Archaeology-Heritage-Art Event #7: Jagdish Patel

Public Programme #7: Jagdish Patel

Jagdish Patel is a socially engaged artist who has spent much of the past decade producing work within working-class communities. These have included projects with people from the Gypsy community, Asian football clubs, Northern Soul fans, victims of racial violence, Muslim Was Veterans, and Punjabi bar owners in the Black Country. He was previously I was the Deputy Director of the human rights charity, the Monitoring Group, and continues to work with anti-racist groups across the country

He is currently a PhD candidate at Coventry University where his research seeks to conceptualise the interconnections between anti racism and socially engaged art by exploring their shared histories in the Midlands. The research is a practice based conducted through both oral history inquiry with individuals and organisations who were involved in past struggles in the Midlands and through making new new artwork and developing a public program to engage others in this history in a gallery space.

Jagdish’s research is seeking to understand the different genealogies of both anti racism and socially engaged art and consider how anti racism activists have used methodologies from artistic practice to challenge existing hegemonies, build alliances, care for, speak to and listen to its community.

Jagdish works across a collection of different archives from the National Archives to local archives (Nottingham, Birmingham) to family archives. The histories and material is scattered, and part of the process is assembling. Given that socially engaged art centres the participant, do we get a different perspective on for example antagonism in art practice when assembling an archive that explores the narrative from activists, rather than institutions?

The event is open to all but please register via the link above.

The Archaeology-Heritage-Art Research Network examines the varied ways in which archaeology, heritage and art converge across a broad range of concepts and practices, from artistic interventions in the museum space to archaeological interpretations which deploy and take inspiration from contemporary art.

The AHA 2022 PROGRAMME: INTERDISCIPLINARY METHODOLOGIES is supported with a grant from the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies.