The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network brings together ECRs across the humanities and social sciences disciplines, regardless of their funding source or background.

Please note this is an in person event for ECRs from Scotland Cluster only

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The British Academy is delighted to invite Scotland Cluster ECRs to the Edinburgh International Book Festival for the British Academy event Marina Warner: Looking at Art, the Art of Looking followed by an exclusive Reception for members of the British Academy Early Carly Career Research Network members.

In this conversation with Olivia Bright, award-winning cultural historian, critic, and novelist Professor Dame Marina Warner FBA discusses what art is and who it is for – a topic explored in her compelling book Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art & Artists.

The BA ECRN Reception offers a wonderful opportunity for Scotland Cluster ECRs to connect with each other, Scotland-based Fellows of the British Academy, and Scotland Cluster partners and consortium members. This reception is our way of celebrating you, Scotland ECRs. The Scotland Cluster has recently surpassed the milestone of 1000 members and continues to grow. This achievement is as much yours as it is ours.

The reception will be held in Research Café style, featuring 10-minute presentations by some of the ECRs. The sessions will be chaired by Alex Lewis, Director of Research at the British Academy. The reception will include both facilitated and informal networking, with Marina Warner in attendance.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Programme

15:00-15:30 Arrival and Registration

You will need to pick up your ticket for Marina Warner's: Looking at Art, the Art of Looking. Details for collection will follow. Please read event reminders carefully as we will be including some information there.

15:30-16:30 Marina Warner: Looking at Art, the Art of Looking at EFI Spiegeltent.

16:30-18:30 BA ECRN Reception at the Lookout

Presentations: 

Amanda (Mindy) Ptolomey, Glasgow Caledonian University: Addressing Inequalities Through Creativity and Care 

Reflecting on my experiences of developing culturally responsive approaches to research, I will share insights on developing research methods which prioritise creative self-expression, including zine-making, quilting, and visible mending. Thinking forward, I suggest that creative and caring approaches must be central in all research aiming to address the most persistent inequalities facing our societies. I will end by proposing ideas toward developing sustainable research cultures in partnership with the people in our communities who are most often ignored. 

Bio: Based across Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow, Dr Mindy (Amanda) Ptolomey works through and beyond a range of disciplines to develop research with and for oppressed communities. Mindy’s award-winning doctoral research innovated zine-making as research method with disabled girls, and she now leads research projects employing creative and inclusive methods for transformation. This work is supported by funders including the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Mindy can be found on X @amandasays

Niina Turtola, Edinburgh Napier University: Writing of a concrete poem: from a typewriter to digital screen

In her current research Niina Turtola is looking at two sounds and languages, namely the English word ‘Air’ and its Finnish translation ‘Ilma’. The 21-meter-long and 57mm wide artist book uses Letter Gothic typeface in an attempt to depict an unknown story of the words that unfolded while writing, typing. As the electronic typewriter fails to work normally, the writing starts to become a visual narrative on its own and the paper becomes a theatre stage for the individual characters in Turtola's concrete poem where ordinary syntax is never to be found. Then, as the book is scanned electronically to the computer, pages start to move and story unfolds in the mind. Words fly from page to another. Turtola asks in her research: How does the page sound like? How do the words taste, feel, look, resonate? What does the world look like on a page? What does the page say about the world? Turtola's research is based on this experimental piece of writing/typing/designing where one typeface in one size creates sound on paper, on a single page layout. 

Bio: Niina Turtola is a Finnish graphic designer, text artist and language-based artistic researcher based in Edinburgh. Turtola pushes the boundaries of typographic expression beyond the syntax and semantic meanings. She has her own fictive Ministry of Truth and Typography under which she has created ways for typography to reach audiences in creative, critical and socially interactive ways. Turtola is a lecturer of graphic design at the Edinburgh Napier University. She defended her artistic doctorate and PhD in typographic estrangement in 2021 from the University of Lapland. She is a member of Society for Artistic Research, Language-based artistic research subgroup, among other things. Turtola has exhibited and published internationally, academically and artistically. Turtola has her feet in three different continents/countries. 

Ramesh Gupta, University of the West of Scotland: The place of, and need for, traditional epic poetry

Think back to your childhood ... the world was a place of wonder and even the rainiest day fulfilled your dreams of adventure. Think of bedtimes when, snuggled between your parents with your favourite soft toy in your tight embrace, you listened to tales of pirates’ treasure and gallant knights rescuing fair maidens from fire-breathing dragons and of nonsensical Father William and his ridiculous antics. A plethora of other poems will spring to mind transporting you to times when the slow, soft rhythm and rhymes of life made you feel secure, knowing good would always prevail over bad. The power of story-telling through epic poetry may not quite be lost but it does seem to have faded. Consider Seamus Heaney’s translation of “Beowulf” and the great epics, "The Mahabharata" and "The Ramayana" and how they have enriched our lives. Isn’t it time for a return to good, old-fashioned, epic poetry?

Bio: Ramesh Gupta is a creative writer whose efforts to date have focused primarily on promoting a return to traditional story-telling through the medium of epic poetry. He believes in the power of the written word to entertain, instruct, heal and unite disparate communities in the spirit of co-operative, peaceful, co-habitation. He is the author of traditionally published epic poetry. He is working on a long-term project detailing the life of the man, he believes, has most influenced human understanding and development for the better.

Thank you for your interest. We understand that plans may change. If you sign up and can no longer attend let us know by emailing ecr_network@thebritishacademy.ac.uk and your ticket can be offered to someone else

The Network can reimburse travel expenses for ECRs to attend this event if required. For more details please consult our travel and expenses procedure form on the Resources section of the Online Community Platform, or email ecr_network@thebritishacademy.ac.uk.

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