A conversation about sculpture and place with Huma Bhabha

On the opening day of Yorkshire Sculpture International, world-renowned artist Huma Bhabha discussed her work, influences and major new commission for the centre of Wakefield, with Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Director of Programme, Clare Lilley.

Working almost entirely in figurative sculpture, Bhabha’s approach is unconventional and cross-cultural, making connections between histories, languages and civilisations.

The conversation provided a starting point for a wider discussion about sculpture and place, chaired by University of Leeds Associate Professor Dr Joanne Crawford. Panellists from a wide range of backgrounds considered ‘who is sculpture for?’, ‘what role does it play in society?’ and ‘where and how it is located?’

Speaker information

Joanne Crawford

Academic and Lecturer, Joanne Crawford’s expertise revolves around French and American abstract art of the 1950s (specifically Rothko, Michaux and Wols), exploring how notions of death, as philosophical concept embedded within structures of aesthetics, informed production and subsequent ‘readings’ of abstract art. Her research primarily centres on mid-20th century French and American abstract painting, drawing and sculpture (including art by Rothko, Michaux and Wols). Her work examines how notions of death, as philosophical concept embedded within the complex structures of the aesthetic, informed the production and ‘readings’ of such art by art historians and philosophers alike.

Martin Zebracki

Martin Zebracki is Associate Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leeds. He has published widely at the crossroads of public art practice, sexuality, citizenship, digital culture, and processes of social inclusion and exclusion in journals such as Progress in Human Geography, Urban Studies, and Social & Cultural Geography. He is the joint author of The Everyday Practice of Public Art: Art, Space, and Social Inclusion(Routledge, 2016) and Public Art Encounters: Art, Space and Identity (Routledge, 2017) and is currently preparing a monograph on digitally mediated public art (to be published by Routledge). Zebracki is an Editorial Board Member of Public Art Dialogue. Moreover, he is the Principal Investigator of the multi-site research project Queer Memorials: International Comparative Perspectives on Sexual Diversity and Social Inclusivity http://www.queermemorials.org, supported by an award from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Stella Butler

Stella Butler has been University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection Since April 2011. Stella Butler is Chair of the Designation Panel of Arts Council England. She was Chair of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) between 2013 and 2015. Stella Butler has a PhD in the history of science and maintains research interests in the development of medicine in the nineteenth and twentieth century. She has written on the development of hospital services in Manchester, the history of professional training and the history of microscopy.

Justin Lunn

Justin is a design focused architect with over 25 years of experience in the construction industry. He has led design teams in a variety of building projects in the private and public sector, winning awards for his work in the process. Since joining the University in 2010, Justin has concentrated on applying his professional expertise to teaching on the Architectural Engineering programme. While at Carey Jones Architects, Justin worked on a range of commercial office and residential projects, winning design awards for Burley Mill and No.1 Dock St in Leeds. Justin’s interest in the detailed technical as well as artistic elements of design were important contributors to his success. Justin’s other activities include helping community groups with design issues, including local schools and a cohousing scheme. He also acts as the unofficial design consultant to the School of Civil Engineering.

This event was part of the Sculpture in the Round Conversations series organised by University of Leeds and Yorkshire Sculpture International.