Ben Burbridge, Lecturer in Art History, drew on his recent research on photography and political activism to co-curate Brighton Photo Biennial 2012, Agents of Change: Photography and the Politics of Space. The Biennial brought international photographers and artists to Brighton as part of an ambitious programme of exhibitions, commissions, talks, screenings, and workshops.
Several BPB events took place on the University of Sussex campus, including the exhibition, Critical Image Cairo, the main Biennial symposium, and a talk by artist Ronnie Close. Numerous Sussex students became involved with BPB12 as volunteers and through its widening participation programme. Details of the complete Biennial programme can be found on the BPB12 website (www.bpb.org.uk).
The Biennial received a lot of media attention, including pieces in:
- The Independent - A world divided: Brighton Photo Biennial gets to grips with poverty, protest and politics
- The Guardian - Political squatting: an arresting art
- Brighton’s Argus - Brighton Photo Biennial
- South East Today - Brighton Photo Biennial 2012
- You can hear Dr. Burbridge talk about efforts to engage with the locale during an interview on Radio Reverb: (interview at 24.25)
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