NEWS FROM NOWHERE
“News from Nowhere” is a group exhibition for Refugee Week curated by award winning artist, Dr Gil Mualem-Doron and produced by the Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS). The “Nowhere” from which the exhibition’s “news” arrives is not William Morris’ utopian country but the dystopian places no one would like to find themselves in: from the Mediterranean’s abyss, to the Palestinian occupied territories, from countries still persecuting LGBTQ+ people to countries where xenophobia and racism are still tolerated.
June 2021.
'Professor Ferreira said:
“The terrible challenges that LGBTIQ+ refugees face around the world - including in the UK and across Europe - are finally increasingly visible and going up on policy-makers' agendas. There is still much work to be done, however, especially to ensure we have the necessary evidence basis and political environment to allow activists, NGOs, lawyers, decision-makers and MPs to step up their actions in this field. This exhibition contributes to raising awareness on this matter, by showcasing some of the materials, findings and recommendations we produced in our project. '
'Walking through Brighton’s North Laine, if you look into one of the windows of the new LGBTQ+ Ledward Centre on Jubilee Street you’ll be confronted with Boris Johnson’s face staring out from the bum of Leonardo de Vinci’s drawing of The Proportions of the Human Body According to Vitruvius.'
'We are mightily impressed by Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) in Brighton. They have an amazing #SanctuartyinArts event at the end of the month as well as an open call for artists with lived experience of seeking sanctuary to their Creative Therapy Spaces.'
THE FACE OF THE OTHER
This exhibition starts with an invitation - an invitation to face an Other without seeing. To welcome an Other without knowing. Because the face of the Other always hides. It is a mask that conceals the irreducible difference or Otherness.
Featuring photography, illustration and collage, the works in this exhibition deal with degrees of visibility. These works highlight social and political issues and yet others question the politics of visibility itself.
May 2021.
'Curator Gil Mualem-Doron says: “In liberal democracies, visibility or representation and inclusion stand together. Making something or someone(s) visible is an important act in political and social struggles, especially for LGBTQ+ communities. Visibility is directly linked to representation and political power and to the right to protest.'
THE SHADOW PANDEMIC
In March, SEAS launched 'The Shadow Pandemic', an exhibition of the sixteen shortlisted posters designed to raise awareness of domestic abuse during Covid-19. It was shown at the BMECP, Brighton and the Jubilee Library.
'Spokeswoman Charlotte Graham-Spouge said: “The Shadow Pandemic—this is how domestic abuse has been described by the UN in the face of the dramatic rise in domestic violence as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and the lockdowns.'
QUEERING SPACES
'Queering Spaces' was a group exhibition, curated by Gil Mualem-Doron, founder of SEAS, as part of LGBTQ+ month. in February 2021. The LGBT community and its most vulnerable members have been hit hard by the Covid19 crisis. In many ways, the pandemic has brought back the trauma of the AIDS crisis, and has promoted discussions about the importance of safe spaces when, for some, 'Stay at home and stay safe’ is not a viable option and, at times, even a contradiction.
February 2021.
We were lucky enough to have BBC South East interview Founder Gil Mualem-Doron, Zine extraordinaire Erin James and The Ledward Centre Director Duncan Lustig Prean.
'Brighton Exhibition celebrates LGBT+ History Month'
'Duncan Lustig-Prean, director at the Ledward Centre, said he was “thrilled” to be hosting the exhibition. “The arts have a long history of highlighting injustice and the need for change. Our collaboration with SEAS is really thrilling, driving forward our ambition to promote the astounding contribution of LGBTQ arts and culture make to our city and beyond.”'
'How lockdown has hit the LGBTQ+ community - new exhibition'
'COVID-19 has also drawn uncomfortable parallels with the AIDS pandemic. “There is some anger that during this pandemic a vaccination has been produced within eight months and with AIDS there is still no vaccination,” says Gil. “We are talking about millions of people who have died. We are all glad that we are getting the vaccination but think how many lives could have been saved if the reaction from government and the public had been the same at the start of the AIDS crisis."'
'Queering Spaces is the first of SEAS’ exhibitions in the up-and-coming Brighton LGBTQ+ venue, The Ledward Centre, which is named after the late editor of Gscene (now Scene), James Ledward.'
'Art: SEAS launching ‘Queering Spaces’ exhibition 13 Feb'
THE FORCE OF FANTASY
Taking Judith Butler’s essay ‘The Force of Fantasy: Feminism, Mapplethorpe, and Discursive Excess’ as a starting point, this exhibition proposes that fantasy is a powerful tool to not only imagine alternative futures but to manifest them by looking beyond convention.
The Force of Fantasy will enter the extraordinary as a means to open up dialogues about gender, race, class, and critique our pervasive social hierarchy. Are you prepared to look beyond convention with us?
March 2021.
'Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) is to present The Force of Fantasy, a new online exhibition'
'‘The Force of Fantasy’ is a group exhibition curated by Ricardo Reverón Blanco'
'‘The Force of Fantasy’ is a group exhibition curated by Ricardo Reverón Blanco'
GASLIGHTING
'GASLIGHTING' is a group art exhibition showcasing the work of artists who have had direct experience of domestic abuse. The result is a selection of personal work on this theme that includes photography, film, animation, performance, poetry and painting. Each artist's perspective is unique, and the creative strategies used vary—some projects are on-going, some are part of a trilogy of expression, others are one-offs—yet the role of abusive power and control in the domestic context is central and is shared.
January 2021
Miranda Gavin and Ellen Noble speaking to the BBC about 'Gaslighting'
'Miranda Gavin explains: “The exhibition’s title Gaslighting refers to a form of emotional abuse that can lead a person to question their sanity."'
SEAS’ work concentrates on socially and politically engaged practices and themes, especially in relation to issues of social and racial justice, migration & refugees, disability and LGBTQ+ communities.