Diary for October 2010

MONDAY 11th October- Sewing in Wartime

Running until the 16th October is a great exhibition at the Quilt Museum and Art Gallery which looks at the production of material culture amongst Canadian men and women during the Second World War. In collaboration with Canada House, the exhibition features Canadian Red Cross Quilts and other patch worked and quilted pieces. The quilts tell the stories of Canadian needlewomen who made and donated thousands of quilts to the British war relief using their ingenuity and creativity at finding resources and materials that were available at that time. Visit this website for more information about the history and development of the quilts. The exhibition is free. Everyone welcome.



MONDAY 11th October- London Street Photography

The Museum of London is hosting an exhibition bringing together 19th century and contemporary photographs looking at ways in which street life has changed in the city and how photography has influenced how people relate and identify themselves with the city. The exhibition is free and runs until September2011. For more information visit this website.



TUESDAY 12th October- 22nd October- Exhibit yourself through things

If you were asked to choose an object that gave some insight into your life, who you are, your interests, quirks and familiarities what would that be? Would you want to share it with others? The Wellcome Collection has launched a new public engagement exhibition called Things. The aim of the exhibition is to update Henry Wellcome's curious collection but also to find out the meaning of objects that form part of our everyday lives. You can take part in the collection by donating, lending or submitting a photograph of your thing. The objects will form part of the exhibition.The exhibition is free and open to all. Visit this website for more information.

TUESDAY 12th October- 22nd October-The 4th Native Spirit Festival

Today marks the beginning of the 2010 Native Spirit Festival of Indigenous Peoples. Running until the 22nd October the festival includes films, talks and performances celebrating and exploring Indigenous cultures and the protection of their rights. For a full programme of events visit: www.nativespiritfoundation.org







WEDNESDAY 13th October- SOAS Anthropology of Development Seminar

Today from 1:00pm-3:00pm in the Brunei Gallery, Caroline Harper associate director of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre and a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, will be giving a presentation entitled Gender, Chronic Poverty and Social Justice. Caroline has over 20 years of experience working with organisations such as Save the Children, UNICEF and ODI on issues regarding childhood poverty, youth exclusion, empowerment and policy processes. You can read more about her work and research background here. The seminar is free and open to the public.




WEDNESDAY 13th OCTOBER- Road to Las Vegas

Insight education in collaboration with Rise films and UCL are hosting a free film screening of Road to Las Vegas directed by Jason Massot. The film documents the journey of an African American couple with five kids from Alaska who take to the road in order to find work in Las Vegas. "Filmed over four years through boom and bust, this is a tale of infidelity, drugs, poverty, infinite promises and new beginnings". The event will take place between 6:30pm-8:30pm in the Archaeology Theatre, Department of Anthropology, entrance 14 Taviton Street. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the director. Everyone welcome.







THURSDAY 14th October- Gender Health and Wellbeing

Today from 2pm onwards, Yiu-Tung Seun from the Institute of Ageing, University of Oxford will be giving a lecture entitled: Men on their own: revisiting assumptions on masculinities, singlehood and health. The seminar will take place in Seminar Room 1, ODID, University of Oxford. Entrance is free, all welcome.







THURSDAY 14th October-Agrarian Change Seminar

Today from 5:15pm in Room 4421 (fourth floor main building) in SOAS, Lucia Da Corta from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) will be delivering a talk entitled: Agrarian Change, Gender Transformations and Poverty in Tanzania. The seminar is free and everyone welcome.








FRIDAY 15th October- Assembling Bodies

Today from 4:00pm onwards at the University of Manchester's Place Theatre Dr. Anita Herle Senior Curator of World Anthropology at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, will be giving the first public lecture in Social Anthropology this month. Anita's talk is entitled: Assembling bodies: Art, Science and Imagination Displaying the technologies that make bodies visible. The seminar is free and everyone welcome.









