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Since 2006 ULIP has adopted the strategy of examining French and Spanish North Africa as an object of study. The rationale for this is to use ULIP's physical location in Paris as a bridgehead for researchers in North Africa and Europe. ULIP has recently recruited staff with the appropriate research profiles. These staff members have already been involved in public debates organized by ULIP in North Africa and the aim is to develop a generation of researchers who can move ULIP's strategy in this field forward.
Andrew Hussey's research has focused since 2002 on the relation between France, Spain and North Africa. As an essayist, broadcaster and public speaker, Hussey has communicated this research far beyond academic audiences to reach a general public in Europe and North Africa. His work has made a major contribution to debates about the cultural and political history of North Africa. A significant dimension to such impact has been its influence on the broadcast and print media in France, the UK and North Africa.
The research examined the causes, events and public memory of the violent repression of a peaceful, pro-independence demonstration of 40,000 Algerians in Paris (17 October 1961). Initially covered up, these events resurfaced to become one of the most controversial episodes in Franco-Algerian history, formally recognized by the French state in 2012. This project's key impacts have been on civil society and public discourse in France and Algeria, changing and increasing both public understanding and visibility of the massacre. Further important impacts were enhancing inter-ethnic and inter-generational understanding and citizenship, by providing social knowledge to campaigning groups, as well as enabling former demonstrators to speak publicly.
Research at Durham University led to an exhibition of contemporary visual art at Cornerhouse Gallery (Manchester) from April to June 2011 exploring the relationship between France and Algeria. New Cartographies: Algeria-France-UK enhanced the understanding of a non-specialist UK audience about a relationship which is historically important for both countries and central to contemporary geopolitics. It helped Cornerhouse pursue its visual arts strategy, and brought economic benefits to the gallery and the wider region by attracting a large audience. It provided the exhibiting artists with opportunities for creative and professional development by commissioning new work or showing work in the UK for the first time. The refusal of an entry visa for one of the Algerian artists became part of a political issue concerning UK immigration policy debated in the House of Lords.
Tamar Garb's curation of two thematically linked exhibition projects at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and a series of shows at the Walther Collection, along with related activities and publications, raised awareness of contemporary photography in southern Africa; brought African photographic history and related political/aesthetic issues to the attention of scholars and publics; impacted exhibition programming, acquisitions policies and educational activities of a museum and private collection; created new audiences for contemporary African and South African lens-based work; and offered cultural enrichment to a wide public audience.
Caroline Rooney's `Radical Distrust' research has generated policy advice for government officials, stimulated and informed public debate through international cultural activism and media channels of international reach, and launched trust-building initiatives to counter the effects of sectarian conflict in the Middle East. `Radical Distrust' anticipated the Arab Spring, serving to enhance the visibility and significance of the pro-democracy momentum linked to the arts in the period just prior to the uprisings. The programme generated data of historical importance for this key moment, and brought the cultural self-analyses of regional intellectuals to new audiences. It has been and continues to be a catalyst for multiple audiences in coming to terms with a new Middle East in the making.
`Picasso Peace and Freedom' was presented at Tate Liverpool, Albertina and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 2010-11. This major exhibition, curated by Professor Lynda Morris and Dr Christoph Grunenberg, presented a reassessment of the impact of Picasso's politics on his paintings, drawings and sculptures, challenging what has been seen as the artist's lack of engagement with serious politics. 711,905 people visited the three exhibitions, gaining new views of the artist's political engagements with major international developments of the twentieth century and with leaders of countries that remain centres of tension today. As an example of the economic impact of the research, the exhibition brought direct visitor spend of almost £5 million to the city of Liverpool, in which it was initially presented.
In contrast to many European countries, public performance of music in languages other than English is still rare in the UK. French specialist Peter Hawkins has been researching and teaching the genre of chanson as a key element of French popular culture for most of his career. His research has fed into a regular series of public engagement activities over the past decade and beyond, including public performances of French chanson at a variety of venues. In a set of concerts given in spring 2013, Hawkins performed his own English translations of French chansons by the sometimes controversial Monegasque writer Léo Ferré, who is exceptionally well-known in France but much less so in the UK. The aim was to bring this particular type of musical poetry to a non-French-speaking audience. Feedback from the various audiences shows that some 70% feel that singing French chanson in English was a success and significantly extended and enhanced their cultural experience.
Work undertaken by the Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) at the University of the Arts London (UAL) focuses on the role of identity and nation in the production and consumption of artwork and artefacts. This has resulted in an increased awareness and critical understanding of transnational art and design, to the benefit of the Museums and Galleries sector, arts organisations, and the artistic community.
The University of Southampton has carried out a programme of research into transnational networks of migrants, especially musicians from African countries, and multicultural neighbourhoods across Europe. This has resulted in a series of popular multi-national arts events in Africa and Europe, involving artists numbering in the hundreds and audiences in the hundreds of thousands. These events have generated new independent cultural projects, leading to economic benefit for organisers and participants and to greater public awareness of migrant and mixed community issues.
Professor Andrew Hussey's research focuses on extremist tendencies in French 20th-Century Literature, from Céline, Bataille, Houellebecq to the Situationists, the Lettrists, and their interrelation with Anglo-American Counter-Cultures. As an essayist, broadcaster and public speaker, Hussey communicates this research far beyond academic audiences to reach a general public through his engagement with French culture and its relation to the English-speaking world. His work has led to debate about the contemporary significance of French language and culture in the 21st century. A significant dimension to such impact has been its influence on the broadcast and print media, as evidenced in the range of broadcast, internet and print media where this research has been disseminated.
Other members of staff have also been involved in this activity — most notably Dr Anna-Louise Milne whose research focuses on the French avant-gardes and expatriate writing in Paris. Milne has been involved in disseminating her research in the French broadcast media and schools in the Paris region.