Join us on Thursday 28th August for Imagining Resistance, a workshop with artist and educator Becky Warnock. 

Part of our Art/Work Association programme, Imagining Resistance is a workshop that builds on a three-year research project led by Professor Kristi Langhoff (University of Sussex), Dr. Camille Warrington (University of Bedfordshire), and visual artist Becky Warnock. The project explores how young people across the UK, who have experienced sexual violence and exploitation, understand and relate to the concept of resistance.

Resistance is a term loaded with complexity. While often linked to defiance against oppression, when applied to young people, it can carry negative connotations, framing them as resistant to support or engagement in ways that may limit their agency.

In this workshop, Becky will screen a collaboratively produced film from the project, reflecting the experiences and perspectives of the young people involved. Together, you will discuss how this nuanced understanding of resistance can inform the practice of socially engaged artists and practitioners, and how resistance, often viewed through the lens of adversity, also offers a critical framework for art and social change. Participants will experiment with performance strategies, using resistance as a tool for creativity, empowerment, and social engagement within artistic practice.

To book, please register here or email info@artworkassociation.org

Becky Warnock is an artist and educator based in London. Her work is collaborative and research-based, often including participatory workshops that use photography and other mediums to initiate dialogue. Working across photography, film and performance, her practice is developed through relationship-building and meaningful engagement. This building of relationships informs both the process and the form the work takes. 

With a background in community engagement and support work, Becky’s practice is engaged with the ethics and structures of care and collective experience. Her work is often situated within mental health and trauma discourse, moving outwards from active grief using creative processes as tools to articulate complex and layered conversations. Becky is particularly interested in connection and inter-dependency, and the somatic processing that occurs when bodies come together in moments of reciprocity. 

At the centre of her practice is a deep interest in listening; creating projects that platform people and stories that often go unheard, and developing spaces which prioritise conversation and dialogue. Listening is a radical practice which is the basis of social change, fostering empathy and moments of connection.