Without Brutality: 25 Years of the Art and Design Research Centre – Professor Esther Johnson curates Sheffield Doc/Fest film programme

Composite image of DocFest logo and details with still from Welcome to Sheffield Polytechnic 1969, courtesy of Esther Johnson

‘Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.’ – John Ruskin

2018 sees the 25th anniversaries of both Doc/Fest and the Art and Design Research Centre (ADRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.

Without Brutality consists of films by students and staff of the university, from 1969 to 1993, when the art school was integrated into Sheffield Hallam University and the Art and Design Research Centre was formed. 2018 also marks the 175th anniversary of the Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA) at Hallam. SIA has roots traced back to 1843 when the Sheffield School of Design was founded.

Featured filmmakers: Barry Callaghan, Nick Cope, Jim Curran, Paddy Eason, Sven Harding, Martin Harris, Paul Haywood, Richard Hines, Jackie Jones, Zac Nicholson, David Rea, and Joakim Sundström.

The screening will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A with: Aileen Burgess, Richard Hines, Jackie Jones, and David Rea.

Curated by Esther Johnson, Professor of Film and Media Arts in ADRC. 
With special thanks to: Alex Glen Wilson (SHU PhD candidate), Mark Albrow (SHU Head Projectionist), and to Richard Bradley (The Special Collection) and Steve Sharp (SHU Library) for assisting with access to original 16mm film prints and U-matic tapes for new digital transfers.

Without Brutality: 25 Years of the Art and Design Research Centre with filmmaker Q&A
Bertha DocHouse Showroom Cinema 4
Showroom Cinema, Sheffield S1 2BX
Thursday 07 June 2018, 12PM
See here for more information, and download the flyer.

Without Brutality is kindly supported by the Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Institute of Arts, and The Special Collection at Sheffield Hallam University.

Read more here about Esther’s appearance on the Live Scores and Archive panel at the Live Cinema Summit at this year’s Doc/Fest.

Esther Johnson works at the intersection of artist moving image and documentary. Her poetic portraits focus on marginal worlds, revealing resonant stories that may otherwise remain hidden or ignored. Work has been exhibited internationally in 40 countries, and has also featured on television and radio. In 2012 Johnson won the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Performing and Visual Arts for young scholars. She is a Professor of Film & Media Art at Sheffield Hallam University. Find out more about Esther’s work here.