Contested culture as change-maker: The collaborative approach to displaying the toppled statue of Edward Colston (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S., & Barnett, R. (2022, May). Contested culture as change-maker: The collaborative approach to displaying the toppled statue of Edward Colston. Presented at Museum & Heritage Show 2022, The Olympia, London

The toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol in June 2020 made international headlines. Professor Shawn Sobers of the UWE Bristol and ‘We are Bristol History Commission’, and Ray Barnett Head of Collections & Archives at Bristol Museums,... Read More about Contested culture as change-maker: The collaborative approach to displaying the toppled statue of Edward Colston.

Between the Ears: The Emperor and the Pianola (2022)
Digital Artefact
Sobers, S. (2022). Between the Ears: The Emperor and the Pianola. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015ds7]

Short description: In this captivating Between the Ears, Professor Shawn Sobers uncovers the fascinating story of Emperor Haile Selassie I and his pianola as told through the music of the time, (based on Sobers' original research). Long descrip... Read More about Between the Ears: The Emperor and the Pianola.

The Colston Statue: What Next? ‘We are Bristol’ History Commission - Full Report (2022)
Report
Cole, T., Burch-Brown, J., Sobers, S., Burton, E., Tinknell, E., Costley, N., & Poole, S. (2022). The Colston Statue: What Next? ‘We are Bristol’ History Commission - Full Report. Bristol: Bristol City Council

In the summer of 2021, the ‘We are Bristol’ History Commission consulted with the public about the future of the Colston statue and the Colston plinth. People had a chance to see the statue and learn about its history in a temporary display at the M... Read More about The Colston Statue: What Next? ‘We are Bristol’ History Commission - Full Report.

The Colston Statue: What next? ‘We are Bristol’ History commission - Visual short report (2022)
Report
Cole, T., Birch-Brown, J., Sobers, S., Tinknell, E., Poole, S., Burton, E., & Costley, N. (2022). The Colston Statue: What next? ‘We are Bristol’ History commission - Visual short report. Bristol: Bristol City Council

This version of the report contains images and presents the findings of the research in an accessable format. In the summer of 2021, the ‘We are Bristol’ History Commission consulted with the public about the future of the Colston statue and the C... Read More about The Colston Statue: What next? ‘We are Bristol’ History commission - Visual short report.

The future of visual anthropology in the wake of Black Lives Matter: A dialogue among Shawn Sobers, Deborah Thomas and Sireita Mullings (2021)
Journal Article
Mullings, S., Sobers, S., & Thomas, D. (2021). The future of visual anthropology in the wake of Black Lives Matter: A dialogue among Shawn Sobers, Deborah Thomas and Sireita Mullings. Visual Anthropology Review, 37(2), 401-421. https://doi.org/10.1111/var.12253

As a discipline, anthropology has long been subject to the scrutiny of critical race theorists and to questions of ethical practice with regard to ethnicity and representation. This dialogue features critical Black visual anthropologists discussing t... Read More about The future of visual anthropology in the wake of Black Lives Matter: A dialogue among Shawn Sobers, Deborah Thomas and Sireita Mullings.

'Don't Wander Off' and other rules to ignore (2021)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2021). 'Don't Wander Off' and other rules to ignore. In Key Work. Bristol: Besides Press

This article explores the complexities of navigating the city as a photographer during the period of the covid pandemic lockdowns. The article is a response to Chris Hoare's photobook Keywork, in which he took photographs around Bristol during lockdo... Read More about 'Don't Wander Off' and other rules to ignore.

Which of us photographs? (2021)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2021). Which of us photographs?. In Cohort. Frome: Cohort

How will future historians interpret how the 2020/2021 lockdowns impacted photographic aesthetics? Such a study would likely be done best by scholars who are not yet even born. Practitioners and scholars of today are too close to the moment to be abl... Read More about Which of us photographs?.

A Call For A Black Bristol Filmmakers Archive (2019)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S. (2019, November). A Call For A Black Bristol Filmmakers Archive. Presented at Afrika Eye Festival 2019, Watershed, Bristol

In this introduction to the Sudanese documentary film 'Talking About Trees', Sobers brings the storyline to a Bristol context. He charts Bristol's own history of professional Black filmmakers, and argues that making films alone is no longer enough.... Read More about A Call For A Black Bristol Filmmakers Archive.

The politics and myth of the Untold Story: From personal liberatory practice to decolonial discourse (2019)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S. (2019, November). The politics and myth of the Untold Story: From personal liberatory practice to decolonial discourse. Paper presented at Decolonial methodologies: Arts, Politics, Europe, Body-politics Research Unit, Aarhus University, Denmark

This talk will discussed a journey in creative practice and deconstructing motivations of making - from the personal to the political and the blurs inbetween. Sobers discussed modes of using creative culture to challenge to the colonial centre, and e... Read More about The politics and myth of the Untold Story: From personal liberatory practice to decolonial discourse.

TEDx - Ethiopian Echoes in the Bath landscape, and three lessons those echoes can teach us. (2019)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S. (2019, September). TEDx - Ethiopian Echoes in the Bath landscape, and three lessons those echoes can teach us. Presented at TEDx Bath 2019 - Echoes of the City, Holborne Museum, Bath

This TEDx talk discussed how the history of the Ethiopian connection with the city of Bath can shed light on how we live today. The talk addressed three key lessons; 1) You can find sanctity in unexpected places 2) The need for calmness in times... Read More about TEDx - Ethiopian Echoes in the Bath landscape, and three lessons those echoes can teach us..

Democratising a decolonised functional and cultural heritage space (2019)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S. (2019, September). Democratising a decolonised functional and cultural heritage space. Paper presented at CKC 2019: Rethinking, Resisting and Reimagining the Creative City Conference, Watershed, Bristol

This presentation discussed how Fairfield House in Bath, the former residence of Emperor Haile Selassie, could be considered a decolonised space - predominantly Black led, catering for predominantly (though not solely) Black audiences. Sobers discu... Read More about Democratising a decolonised functional and cultural heritage space.

When the Prophet was angry with the Emperor: On Marcus Garvey's critique of Haile Selassie I, and the aligned legacy of both their logic (2019)
Presentation / Conference
Sobers, S. (2019, August). When the Prophet was angry with the Emperor: On Marcus Garvey's critique of Haile Selassie I, and the aligned legacy of both their logic. Presented at Do you Remember? Commemoration for Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Kuumba Centre, Bristol

Discussing the challenging moment in 1937 when Marcus Mosiah Garvey strongly criticised Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie for moving to Bath in the UK, to rally for support for Ethiopia's liberation from Mussolini's fascist invasion. Garvey attacked t... Read More about When the Prophet was angry with the Emperor: On Marcus Garvey's critique of Haile Selassie I, and the aligned legacy of both their logic.