This session considers the role of arts educators within potentially painful histories.

Artwork is designed to elicit emotion, and often takes us into challenging narratives. Arts educators can be central to this conversation, and in turn occupy a complex space professionally. How do we navigate and orientate ourselves within artwork that speaks of pain? Our session seeks to explore this productively and sensitively, fostering shared experience and togetherness.

Here we consider – Are we the right voices to occupy space? Who defines a subject as a ‘painful history’? Objectification vs advocacy? Who carries the emotional toil of this work? What practical systems need to be in place for the arts educator?

Your host Jon Sleigh will reflect with you consensually on a series of art narratives that speak about marginalisation, discrimination, erasure and pain. Drawing from practical experience, this is a space to ethically consider arts engagement, and reflect on recent social challenges.

This session features artworks from the Government Art Collection. As well as contributions from the GAC’s Curator of Public Engagement, Chantal Condron, we will be applying art readings on potentially painful narratives to the Collection as practical examples. While each artwork holds significance as being part of a national collection, they also offer the potential of being incredibly emotive works with which to explore our arts practice.

Half the session will be the practical application of arts engagement using the Government Art Collection, while the second half will feature break out rooms where groups can discuss experiences, share best practice, and offer their readings on selected artworks.

We hope you can join us for a warm, peer led and useful space to consider your arts practice.