TUESDAY 19th October- Annual Ethnobotany Lecture 2010

Today at 5pm at Kew's Jodrell Laboratory (Jodrell Gate, Kew Road) is a lecture entitled Dynamics of ethnobotanical knowledge in a globalizing world: the Tsimane people of the Bolivian Amazon. The lecture will be given by Victoria Reyes- Garcia, from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Admission is free, everyone welcome.




WEDNESDAY 20th October- SOAS Anthropology of Development Seminar

Today from 1:00pm-3:00pm Scarlett Epstein, director of (Practical Education and Gender Support) and SESAC (Scarlett Epstein Social Assessment Consultancy) presents a talk entitled The need to redress Rural/Urban Development Imbalances. During the 1950s Scarlett was at the forefront of development anthropology, throughout her extensive career, Scarlett has worked as a researcher, consultant and adviser amongst numerous other roles. To find out more about Scarlett's work, you can download this interview conducted in 2004, by Professor Alan MacFarlane's.



FRIDAY 22nd October-24th October- Bloomsbury Festival

Bloomsbury Festival is a chance to celebrate music, cultural events, dance and activities which bring together people who live and work in this wonderful area of London. Bloomsbury hosts many cultural organisations and leading academic institutions such as UCL, British Museum, Welcome Trust, SOAS, Birkbeck and Royal Anthropological Institute as well as important galleries, hospitals and a wealth of other private, public and charity organisations. The festival has over 1000 people working across disciplines to share ideas, experience and expertise with each other and the general public. The majority of events are free and open to all. To find out more about the festival and programme of events visit this website.






FRIDAY 15th October- Christian Freedom and Christian Fixity

Today from 10:30am-12:30pm at the Seligman Library (Old Building) Dr. Jon Bialecki from the University of California San Diego will be discussing his research on the practices and beliefs of Southern Californian Third Wave and Emergent Christians analysing how their constructions of personhood affect their political and economic practices. The title of this seminar is Christian Freedom and Christian Fixity: Evangelical telos and anti-telos in Southern California and beyond. Everyone welcome.

FRIDAY 22nd October- Money-Go-Round

Today from 10:30am-12:30pm at the Seligman Library (Old Building) Professor Deborah James from London School of Economics will be presenting a seminar entitled: Money-go-round: personal economies of wealth, aspiration and indebtedness in South Africa. Deborah is a specialist in anthropology of South and Southern Africa. The majority of her fieldwork has been conducted in Mpumalanga and Northern Provinces. Her research interests include the contestations between state and market driven ideologies in relation to land ownership use and governance and issues relating to reproductive health and HIV-AIDS.


FRIDAY 29th October- Creating Lasting Love

Today from 10:30am-12:30pm at the Seligman Library (Old Building) PhD Candidate Victoria Boydell (LSE) will be presenting a seminar entitled Creating lasting love: a study of contraceptive practice in Central London family planning clinic. Everyone welcome






FRIDAY 29th October- Catching Shadows

As part of their Friday Lates programme the V&A will hold an event from 6:30pm-10pm tonight featuring talks, tours, installations and screenings focusing on the 'Shadow Catchers' exhibition. The Shadow Catchers exhibition presents the work of five artists who create images on photographic paper without the use of a camera, either through casting shadows, using chemical treatment or manipulating light. Find out more about the exhibition through this website. To book your place for this evening call 08445 79190.

FRIDAY 29th October- 30th October- Ethnographic Filmmaking in the Making

The Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in collaboration with the Royal Anthropological Institute and the International Centre for Contemporary Cultural Research have put together a fantastic film programme exploring topics such as faith-healers, refugee musicians, and diasporic communities. Over the next two days a series of films will be screened from 10:00am- 6:30pm at the Aga Khan University on Euston Road. Full details of the films and filmmakers can be found here. Registration is £10 for a full day. To register your place contact: richard.werbner@manchester.ac.uk

Diary for September 2010

Thursday 2nd September- Film Night at Birkbeck Cinema

Dochouse in collaboration with Birkbeck College Cinema are hosting three film screenings tonight at Birkbeck's Cinema, 43 Gordon Square, London. The three films include: The Last Rites by Yasmine Kabir; La Chirola by Diego Mondaca and Shelter in Place by Zed Nelson. Descriptions and details of all three films can be found here. The film screenings start at 6:30pm and are free but a voluntary donation of £5 would be greatly appreciated.





