Multi-media artist to give Swarthmore Lecture
Chris Alton to deliver Swarthmore Lecture
The Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre has announced that the artist Chris Alton has been chosen to give the 2018 Swarthmore Lecture.
Chris Alton will deliver a multi-media talk using music, media and visuals on ‘Changing ourselves, changing the world’ at the annual gathering of Friends on 5 May at Friends House, London. Topics to be discussed include how art can be an act of witness, and how he seeks to challenge people and create change through his art.
Terry Oakley, clerk of the Swarthmore Lecture Committee, said: ‘The committee is really excited that Chris will be giving this year’s lecture and sharing with Quakers how he witnesses to his faith through his art. Chris gives testimony to his Quakerism through his art, which speaks an important message to the Quaker community and beyond.’
Chris Alton, a life-long Quaker and activist, was highlighted by the London Evening Standard in 2017 as one of ten young British artists to look out for, stating that ‘his ability to make protest fun while rendering his targets ridiculous means he may be the artist we need right now’.
His best-known work is ‘English Disco Lovers’, a ‘multifaceted protest movement’ that sought to reclaim the acronym EDL from the English Defence League. A book to accompany the Swarthmore Lecture will be available later in the year.
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