Ethics and Care in Organising: Reflections on Developing a Panel Discussion on Art and Academic Censorship – The Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools

In this paper, leaders of Contemporary Art and Social Transformation (CAST) research group in collaboration with the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) collective, both based at RMIT University School of Art, discuss the process of programming an event and panel discussion addressing recent instances of art and academic censorship. Organising the event was ethically and logistically complex, revealing tensions which the organising team had to work through carefully and slowly. As organisers, we found ourselves reflecting on how best to be effective and responsible in a deeply politicised context that was putting people who spoke out in support of Palestine at risk. We had to ask ourselves questions such as: How can we hold space for diverse voices without reproducing extractive processes that shirk responsibility and accountability to challenge institutional silence on to BIPOC? How might we find the ‘right’ balance of speakers whilst caring for BIPOC speakers who are often overworked, burnt out and disproportionately bearing the risks of speaking up about Palestine and censorship? The hidden administrative labour of organising socially and politically urgent events is rarely visible to those who attend, yet it is in this behind-the-scenes labour that ethics can be actively enacted. We would like to share insights gained from this event and the challenges and tensions we experienced organising the panel.

About the author

Dr Laresa Kosloff is a white settler of Russian, Scottish and Irish descent; a practising artist and a senior lecturer in the School of Art at RMIT University. She makes performative videos, short films, audio works and participatory artworks. Laresa currently co-leads IDEA Collective, a group of students and staff who work together to improve inclusivity, diversity, equity and access issues within the school. Outside of academia, Laresa is involved in grassroots activism, including direct action for climate, mutual aid initiatives and social justice advocacy.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo (Thao) is a Vietnamese-Australian artist, educator, and researcher based in Naarm. She teaches in the Art History and Theory program and is the Deputy Lead of CAST research group. She is currently completing a practice-led PhD which examines how creative practice can notice, understand, and ultimately challenge systemic and institutional Whiteness.

Dr Amy Spiers is a queer, white settler artist and senior researcher of Scottish, English and European Jewish descent artist and senior researcher based at RMIT University’s School of Art in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). She is a current recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), undertaking a three-year research project exploring settler artists’ roles and responsibilities in the collective work of truth-listening and upholding First Peoples’ sovereignty. She is leader of CAST research group.

Isabella Capezio is a queer white settler of Italian descent living and working on unceded Wurudjeri Country. Isabella is a lecturer in photography at RMIT University and the co-lead of IDEA within the School of Art. Isabella’s art practice and research explore ideas of failure, queerness, the environment and how alternative and expanded forms of photography can unsettle existing colonising forms of representation.