Friday 3rd September- Mugabe's Victims: Zimbabwe Today

Prisoners of Conscience (PoC) is a UK charity that works to help individuals who have been persecuted for their beliefs. PoC is hosting a photo exhibition by an award-winning photographer, who took great risks to travel anonymously in Zimbabwe in the summer of 2009. The exhibition focuses on victims of persecution and political violence in Zimbabwe, and is being held at the Menier Gallery 51, Southwark Street London. The exhibition will run until the 11th September. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.





Wednesday 8th September- 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep

Tonight at the BFI at 6pm there will be a film screening of Ben Hopkin's film 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep (Winner of the Basil Wright Film Prize 2007). The film documents the past and present existence of the Pamir Kirghiz, a tribe of some 2000 people from the Pamir region of Central Asia. For the last 27 years they have lived in exile in Eastern Turkey. In 2005 an Anglo-Turkish film crew arrives in their village to work with their tribe and help them tell their story. To find out more about the film, take a look at this film review and an online interview with the film maker. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Ben Hopkins and costs £5 to enter. Visit the following website to book your place.



Friday 10th September- The Way of Tea

Today from 14:00pm-15:00pm in Room 92 there will be a free demonstration of the Japanese tea ceremony at the British Museum's Japanese galleries. Anthropologists' fascination with tea culture in Japan has resulted in numerous ethnographies and books about the subject. An interesting and recent publication is Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History and Practise Edited by: Morgan Pitelka (Routledge Curzon, 2005). For those curious to try an assortment of Japanese tea at home, the Algerian Coffee Shop on Old Compton Street in London is a great place to purchase tea and coffee from around the world.





Saturday 11th -12th September- Rivers around the World

As part of the Thames River Festival2010, the British Council's Connecting Classrooms project links schools and 2,000 young people through art and research projects exploring rivers in their cities. Working with professional artists they produce artworks for public display which are exhibited along the banks of the River Thames and in the participating cities. Every year three new countries join the collaboration and it is estimated that there will be 17 countries participating by 2012. For more information visit this website.



Tuesday 14th September- British Science Festival

Running until the 19th of September, the British Science Festival will be held in Birmingham this year. The festival incorporates workshops, talks, hands-on experiments and school activities related to science, technology and engineering. Each year the Royal Anthropological Institute participates in the festival's Education Programme. This year, the RAI film department will be screening Hugh Brody's Film The Meaning of Life. Take a look at this website for a detailed programme of the festival.




Wednesday 15th September- Past to present: a dialogue about nutrition

The Centre for History in Public Health and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Archives have organised a one day conference today entitled 'Nutrition and History in the Twentieth Century'. The conference brings together historians, archivists and members of the LSHTM's nutrition unit together to talk about food policies, diet and famine. A draft programme is available here. The closing date for registration is 3rd of September. To register visit the following website.




Thursday 16th September- Wales Anthropology Day

Similar to the London Anthropology Day, the Wales Anthropology Day is a free open day for teachers, students and the general public who are interested in learning more about what it is like to study anthropology at university. On the day, participants will be able to take part in a series of workshops run by University of Lampeter staff and talk to students currently studying anthropology. To find out more and book your free place visit the following website.



Saturday 18th September- A Conference on Basketry Conservation

The Icon Ethnography Group in cooperation with the Royal Botnaic Gardens, Kew is hosting a one day conference today looking at the conservation, construction and collection care issues of basketry. Speakers from national and international museums and instituteions will cover issues such as the role of conservators in collaboration with indigenous communities and the practical conscerns regarding conservation of objects of cultural heritage. For a list of the conference programme and registration visit this website. Registration is £25 for students/concessions, £45 for members and £65 for non-members.



