The Urgency of the Arts Assembly: I WANT YOU TO SPEAK TO ME URGENTLY! With Mabe Bethônico and Fatoş Üstek

Guest Speakers

Mabe Bethônico

Mabe Bethônico is an artist, researcher and professor whose work centres around the history of mining and its consequential environmental and societal impacts. Mabe's projects explore the cultural, economic, and political transformations caused by extractive activities, utilizing archives and field documentation. She has interacted with various collections, including those at the Eisenbibliothek in Schlatt, the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva, and the Imperial College in London. She has also worked with materials from Brazilian archives, such as the Mining sector of the Ministry of Labor and Employment. She is member of the international group of artists and theoreticians "World of Matter," initiated in 2010. Mabe Bethônico's artistic practice encompasses a diverse array of tools and dynamics around the sharing of knowledge. These take shape through mediums such as books, posters, installations, objects, and live presentations. Within her work, she delves into institutional matters and the intricate process of memory construction and activation. 

Fatoş Üstek 

Fatoş Üstek is a London-based independent Turkish curator and writer. She has directed art institutions in the UK (Liverpool Biennial; The Roberts Institute of Art), curated mid to large-scale, not-for-profit exhibitions (fig-2 50 exhibitions 50 weeks, 2015, ICA), festivals (Art Night 2017, London), and artistically and curatorially led and managed biennials (11th Liverpool Biennial, UK; 10th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea). She has also commissioned artists in the public realm (Nathan Coley, Liverpool, 2020; Do Ho Suh, London, 2018-20). Furthermore, Fatoş has been recognised for her writing (Curating Companion, Blackwell, 2020), organising seminars (Miart Talks, 2018, Milan) and training workshops (Art Fund Curatorial Workshops, 2015) for peers and colleagues. Over the last 10 years, Fatoş has taken on multiple jury roles for national art prizes (Jindrich Chalupecky Award 2022 – 2024; Turner Prize 2020; Celeste Prize 2017), international representations (Scotland and Netherlands in Venice, 2022), and acted as an external member of the acquisitions committee for the Arts Council Collection (2018-2020), whilst nominating artists for prestigious projects and awards.

Convened by Shehnaz Suterwalla and students from the School of Arts and Humanities. Presentations will be followed by audience Q&A.