This You Must Remember - dissemination of film installation output and future partnerships in the Balkans Region

This project supports 1) partnership building for pathways to impact and 2) public engagement activity and film screenings. Both relate to the film project This You Must Remember (TYMR), which is commissioned as a major multi-channel installation exhibition at the Cultural Centre of Belgrade (KCB), Serbia in December 2022. TYMR explores post-conflict trauma in the de facto state of Abkhazia. It is part of an on-going body of research concerned with the psychological impact of photomedia addressing conditions such as climate change, mass displacement and war; what cultural theorist Rob Nixon terms ‘slow violence, and I term suspended trauma, the effects of a continuous retelling of dramatic/traumatic events through shared narratives. The research underpins a larger body of work with outputs receiving an AHRC Research in Film Award (2018) and AHRC Network Grant (2022) - New Models of Practice in Post-conflict situations. This work is highlighted in the School's Research Delivery Plan for REF2028. Both TYMR and the grant are in partnership with Abkhaz cultural producer Asida Butba, founder of the SKLAD Cultural Space. SKLAD works locally and internationally to 'open up' this isolated region through cultural exchange and art language. Serbia and the Balkans have a recent history of civil conflict that draws parallels with Abkhazia. The programme at KCB is committed to critical dialogue in this arena and are already developing the partners named later in this proposal. Within this context, there is considerable opportunity to broaden the reach and impact of the research.