Monday 20th September- Exploring Africa

Sir Wilferd Thesiger (1910-2003) was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and lived there for 9 years until his family returned to England in 1919. Deemed one of Britain's greatest explorers of the 20th century, Sir Wilfred spent fifty years living and exploring remote places mostly in East and North Africa. He undertook political service in Sudan, river explorations, journeys through Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and explorations in Kenya and Tanzania. The Pitt River's exhibition is the first to epxlore his lifleong relationship with Africa. The exhibition includes a wide selection of his photographs and objects which were collected during his travels. The exhibition is also accompanied by a major new publication, Wilfred Thesiger in Africa. The exhibition is free and open to all.






Tuesday 21st September- Radical Anthropology Group

Tonight Christ Knight will be giving a brief introduction to evening classes on anthropology run by the Radical Anthropology Group. Take a look here to find out more about the topics covered in the evening classes. The introduction will take place at St. Martin's Community Centre from 18:00pm- 21:00pm. Visit the RAG's website for more information.









Saturday 25th September- A Journey to China

The British Museum's China Now legacy project is now on tour at the Manchester Museum. The exhibition combines everyday objects from life in modern day Wuhan, Manchester's sister city in China, alongside historical artifacts that span 3,000 years of history and culture. The exhibition is free and runs until June 2011.











Sunday 26th September- Eid Festival in London

Organised by Muslim groups and the Mayor of London, the Eid Festival marks the end of Ramadan and a month of fasting. The festival is a chance for Muslims and those of any faith to come together and experience the cultural diversity of Islam through art, music, performance and poetry. The event is free and open to all.




ONGOING:


The controversial art of representation...

Melville J. Herskovits (1859-1963) was a pioneering and controversial American anthropologist who played a prominent role in shaping African Studies as a distinct discipline. Herskovits's academic work was both influential and controversial and still emerges in on-going debates on questions of identity and representation. Herkovits at the Heart of Blackness is a documentary which tracks the development of Hervokits's career in relation to African American and Jewish experiences of exile, political oppression and exclusion. The film gives a critical review of anthropologist's role in representing and documenting other societies. Take a look at a preview of the film here.


Small Places Large Issues

The third edition of Thomas Eriksen's book is now available. Small Places Large Issues has become a classic for introduction to social anthropology for undergraduate students as well as those who are new to anthropology. It gives an excellent overview of topics such as kinship, ethinicity, ritual and political systems. The new edition has updated information and has increased emphasis on the interdependence between societies. Take a look here for other introductory texts to social anthropology.







Anthropology Education

The September issue of the American Anthropological Association's official newspaper Anthropology News is entirely devoted to topics concerning anthropology and education. The issue includes articles on pre-university education, online courses, pedagogical standards and assessment models and much more. Take a look here for more information.

Diary for August 2010

Tuesday 3rd August- The Great British Beer Festival

A number of anthropologists have studied pub culture and the important role pubs play in the construction of British socioeconomic culture. Take a look at this interesting article on the anthropology of pubs. One way in which pubs differentiate from one another is through their diverse range of beers. The Great British Beer Festival taking place at Earls Court until the 7th of August offers 450 beers from all over the world. The festival is a great way to introduce yourself to new varieties of ales, stouts, fruit beers and bitters. The festival also offers pub games, quizzes, food, concerts and more. Tickets vary in price. For more information visit the following website.





Wednesday 4th August- Life on Allotments

What do allotments mean for people living in Britain? Artist Emma Wood captures the diversity of life on two local allotments in London. Her photo exhibition is currently displayed at the Horniman Museum in conjunction with a food garden at the museum inspired by these communities. The exhibition is free and runs until the 17th of October.

