Research podcasts

In this episode, we talk about the relationship between architecture and energy and how architectural history can reveal new perspectives on buildings,  energy use and climate disaster. Listen to all episodes.

In this episode, we discussed the role played by architecture and the built environment in relation to political protest movements. Whether at the Battle of Cable Street, Chartist demonstrations in the 19th century, protests against racist police violence in the 1980s or Extinction Rebellion, protests always take place in specific architectural environments that shape and determine the course of political action, however, we often underestimate the agency of these protest movements in shaping the built environment through their actions. Listen to all episodes.

In this episode, we talk about spaces for leisure and socialising. The pandemic has radically altered our experience of public spaces for socialising. Now we are out of lockdown and spaces for nightlife and indoor socialising are open again, they have taken on new meanings and significance. So we wanted to look at how spaces for leisure and socialising have always been shaped by the cultural values, social norms and fashions of a time. Listen to all episodes.

In this episode, we discussed the connection between Architecture and Faith, by talking to three historians, writers and heritage professionals about new approaches to considering the history of buildings used by communities of faith. Religious architecture has always been central to architectural history because human societies have always been inspired to build beautiful and high-status buildings as part of their religious practices. However, in this conversation we addressed new ways of talking about religious architecture: examining what they might have meant to the communities that built them, exploring the avenues for adaptation and retention of religious buildings in a changing society and talking about how marginalised communities have created spaces for religious worship. Listen to all episodes.

In the first episode of the series Anna Fox and Maria Kapajeva introduce the project Fast Forward: Women in Photography looking at how the project started in 2014 and how it has developed since then. They discuss the ideas behind the creation of the Fast Forward Manifesto, which can be joined by organisations and individuals from all over the world.

Can the Fast Forward Manifesto change the world making it more diverse and representative? Anna Fox and Maria Kapajeva talk to different professionals in photography about their take on the points outlined in the Manifesto. How can we be sure the changes, suggested in the Manifesto, will be implemented in the future? The guests, Jean Wainwright, Karen Knorr and Hannah Starkey are sharing their personal experiences of working in the photography world and their opinions on how vital it is to include women’s stories in historical and contemporary conversations about photography. Aldeide Delgado shares the story of Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA): how and why it was founded and what can we learn from each other’s experiences.

In this episode, Anna Fox and Maria Kapajeva continue the conversation about the Fast Forward Manifesto and how institutions and independent curators work on making the world of photography more inclusive and diverse. They have included in this conversation the Director of The Photographers’ Gallery in London, Brett Rogers, the Director of Impressions Gallery, Bradford, Anne McNeil and artist and independent curator Sunil Gupta.

In the next three episodes Anna Fox and Maria Kapajeva introduce their recent project Putting Ourselves in The Picture, which was run collaboratively with 5 partner organisations in London, Bradford, Edinburgh and online. The project was set to work with three groups of marginalised women, who are refugees and migrants, to teach them photographic skills, to increase their confidence and to give them an opportunity to share their stories and through this process educate us all. In this episode we are getting inside information about the process of the workshops and the participants’ impressions of their experience at National Galleries of Scotland and at Impressions Gallery.

In this episode, Anna and Maria continue to talk about the processes, challenges and results of the year-long project Putting Ourselves in The Picture with groups of refugee and migrant women at different locations in the UK. This episode is focused on the conversation with Natasha Caruana, the founder Work Show Grow online school, about how and why Work Show Grow was founded, the nature of the school and the special workshops and activity set up for the participants.

In the final episode, Anna and Maria continue to discuss the processes, challenges and results of the year-long project Putting Ourselves in The Picture with groups of refugee and migrant women at different locations in the UK. This episode focuses on the challenges and successes we have experienced, and learned from, through this project in conversation with Bindi Vora (Autograph), Sam Hudson (Women for Refugee Women) and Aida Silvestri (Artist Educator).