Turner Prize nominee to give public lecture
Release Date 09 September 2011
The University of Reading is delighted to announce that artist, filmmaker and former Turner Prize nominee Isaac Julien will present a special public lecture on Saturday 24 September.
Isaac will discuss his recent project ‘Ten Thousand Waves' which was inspired by the tragic death of cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay. Receiving its premiere at the Sydney Biennale in 2010 before touring the world (including to the Hayward Gallery in London), Ten Thousand Waves is an architectural nine-screen installation starring Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love), which was shot on location in China.
Isaac will discuss the creation of the work, its poetic weaving of stories linking China's ancient past and present, and its exploration of the movement of people across countries and continents as a meditation on unfinished journeys.
The free talk is organised by the University of Reading's Department of Film, Theatre & Television and will take place in the Department's new home, the Minghella Building.
Dr Ashley Thorpe, conference co-organiser, said: "We are very much looking forward to welcoming Isaac to the University. His talk promises to be an intriguing insight into his creative methods. His projects have won global acclaim, having been shown in art galleries around the world. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear a highly respected artist and filmmaker talk about his work.
"The lecture coincides with our ‘Contesting British Chinese Culture: Forms, Histories, Identities' conference, being held on 24-25 September. The conference, co-organised with Dr Diana Yeh (Keele Sociological Review Fellow), aims to investigate how British Chinese identities are explored in different cultural forms."
Isaac Julien was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001 for his film ‘The Long Road to Mazatlán'. In 1991 he was awarded the Semaine de la critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his work ‘Young Soul Rebels' (1991).
His lecture will be held in the Bulmershe Theatre, Minghella Building on the University's Whiteknights Campus. It begins at 6.30pm and is free to attend. Please note that the theatre will open at 6pm and seats will be available on a first-come first-served basis. Additional seats will be made available in the cinema, where the lecture will also be screened.
For more information please contact Ashley Thorpe, tel. 0118 378 4079, email ashley.thorpe@reading.ac.uk
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For more information, please contact James Barr, press officer, on 0118 378 7115 or email j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk,
Notes for Editors:
The University of Reading's Department of Film, Theatre & Television pioneered the teaching of film studies in British Higher Education and has an established world-leading reputation in theatre and television. In the 2011 National Student Survey, 98% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the teaching on its courses. In the last RAE (2008), 90% of its research was scored as being of world-leading or internationally-excellent quality. This strong research environment enables the Department to deliver one of the most exciting, innovative and unique courses on offer in the UK.
The Department's new home the £11.4m Minghella Building, named in honour of Anthony Minghella, the award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director, boast state-of-the-art facilities with the latest technologies. A cinema, three large theatres, a TV studio with en-suite mixing facilities, individual and group editing suites and a scene construction workshop are just some of the facilities students can enjoy.
Isaac Julien was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. After graduating from St Martin's School of Art in 1984, where he studied painting and fine art film, Isaac Julien founded Sankofa Film and Video Collective (1983-1992), and was a founding member of Normal Films in 1991.
Julien was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001 for his films ‘The Long Road to Mazatlán' (1999), made in collaboration with Javier de Frutos and ‘Vagabondia' (2000), choreographed by Javier de Frutos. Earlier works include ‘Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask' (1996), ‘Young Soul Rebels' (1991) which was awarded the Semaine de la critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival the same year, and the acclaimed poetic documentary ‘Looking for Langston' (1989). Julien was the recipient of both the prestigious MIT Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts (2001) and the Frameline Lifetime Achievement Award (2002). His work ‘Paradise Omeros' was presented as part of Documenta XI in Kassel (2002). In 2003 he won the Grand Jury Prize at the Kunstfilm Biennale in Cologne for his single screen version of Baltimore and the Aurora Award in 2005.
For more information on Isaac Julien: www.isaacjulien.com
For more information on the Contesting British Chinese Culture conference: http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/ftt-ContestingBritishChineseCulture.aspx