Sunday 8th August - Celebrate the London Mela

The London Mela is one of the biggest annual events in the city celebrating South Asian culture and creativity. The event takes place in Gunnersbury Park from 1pm- 8:30pm and is expected to attract 70,000 people. The Mela is free and has a diverse range of cultural activities, food and and music including nine zones of urban, classical and experimental music, DJs, circus, dance, visual arts, comedy and a zone especially for kids. To find out more about the festival visit the official website.

Sunday 8th August- Arabian Nights 2010

The V&A museum with the support of the SAID Foundation has initiated a programme of learning and activities focusing on Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. The programme will run over four years and cover three strands: an annual family festival of Arab culture, an associated network of outreach initiatives, and the development of learning resources. Today is a free art fun festival which incorporates, music lessons, art activities, storytelling and more. The event is free and open to all. For more information of the day's programme visit this website.

Monday 9th August- Festival Brazil

Artists, graphic novelists, musicians, and social scientists are coming together to offer a range of debates, talks, performances and exhibitions to celebrate the diversity and splendour of Brazil. Festival Brazil is brought together by HSBC, the Southbank Centre and London's Brazilian community. 'The festival is a contemporary snapshot of a nation's diverse culture in a vibrant growing economy with some fierce social problems. The Festival reflects what the country is thinking and talking about today'. Take a look at this fantastic video about the Festival and get involved in the free events and activities throughout the summer. The Festival runs until the 5th of September. For more information visit this website.




Tuesday 10th August- The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

The Museum of Fulham Palace is currently hosting an exposition which documents the story of the Japan- British 1910 exhibition which took place in White City. The exhibition at the time was used to help strengthen the political and economic relations between the two countries. The exhibition on included gardens, temples, tea houses, and water features built by Japanese designers and workmen which ended up making visitors feel like they were in Japan itself. The exposition is free to all and open during the museum's opening hours.

Wednesday 11th August- Rude Britania

What part does visual comedy play in the depiction and creation of British culture? Running until the 5th September at the Tate Britain is an exhibtion entitled: Rude Britania: British Comic Art in London Tate Britain. The exhibition analyses how artists have used humour in various mediums and the wider role visual humour plays in British culture. The exhibition includes drawings, films, photography and sculpture and has a special section devoted to rude humour such as saucy seaside postcard by Donald McGill and works by Sarah Luca, and Aubrey Beardsley. Tickets are £10.00 or £8.50 concession.




Thursday 12th August- Discover the Power of the Akan Drum

The Akan drum is one of the objects featured in the BBC series a History of the World in 100 objects. The drum is the oldest African-American object in the British Museum brought from West Africa to the Colony of Virginia as part of the slave trade around 1735. 'Akan' refers to an ethnic and linguistic group from West Africa which includes the Fante, Asante and Akuapem, and its culture is most apparent today is Ghana. Today marks the opening of a display which follows the journey of the drum relating its story from the transatlantic slave trade to its influence on African-American music. The Akan Drum display is open and free to all in Room 3 at the British Museum and runs until the 10th of October.





Friday 13th August- Edinburgh International Festival

Today marks the beginning of the Edinburgh International Festival. Founded in 1947, the Festival grew after the Second World War with the aim of providing 'a platform for the flowering of the human spirit'. Every year the festival transforms the city with the best classical music, theatre, dance and visual art from around the world. Find out more about ticket prices and the programme through this website.




Saturday 14th August- The Invisibles

Leah Gordon is a photographer, film-maker and curator who has been involved in various projects documenting life in Haiti. Her current exhibition at the Riflemaker is called 'The Invisibles'. Leah Gordon describes being drawn to the boundaries between art, religion and anthropology. "These borderlands have a historical, and often uncomfortable, relationship with photography. A suspicion that photography has observed and policed, but never taken part. Photography has rarely been embraced as a form of representation by religions. It is as if photography, with it's indelible relationship to the material, could only serve to disprove the divine, Although when one reflects on its alchemical past it seems rooted in magical process". Find out more about the exhibition through this website.



