The afternoon will start with poetry performances by a spoken word artist, Laila Sumpton. Her poetry uses imagery and lyricism to tell stories about identity and human rights.
Later, the audience will be invited to share their thoughts in a closing discussion between Counterpoints Arts, Pi Artworks London, Ana Čvorović and Laila Sumpton.
Focusing on displacement and the intersecting themes of hope, home and trauma,Borders Unfold is based on extensive research conducted by Čvorović in 2019 whilst at a residency at Sculpture Space, Utica, New York. The project was funded by Arts Council England.
Laila Sumpton studied English literature at the University of St Andrews and Human Rights at the University of London. She is a member of the Keats House Poetry Forum, a collective of London based poets supported by Keats House in Hampstead who work on poetry projects. She co-edited 'In Protest- 150 poems for human rights', a unique anthology of global poetry collated by the Keats House Poets and the University of London's Human Rights Consortium.
Laila performs her poetry and organises events and workshops at universites, festivals, heritage sites and various NGOs- using poetry and the arts to campaign for human rights and bring people together. She is putting together her first pamphlet and has been documenting the memories of war survivors in Bosnia, as well as working on poems that explore refugee and indigenous rights.
Ana Čvorović: b. 1981, Sarajevo, lives and works in London. Čvorović moved to the UK with her family in 1989, fleeing the impending civil war in former Yugoslavia. A student at Chelsea College of Art, Brighton University and the Royal College of Art, Čvorović's installation-based work considers the role of borders and boundaries and the psychological effects of war and migration.
In 2017 Čvorović was shortlisted for the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award and in 2018 she became the recipient of the a-n Artist Bursary Award. Her work has been exhibited internationally and across the UK including Pi Artworks, Collyer Bristow, Backlit Gallery, Maddox Arts, Ben Uri and The Koppel Project, as well as specially curated sections of Art15 and Ch.ACO art fair, selected by Kathleen Soriano and Cecilia Fajardo-Hill. In 2018 she participated in the 'Who Are We' project in association with Counterpoints Arts at Tate Exchange.
Counterpoints Arts is a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. Their mission is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognised and welcomed within British arts, history and culture.
Central to Counterpoints Arts' mission is their belief that arts can inspire social change and enhance inclusion & cultural integration of refugees & migrants. They work across all art forms and collaborate with a range of people and partners, including artists, arts/cultural and educational organisations and civil society activists.
Pi Artworks is a contemporary art gallery based in London and Istanbul. Artists it represents include: Nancy Atakan, Fatma Bucak, Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, Ana Čvorović, Osman Dinç, Ipek Duben, Nezaket Ekiçi, Parastou Forouhar, Matt Golden / Golden Family, Susan Hefuna, Mustafa Hulusi, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Maude Maris, Fahrettin Örenli, Iz Öztat, Selma Parlour, Nejat Sati, Paul Schwer, Gulay Semercioglu, Kemal Seyhan, Mehmet Ali Uysal and Yusa Yalcintas.