Panel Discussion: The Politics and Poetics of Attention

with Emmanuel Awuni, Anj Smith and Molly Case, chaired by Lynne Segal

at the Fitzrovia Chapel

23 January 2025
Roberts Institute of Art

Part of In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World

Doors at 6.30pm
Panel Discussion 7pm to 8pm
Booking Essential

What does it mean to pay attention — in art, nursing and daily life? How do experiences of grief, joy and death shape the ways we attend to the world and others?

Join acclaimed academic and activist Lynne Segal as she chairs a discussion exploring these questions with In Attendance exhibition artists Emmanuel Awuni and Anj Smith, and poet, author and practicing NHS nurse Molly Case.

Together, they will delve into how attention informs their practices, drawing on Simone Weil’s concept of attention and examining the connections between art, care, activism and philosophy. This is an opportunity to explore the profound ways attention can shape our lives and work.

This is one of three events taking place alongside the exhibition. You can also join us for an Evening of Music with Violinist Angharad Davies (30 January) and an In Conversation with Rachel Kneebone and Marina Warner (7 February).

Book Here
Roberts Institute of Art

Lynne Segal (b. 1944, Sydney, Australia) is Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College. Her books include Is the Future Female? Troubled Thoughts on Contemporary Feminism; Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men; and Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure. She co-wrote Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism with Sheila Rowbotham and Hilary Wainwright.

Roberts Institute of Art

Emmanuel Awuni (b. 1993, Accra, Ghana) lives and works in London, UK. Awuni received his MA from The Royal Academy of Arts in 2022, and BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University of London, 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include I Know why the Caged Bird Sings, Copperfield, London (2023); walk, Pipeline Contemporary, London (2022); Lamps, Sundy, London (2022); and Hammer, Harlesden High Street Gallery, London (2021). Awuni has participated in numerous group exhibitions, at venues such as Kunst Museum Solingen, Germany (2023); Copperfield, London (2023); Public Gallery, London (2023); PM/AM, London (2022); Nir Altman, Munich (2022); Royal Academy of the Arts, London (2021); Sadie Coles HQ, London (2021); and Harlesden High Street Gallery, London (2020). In 2024 Awuni was artist-in-residence with the the Roberts Institute of Art and his work is also part of the the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.

Roberts Institute of Art

Anj Smith (b. 1978, Kent, UK) lives and works in London. Smith studied at Slade School of Fine Art and at Goldsmiths College in London. She has exhibited at institutions around the world, including Museo Stefano Bardini, Florence, Italy; The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK; Mostyn, Llandudno, UK; Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland; Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK; Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville TN, and La Maison Rouge, Paris, France. Smith’s work is also displayed in the collections of many leading international museums including The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; MOCA The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA; the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, London, and the Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland.

Roberts Institute of Art

Molly Case is a spoken word artist, writer and nurse born and brought up in South London. She currently works at St George's Hospital, London as a palliative and end of life care nurse specialist. In April 2013 she achieved national recognition after performing her poem 'Nursing the Nation' at the Royal College of Nursing. Molly has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, Elle magazine and Huffington Post, and was named in the Health Service Journal's Inspirational Women list and the BBC's 100 Women list.

In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World

In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World at the Fitzrovia Chapel (8 January–9 February 2025) asks us to reimagine the idea of attention as a practice tied to compassion, curiosity and care. Curated by the Roberts Institute of Art, the exhibition presents a selection of paintings, sculptures and video by UK and international contemporary artists from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, including Etel Adnan, Phyllida Barlow, Miriam Cahn and Paula Rego.

Fitzrovia Chapel

The Fitzrovia Chapel, a Grade II* listed building and design of noted architect John Loughborough Pearson, is the chapel for the former Middlesex Hospital. Built in 1891 as a place of sanctuary, prayer and reflection for patients, their families and doctors and nurses, the chapel remains a space to celebrate cultural and life events, explore history, see an exhibition and to take a step out of the bustle of city life into the calm of its marble walls. It has more than 40 different types of marble and hundreds of stars in its gold-mosaic ceiling.

When the hospital was closed in 2005, the chapel was saved from demolition because of its listed status. It reopened in 2016 as a charity (the Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation) with one of its remits being for the promotion of culture and history for the community. The chapel runs its own cultural programme and is partnering with creative wellbeing charity Hospital Rooms for a show in spring 2025. The chapel is also hired by artists and galleries. These include the Stephen Friedman Gallery, TJ Boulting and Richard Ingleby Gallery.

Opening times:
Daily 11 am to 6 pm (closed Monday)
Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm
Free admission

www.fitzroviachapel.org
@fitzroviachapel

In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World

at the Fitzrovia Chapel

Roberts Institute of Art

In Conversation

with Rachel Kneebone and Marina Warner

at the Fitzrovia Chapel

Roberts Institute of Art

An Evening of Music
with Violinist Angharad Davies
at the Fitzrovia Chapel

Roberts Institute of Art

Emmanuel Awuni

Roberts Institute of Art