Sunday 29th August - Notting Hill Carnival

Over the next two days Notting Hill will be converted into a Caribbean festival of food, fun, colour, costumes and wonderful parades. The carnival takes place every August and has now become Europe's largest street festival. The festival is free and includes three miles of food stalls with jerk chicken being a popular favourite and music from steel bands, calypso, soca and of course the amazing parades where children and adults from communities with cultural ties to South America, Africa and Caribbean join in to dance and sing in their beautiful costumes along Notting Hill's streets. To find out more about this year's festival visit this website.




Monday 30th August- Booking Ahead for Wales Anthropology Day

Many of you who were not able to come to this year's London Anthropology Day will be happy to know that there is a sister event happening on the 16th of September in Wales. Every year the University of Wales Lampeter organises a free university taster day of anthropological workshops and films aimed at Year 12, 13, FE students and teachers. To find out more and book your free place visit this website.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES:

Exploring identity in Latin America

Peter Wade's Book 'Race and Ethnicity in Latin America' has now been updated and the second edition will soon be released on September 13th 2010. Bringing the analysis up to date, the second edition of the book looks at the ways in which racial and ethnic systems of classification have developed and work currently in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala. The discussion focuses particularly on African-descended and Native American groups. Race and ethnicity as analytical concepts are re-examined in order to assess their usefulness. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in learning about identity in Latin America.

London Anthropology Day 2010 Photos now Online!

The London Anthropology Day 2010 is a university taster day for Year 12,13 and FE students, career advisors and teachers. Organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute's Education Programme in collaboration with the British Museum and participating universities the event was held on 8th July. This year's event included 18 universities from England, Ireland and Wales and over 350 participants making it the largest London Anthropology Day to date. Take a look at the this year's photos along with other anthropological events on this website.

Diary for June 2010

TUESDAY 8th JUNE-Call for Films!

Aspekty is a yearly festival of visual anthropology which takes place in Poland and which aims to show the various relationships between phenomena, human interaction and diversity within and amongst cultures through the visual medium. The festival is currently looking for ethnographic or documentary films to be submitted. Films that are submitted must have been completed after 2005. For more information and to download a submission form, visit http://aspektyfestival.pl/en



WEDNESDAY 9th JUNE- The Human Costs of Black Gold

The Environment, Politics & Development Research Group of King's College London will host its Annual Lecture today at Kings College London. Professor Michael Watts (University of California, Berkley) will be delivering a lecture entitled the Permanent Frontier: A Political Ecology of Insurgency. Over the last decade Professor Watt's research activities have focused on the political ecology of oil in West Africa, his most recent book is 'The Curse of the Black Gold: Fifty Years of Oil in the Niger Delta' . The lecture will take place in the Geography Department of Kings College, Room S-2.08 2nd basement, Strand Building, Strand Campus. The lecture will begin at 5:30pm. The event is free and all are welcome. To book your place email: delphine.pejchert@kcl.ac.uk



THURSDAY 10th JUNE-Object-Image-Memory

Today marks the fist day of a three part seminar organised by the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Oxford Academy of Documentary Film aimed at people over 65 who are interested to learn about digital film cameras and would like to capture some of their memories on film. For more information and to book a place you can pick up a form at the information desk or email: alison@oadf.co.uk





THURSDAY 10th JUNE- SKIN

Today marks the first day of the Welcome Collection's exhibition on skin. Skin is the largest organ on the human body, but it wasn't studied as an organ in its own right until the 20th century. The Welcome exhibition looks at the history of skin through medical drawings, paintings and anatomical models. Participants are able to handle skin-flap models used in plastic surgery and try on latex suits. A series of events and a tattoo contest form part of the exhibition. The exhibition is free. Everyone welcome. For more information visit this website.




