Creating spaces, sharing spaces

Panel with Jemma Desai and Olivier Marboeuf

June 16, 7:30 pm

The cultural sector in Western European countries likes to think of itself as open, progressive and international. But discrimination is part of everyday life here as well, neither stopping at the barriers blocking off a film set nor at the doors of the rehearsal spaces of prestigious theatres. Diversity officers are often no more than fig leaves. What does this mean for cultural workers of colour? What alternative approaches are they developing? And how can cultural spaces and institutions be transformed so that they more accurately reflect the heterogeneity of society?

A panel in English with Jemma Desai and Olivier Marboeuf, moderated by Katarina Hedrén

About the participants

Jemma Desai is based in London. Her practice engages with film programming through research, writing, performance, as well as informally organised settings for deep study, and her work experience spans distribution, cinema exhibition and festival programming. Her most recent body of work is "This work isn't for Us" which draws attention to the human cost of attempting institutional reform while navigating 'diversity' policy rooted in white supremacy. She has previously worked at institutions such as the BFI and British Council and is interested in the ways imperialism replicates itself through institutionalised work processes and translates into the ways we relate to one another through art. She is currently Head of Programming at Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival and is about to undertake a practice based PhD on the histories of liberatory performance and moving image and the possibilities opened up through ideas of abolitionist praxis at Central School of Speech and Drama. You can find more about her work here.

Olivier Marboeuf is a writer, storyteller and curator. He founded the independent art centre Espace Khiasma, which he has been running from 2004 to 2018 in Les Lilas, on the outskirts of Paris. At Khiasma, he has developed a programme addressing minority representations through exhibitions, screenings, debates, performances and collaborative projects. Interested in the different modalities of transmission of knowledge, Olivier Marboeuf imagines permanent or ephemeral structures based on conversations and speculative narratives. He is currently film producer at Spectre productions. Read his recent texts on his blog: Toujours Debout.

Katarina Hedrén is a film curator and film critic based in Johannesburg. She is a previous chairperson of CinemAfrica Film Festival in Sweden, former director of the European Film Festival in South Africa and a current member of the film selection committees for FESPACO and for Film Africa in London. As a writer and critic her work appears on various platforms, including the pan-African platform, Africa is a Country, the Swedish periodical FLM Magazine and the anthology Gaze Regimes – Films and Feminisms in Africa (Mistry & Schuhmann, Wits University Press, 2015).