It has been almost 100 years since the end of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern Middle East. With this in mind Tom Hunter will lead a series of themed events and workshops exploring modern day Middle-Eastern identity in relation to Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab revolt. Through the re-examination of archival material participants will be encouraged to create their own artworks investigating historical notions of identity interwoven with contemporary life in Jordan. Photography will be the starting point of the workshops but participants are free to produce their work in any medium they feel appropriate.
Tom Hunter, who specialises in large format photography, will guide participants in the making of new photographic images, artworks and interventions of people, landscapes and architecture which make up their environment. The work produced will be exhibited in the Lab alongside the archival material. The exhibition will run from 7-27 November 2015.
Tom Hunter is an artist and Professor of Photography at the University of the Arts London. Over the last twenty years he has collaborated with many different communities, mainly in his local neighbourhood of East London. In these collaborations he sets out to re-represent marginalised groups, giving them a means to express pride and dignity in their communities. By working with such groups as squatters, travellers, social housing communities, old age pensioners and domestic workers through the mediums of photography, film and sculpture he seeks to change perceptions and the image of stereotypical groups.
Saturday 17th October
Meet participants and set out the aims and objectives of the project.
Give them an outline of the planned events, deadlines and exhibition.
Introduce myself and my working practice.
Screening of Lawrence of Arabia, followed by discussion and debate of Lawrence in the Middle East. Through discussion discover the themes that the students find the most interesting and which they can engage with through their own work.
Wednesday 21st October
Research archival material from Lawrence’s collection of photographs and letters.
Discussion and debate around the participants’ responses to the material and an exploration of modern day identity in Jordan.
Saturday 24th October
Large format photography workshop on location.
Encouraging participants to create their own images.
Wednesday 28th October
Further workshop to facilitate the creation of new work in different mediums
Saturday 31st October
Assessing the participants’ work and giving feedback of how it can be developed further for the exhibition.
Wednesday - Thursday 4th - 5th November
Participants will take part in planning the display, giving them a chance to curate the exhibition space, thinking about material, scale and positioning of their work and the archival materials within the gallery.