FRIDAY 11th JUNE- The Morality of Giving and Receiving

Today from 10:30am-12:3pm at LSE's Seligman Library A607 (Old Building), Professor Katy Gardner (University of Sussex) will be giving a lecture entitlted: The Oil Company, 'Partnership' and the morality of giving and receiving. Since 2008 Katy has been working on a project funded by ESRC/Dfid on Mining, Livelihoods and Social Networks in Bangladesh. This has involved returning to her original fieldwork village in Bangladesh, where a multinational company is currently mining natural gas. The project investigates the relationships between transnational migration, global capitalism and resistance, plus multinational policies and practices of 'Corporate Social Responsibility'.





FRIDAY 11th JUNE- Shifting Sands Musical Performance

The Shifting Sands project is a new British Council initiative that aims to explore the musical roots of the United Kingdom and the Middle East as part of an ongoing creative collaboration. Tonight there will be two free performances held at the Southbank Centre from 6pm-8:45pm. Artists include Andy Mellon, Brendan Kelly and Pete Flood from Bellowhead, UK folk's rising star Sam Carter, Middle Eastern music specialist Giles Lewin and one of Scotland's most innovative musicians, Corrina Hewat. For more information visit this website.











FRIDAY 11th JUNE- Human Rights and Visual Culture

The Birkbeck Institute for Social Reserach & Birkbeck Institute for Humanities have come together to provide an event where scholars, campaigners and practitioners can share ideas and experience on the role of visual media in the formation of human rights politics and practices. The event is in collaboration with the Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practice . It takes place in at Birkbeck in Room B04 from 10:00-5:00pm and is free and open to all. Registration by email is essential. To book your place email Julia Eisner at j.eisner@bbk.ac.uk










SATURDAY12th JUNE- A Day to Learn About Music

Following on from Friday's Shifting Sands concert, is a full day workshop aimed at advanced musicians (aged 16 and over) with an interest in traditional music of all cultures. The day will involve a talk about different music instruments and traditions, followed by a practical workshop session, and as a finale the groups get to perform together in front of 2000 people on the Meltdown band stage in the Southbank Clore Ballroom. For more information and to book your free place email: shiftingsands@southbankcentre.co.uk





MONDAY 14th JUNE- Recycling Textile Technologies

Today at UCL there will be a full day interdisciplinary workshop (9:30am-5pm) exploring the relationships between people and things, raw materials and technologies and the rise of entrepreneurs and innovators in different social contexts. The workshop brings together the work and experience of geographers, anthropologists, historians, designers, waste consultants and consumer researchers. Admission (including refreshments and lunch) is £25 waged and £18 unwaged or student. To book your place email Julie Botticello at ucsajbo@ucl.ac.uk




TUESDAY 15th JUNE- The Creative City after the Crash

Today at the Manchester Museum there will be a CRESC seminar looking at the arts scene and urban cultures of Manchester. An interdisciplinary range of scholars, local policy actors and leading representatives of the arts in the city, will speak about how they envisage the future of cutting edge culture and creativity in the new age of austerity and budget cuts. For more information visit this website. Participation fees are £15, concession £5. To reserve your place email: cresc@manchester.ac.uk




THURSDAY 17th June- The Quest for Perfect Skin

'Since the 17th century, a multimillion-pound industry has developed that feeds on our aesthetic concerns about skin'. As part of its new exhibition on the history of research and visual depictions of skin, the Welcome Trust is hosting a series of lectures. Tonight's lecture will be delivered by Stefania Crowther. She will be speaking about the roots of the cosmetic industry and how it affects individual relationships with health, comparing early modern skincare preparations with today's practices. The talk will be held at the Welcome Collection. Tickets are free and open to everyone. Tickets are given on a first come first serve basis and can be collected from the information desk from 4:30pm onwards on the day.




