Nothing gentle will remain has developed within a continually shifting context of seismic global events: the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism, sparked by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among countless others. These crises have called into question our notion of collective gathering, turning it from a naively utopian intention, to something seemingly impossible, to a necessity in order to demand real and significant change. Our intention to imagine collective futures and take up space has become a reality, something that thousands of people are doing right now, despite the many threats and dangers of claiming public space at this time. We have grappled with how to address these questions ourselves; our artists have done so, both in their contributions and their actions outside of the project. As the project progresses to its next phase, we will continue to speculate on what collective gathering means in 2020 and beyond. For now, we direct you to these CAUSES AND RESOURCES ↷
Originally conceived as a series of newly commissioned performances, workshops and screenings to take place across multiple sites on Margate’s seafront in May 2020, the project now takes the form of a publication that combines research material and artist commissions. The publication is designed by Lotte Lara Schröder and developed online by An Endless Supply. It will be available in print at A LATER DATE → with proceeds donated towards aforementioned causes and resources.
Nothing gentle will remain is a collaboration between Lydia Antoniou, Caterina Guadagno, Nora Kovacs, Titus Nouwens and William Rees, in partnership with Open School East as part of the Curating Contemporary Art Programme Graduate Projects 2020, Royal College of Art, London.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The curators would like to thank all of the contributors; everyone at Open School East: Anna Colin for her ongoing commitment and critical engagement, Ayaan Bulale, Louis Palfrey and Eni Timi-Biu for welcoming us at Open School East and supporting us in realising our project; the 2019 Associates and Young Associates with Laura Owen; CAConrad for inspiring our title and giving us their permission to borrow it; Ian Dickie for sharing stories and archival footage of Margate; Jessica Jordan-Wrench, Emma Gibson, Lou Lou Sainsbury, Well Projects, Sara Trillo and Flora Parrott for narrating to us stories that soon became precious to our project; Amy Redmond and Matthew de Pulford for introducing aspects of Thanet that were unknown to us; Jo Murray for her efforts to help us find locations for our programme and Thanet Indoor Bowls Club and Tom Thumb Theatre for offering their spaces. Finally, we would like to thank RCA Curating Contemporary Art staff, especially Kelly Large, for their ongoing support.
© Nothing gentle will remain, Royal College of Art and the Artists, 2020. All rights reserved. ↷