The Aesthetics of Diversity: A Symposium

A Symposium from the Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts co-curated by Lara Ratnaraja and Dr Karen Patel

The visual arts and craft canon is predicated on a Western and Eurocentric standard against which all art is measured. Bias in aestheticism means that the viewing of work always comes overlain with the patina of colonialism and empire.

This stems from production using Westernised practice methods and theories, where ethnically diverse work is exoticized and othered, and follows through to the commissioning of work in a system which is predicated on systemic racism and institutional colonialism.

This whitewashing of work by artists of colour, perpetuates their marginalisation and inequality and reinforces the structures and power dynamics that exclude artists of colour and other marginalised artists.

The Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts (CEDIA) will draw together speakers from academia and the arts to explore true representation in making work, the bias that perpetuates a Western standard of practice and what a future diverse aesthetic could be.

The symposium will feature keynotes on decolonising practice and two panels representing visual arts craft and performance, the racialised environment and representation with regards to primarily race, but with a lens of intersectionality that considers sexuality and disability.