FRIDAY 18th June-Ecstatic Flow

A new exhibition called Ecstatic Flow is on display at the October Gallery in London. The exhibition shows the magnificent artwork of Algerian artisti Rachid Koraïchi . Koraïchi's work is heavily influenced by his Sufi upbringing and is infused with the ethos and symbolism of Sufi mysticism and numerology. Koraïchi's works include a wide variety of media such as: ceramics, textiles, poetry, calligraphy, and paint. The exhibition is particularly concerned with the Islamic concept of Safar (travel and transcendence), the installation traces the journey of medieval Muslim traveller Jalal Al Din Al Rumi across the Mediterranean to meet the Sufi mystic and poet Ibn El Arabi. The exhibition runs until the 18th of July. For more information and booking details, visit this website.







FRIDAY 18th JUNE- Religion in Amazonia

Today from 10:30am-12:3pm at LSE's Seligman Library A607 (Old Building), Professor Mark Harris (University of St. Andrews) will be talking about local religion in Eighteenth-century Brazilian Amazonia. Harris has been conducting research with peasant river dwellers in the Brazilian Amazon since 1992. He has also conducted archival research on the region, focusing on the origins of a massive rebellion in the 1830s.






SATURDAY 19th JUNE- Refuge in Films

Refuge in Films is a group of young people some of whom are refugees and migrants from around the world who come together t0 make documentaries about their lives and experiences. This year's festival will be held at the BFI. Over three days from 11:00am onwards, short films ranging from bike projects for asylum seekers in the UK, to rebuilding communities in Ethiopia after 2007. Visit this website for a detailed programme of the festival. Ticket prices can be found on the BFI website.




FRIDAY 25th JUNE- Suicide in an Indian Town

Today from 10:30am-12:3pm at LSE's Seligman Library A607 (Old Building) Professor Jonathan Parry will be giving a talk on suicide in an Indian steel town. Professor Parry has been doing fieldwork on industrial workers in the central Indian steel town of Bhilai (in the Chhattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh) which was built on a "green field" site with Soviet collaboration and technology in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The public sector Bhilai Steel Plant is now one of the largest steel plants in Asia, and has served as a magnet for a great deal of private sector industrial development. Part of the fieldwork has focused on on shopfloor organisation, but much of it has been conducted in the ex-villages-cum-labour colonies in which the workers have their homes.




SATURDAY 26th JUNE- Treasures from Trash

Today is the first day of an exhibition at Croydon Clocktower which explores how 'trash' is recycled around the world to make everyday objects. Communities around the world are using their creativity to create eco-products such as hats made out of pop cans, tyre buckets transformed into toys, and stoves made into handbags. These treasures are supporting groups of artists around the world and providing them with an new source of income. The exhibtion is free and open to everyone.













SATURDAY 26th JUNE- Okinawa Day

Today in Spitalfields, from 11:00-7:00pm there will be a celebration of Okinawan culture, music, art, dancing and food. The event is free and everyone is welcome. Take a look at photos and videos from last year's festival on this website.







Monday 28th JUNE- Culture Evolves

As part of this year's See Further:Festival of Science and Arts the Royal Society is hosting a free two day interdisciplinary conference called Culture Evolves aimed at academics/students interested in cultural evolution. 'The capacity of culture is a product of biological evolution-yet culture itself can also evolve, generating cultural phylogenies. The workshop will address new discoveries and controversies illuminating these phenomena, from the roots of culture in the animal kingdom to human, cultural evolutionary trees and the cognitive adaptations shaping our special cultural nature. The event is free but registration is essential. For conference details and registration visit this website.



ONGOING:

Anthropologist Carla Stang has recently published a wonderful accessible ethnography called 'A Walk to the River in Amazonia' . The ethnography follows the everyday realities of the Mehinaku Indians, an Amazonian people by observing various aspects of their experience and by relating how these different facets come to play in a stream of ordinary consciousness, a walk to the river. In this way, abstract schemata such as ‘cosmology,’ ‘sociality,’ ‘gender,’ and the ‘everyday’ are understood as they are actually lived.