Coming soon: The Illustration Forum

Over Thursday and Friday this week, the annual Falmouth Illustration Forum will screen live events, including workshops and Q&As from a host of renowned speakers across various industries. Following last year’s focus on the climate emergency, this year the theme turns to the processes of repair.

The forum will have a strong interdisciplinary focus, with sculptors, fine artists and illustrators joined by environmental lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin. Together they’ll discuss the entangled processes of repair involved in their various practices, examining repair within the context of race, colonialism, ecology, trauma and more. 

Mat Osmond, Senior Lecturer in MA Illustration: Authorial Practice, believes that examining the artistic sphere through the lenses of multiple practitioners adds depth to the discussions. “Bringing people who operate outside of the arts into this conversation allows us to frame a discussion around repair in a more diverse manner. Their perspectives can contextualise our artistic outputs in new exciting ways.” 

The programme will include talks from Amberlee Green, who will examine repair from the perspective of a mental health and education practitioner, and acclaimed artist Hew Locke, who’ll discuss repair as evolution. Hew has been working with public monuments and questions how artists can respond to the presiding history of empire.

Several alumni are also involved in the speaker programme. Mat was pleased to see former Falmouth students returning at particularly timely moments in their careers. “I’m really delighted that Molly Martin is joining us to speak on the day that her book, The Art of Repair, is launching. It’s a wonderful coincidence, as it gives attendees a cutting-edge perspective on this year’s theme.

“Artist and teacher Emma Burleigh is also joining us with a powerful graphic memoir dealing with trauma, loss and recovery, that she developed on Falmouth's MA Illustration: Authorial Practice course five years ago. She’ll be talking about that, as well as running a painting workshop for the subconscious.”

The current crop of Falmouth students have also contributed to the event, playing a role in its curation and contributing artwork to a collective Repair zine, which has been published by Landfill Editions and can be found via the Illustration Forum event page. The visual identity for this year's forum was also designed by MA Illustration: Authorial Practice students Georgia Bailey, Hannah Nielsen and Rosie Hearne.

The Illustration Forum is open to all. If you’re interested in exploring the range of talks available at this year’s Illustration Forum, you’re encouraged to attend an introduction to the event, which will take place on Thursday 4 March at 5pm.

Explore the full programme