning session.
Post-lunch, Estelle Rosenfeld led a rousing philodrama activity which got everyone excited and warmed up. Ken Scott presented his narrative-changing project called ‘Our Work of Art’ focusing on the creativity of older people.
Okolonkwo Okolo talked about how Fashion Photography created identity conflicts from 1950 to 1970 (on behalf of Ayo Adewunmi). Peter Gregory shared observations and reflections on arts education in Britain and why it needs to change. S2 and S2, a unique collaboration between two artists from Lebanon and China ended the day with a humorous short film called “Beijing is like a dog; Shanghai is like a cat”.
Day 2
Julie Flower opened Day 2 with an improv activity which set the tone for the participants. Francesca Baker demonstrated how one can use creative writing as a form of therapy and wellbeing. Ire Ogueche Chinasa returned to CArtsCon for the third time to talk about synaesthesia between art and music. Pamela Hatton carried on with the art therapy theme using a simple story-telling device. Jill Kiefer presented on non-artists who were women who changed the world of art.
The afternoon session combined words with music and modelling as Leah Thorn and her team of models showed how “Older Women Rock”.
Ash Kotak played a game of Chinese whispers with participants, demonstrating how narrative can be used to obfuscate facts. Lika Lee enchanted the audience with her delicate artwork and her efforts of using art in hospitals for children with terminal illnesses.
Day 3
Emma Sutton began Day 3 with ‘Photo as Voice: An Art Teacher’s Narrative’. Linda Tucker and Petra Matthews-Crow presented ‘The Wisdom of Crowds before Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin II challenged the audience with his take on reimaging African children vis-a-vis media and charity representations.
Libby Scandale continued the educational focus with a presentation on how struggling teenage readers can be helped using the visual arts. The morning session ended on a high with Urs Hauenstein leading the participants through a group painting session to create a work of art for the conference.
The final afternoon saw Laura Cadonna tackling the touchy subject of men doing feminism. Claire March shared her successes and challenges of working with artists, teachers and pupils in special needs schools. Okolonkwo Okolo entertained the audience with the changing trends in African women hair adornments. Julian Ng rounded up the session by imploring the audience to change their own narratives in order to tell new stories.
Another Successful CArtsCon
The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress came to present certificates of participation and to pose for photographs. With nearly 30 presentations, this year’s conference was a jam-packed event with something for everyone. We would like to thank everyone who took part (either as speaker or spectator), our prize sponsors, the Lord Mayor and the Canterbury City Council, the Canterbury Baptist Church, and especially the Warnborough College team for working so hard behind the scenes to make the event a success.
