Contakt Collective

Group project part of the Spatial Biopolitics module (2020) in the MA Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In April 2020, my classmates and I founded a research collective within the Visual Cultures Department by the name of Contakt Collective aimed to explore manifestations of contact and social space in a time of human capital and social distance.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we set up the Instagram account @contaktcollective, which we treated as a quarantine diary where we shared our thoughts and perspectives from across the globe.

After numerous Zoom meetings and email correspondence with a number of guest speakers, the project culminated in a day of two live panel discussions streamed on our YouTube channel on May 20th, 2020.

A week later, we published our research booklet containing our manifesto, series of essays, Instagram posts, and highlights from the live event.

Radical Care in the Pandemic

1.30-2.30pm (BST)

Contakt Collective members Kelly Rappleye and Pelumi Odubanjo will be in live discussion with Safiya Robinson (founder of Sisterwoman Vegan), Begüm Başdaş (geographer & refugee rights advocate), and Christine Pungong (artist & researcher), touching on subjects of care in the pandemic.

Imagining a New Art World

5-6pm (BST)

Contakt Collective members Cristina Ricci, Ece Ates, and Hanna Ballon will be moderating a discussion on how the pandemic has affected galleries and will explore different ways of displaying art with Wade Wallerstein (digital anthropologist & curator), Emily Smith (Gallery Manager at Maximillian William), and Nora Nord (visual artist).