{"id":60951,"date":"2023-06-07T14:08:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.modernartoxford.org.uk\/cms\/?p=60951"},"modified":"2025-01-29T10:14:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T10:14:46","slug":"voices-human-rights-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.modernartoxford.org.uk\/cms\/voices-human-rights-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices: A creative investigation into Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How can an artwork investigate the future of our human rights?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2023, artists and Oxford Brookes MFA students Laura Campbell and Lilli Tranborg set about instigating a creative public conversation about the UK Human Rights Act. Their resulting project Voices<\/em> invites us to reflect on our own rights in light of the current political uncertainty of the Human Rights Act in Britain. In her account of the project, Laura Campbell explores the importance of prioritising public voices for this process-based work, providing a fascinating template for anyone looking to conduct experimental creative research. Voices<\/em> was presented by Modern Art Oxford as part of the Oxford Human Rights Festival<\/a> (17 \u2013 26 March 2023).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Developed from conversations discussing the recent proposals suggested by the UK government to revise the Human Rights Act, Lilli Tranborg and I decided it would be necessary to explore what the government’s potential revision of the Human Rights Act could mean for UK Citizens. This questioning led to developing the Voices <\/em>creative research project in collaboration with Modern Art Oxford, and the Oxford Human Rights Festival 2023 in response to the festival\u2019s theme \u2018Now What.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Handwritten
Voices<\/em> research by Lilli Tranborg and Laura Campbell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had often found ourselves asking the question of \u2018Now What?\u2019 during the early research stages of Voices<\/em>, particularly in response to the revision of the Human Right Act and its potential social, political, economic, and environmental changes which could impact every UK citizen. After investigating the current 16 Rights, Freedoms and Prohibitions of the 1998 Human Rights Act, we had our own opinions on what could be included within a revised Act, and we were interested to know the opinions of others too. This curiosity led to expanding our thoughts into a creative research project. Our aim was to discuss this revision while providing the audience with the opportunity to participate by sharing their voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"The
Voices <\/em>response card, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Data Collection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We worked closely with Modern Art Oxford to create some participatory question cards which featured the statements of the \u2018Freedom To\u2019, the \u2018Right To\u2019 and the \u2018Prevention Of\u2019, offering the audience space to share their voices. The data collected was mostly gained from the gallery’s MAO Late Artist Exchange event (16 February 2023), brought together by artist and facilitator Deborah Pill. Deborah gave us the opportunity to introduce the Voices <\/em>creative research project to a live audience and discuss the audience\u2019s thoughts on the government\u2019s revision of the act. This also facilitated the space for audience participation, as we collected many varied answers from different demographics, receiving personal insight into what they thought would be significant additions to a revised Human Rights Act. We encouraged the participants to hang the feedback forms onto the gallery wall in the Caf\u00e9 at Modern Art Oxford, gradually accumulating a series of collective voices, presented in unison, speaking to a relevant current political and social discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Wall
Voices<\/em> at MAO Late event (Modern Art Oxford, Feb 2023). Photo by Lilli Tranborg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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