Conference Review
12 November 2007
Ruffled Feathers: Birds, Culture and Conservation
Summary Abstract
Ruffled Feathers was a day-long symposium intended to explore common ground between artists, ornithologists, environmentalists, anthropologists and cultural historians. It took place against the backdrop of Henrik Håkansson’s exhibition at Kettle’s Yard on November 12, 2007. Using the exhibition as a starting point for discussion, the symposium brought together a wide range of speakers to present and unpack the interconnections between the subjects of birds, conservation and culture. Over 50 delegates from within and without the university took part in the event. They included representatives from the Royal Society Arts and Ecology programme, the British Antarctic Survey, writers, artists and curators, and scientists working in the fields of conservation, research and activism. Ruffled Feathers was organised by Kettle’s Yard and BirdLife International with the support of CRASSH. Conference Review
In planning the Ruffled Feathers symposium, our aims were to mark out and explore common ground for discussion amongst the different audiences we had identified for Henrik Håkansson’s exhibition. We used the exhibition to highlight themes of common interest across disciplines as a way of drawing in new audiences for both the arts and sciences.
We wanted to examine the ways in which a commitment to conservation, an interest in scientific modes of observation and communication, and contemporary artistic practice could operate synergistically across communities.
We wanted to bring together people interested in contemporary art practice and those with a general or specialist interest in birds and conservation – groups who don’t normally have an opportunity to meet and exchange thought in such an environment.
The symposium programme was divided into three parts that each focused on different aspects of our cultural engagement with birds and bird conservation issues. “Second Nature: instinct and culture” invited delegates to dive straight into the issues with three intersecting presentations from an anthropologist (Dr Andrew Whitehouse), the artist Marcus Coates, and Dr Leon Bennun, Director of Science, Policy and Information at BirdLife International. The second session, entitled “Intervention and Responsibility,” contrasted presentations from Clive Adams, Founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World in Exeter, and Tony Juniper, (then) Executive Director of Friends of the Earth. “Different Lenses: observation, documentation and interpretation” was the title of the third session in which Helen McDonald, author and Fellow of Jesus College, and Stuart Butchart (Global Species Programme Co-ordinator, BirdLife International) explored the legacies and lessons of historical narratives associated with contemporary conservation priorities. Unfortunately artist Jamie Shovlin was unable to present his work as part of this final session due to illness. Despite this, delegates found they had more than enough material to stimulate thought and discussion, which was lively and urgent. The sessions were ably chaired by Helen McDonald and John Fanshawe (Head of Strategic Development at BirdLife International), and the event wound up with a special screening of Hitchcock’s “The Birds” at the Arts Picture House.
Taking place in the context of Henrik Håkansson’s exhibition at Kettle’s Yard, Ruffled Feathers provided a catalyst for engagement with the issues raised by the artist and highlighted possibilities for cross-fertilization and communication beyond individual specialisms. All the feedback we received from delegates and speakers was very positive. A number of delegates observed that the symposium had revealed a community defined by its passion and energy focused (through birds) on pressing environmental issues. Several important discussions revolved around the ways in which the public relationship to the natural world is regularly and rigorously manipulated and dispelled by competing corporate and political interests. Discussion also covered different ways in which the arts can also be activist – and the ethical implications of artistic intervention, the dangers of aestheticising issues and increasing a sense of distance rather than bringing them into focus.
No publication is planned and there is no documentation of the symposium. The collaboration between Kettle’s Yard and BirdLife International was especially rewarding for both organisations and cemented an understanding that promised to bear more fruit in future.
Meanwhile, Kettle’s Yard continues to develop the interdisciplinary strand in our programme through further symposia, exhibitions, and our first Interdisciplinary Fellowship, currently held by Barry Phipps (also a Fellow of Churchill College).
