In partnership with Cardiff Metropolitan University, Artes Mundi presents the fifth episode of our At the table series with artist Meiro Koizumi.

The At the table series brings together the voices of the six Artes Mundi 9 shortlisted artists alongside those of international curators, artists, historians, thinkers and writers in a series of roundtable discussions centred on themes and ideas present in their work and the interwoven relationship between histories and practices, locally to internationally. The penultimate of six episodes in the At the table series presents artist Meiro Koizumi in conversation with Zoe Butt, Artistic Director of the Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City; comparative sociologist and historian, Abu-Bakr Madden Al-Shabazz; and Evie Manning, co-Artistic Director of Common Wealth theatre company. Imagining we are sat around a table sharing a meal and exchanging ideas, this event is a chance to hear different concerns and perspectives while getting to know the artist and their work.

Meiro Koizumi (b 1976, Japan; lives and works in Yokohama) has held solo shows in major institutions such as EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam; MoMA, New York; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Tate Modern, London; De Hallen, Haarlem; Art Space, Sydney and Kadist Art Foundation, Paris. His work has also been included in major group exhibitions, including at the 5th Aichi Triennale; 9th Asia Pacific Triennal; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; 6th Liverpool Biennial; 14th Sharjah Biennal; MSGSU Tophane-i Amire Culture; Arts Center, Istanbul; Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev and Shanghai MOCA, amongst many others. Recently he was included in the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Art Scope residency programme in 2018. Meiro Koizumi is represented by Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam and Mujin-to Production in Tokyo.

Zoe Butt is a curator and writer based in Vietnam. She is currently Artistic Director of the Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s first purpose-built space for contemporary art. Her curatorial practice centres on building critically thinking and historically conscious artistic communities, fostering dialogue among countries of the global south. Her curatorial projects include interdisciplinary dialogue platforms such as Conscious Realities (2013-2016); the online exhibition Embedded South(s) (2016); and group exhibitions of Vietnamese and international artists at various international venues. She is a member of the Asian Art Council for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and in 2015 was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

Abu-Bakr Madden Al-Shabazz is an Education Consultant, Comparative Sociologist and World Historian in the Black and African experience from prehistory to the contemporary. He has successfully run a Black History Studies programme at Cardiff University for nine years and is now a Visiting Senior Fellow Lecturer for the Cardiff School of Social Sciences in Race & Education. He has worked with several cultural organisations over the past 10 years such as: The National Museum of Wales, Gentle Radical, Peak Cymru, and What’s Next, in the areas of cultural diversity with special focus on Colonisation, Black Literature, Cultural Democracy, Empire and Industrial Wales and its connection to The Caribbean and North America during slavery.

Evie Manning is Co-Artistic Director of Common Wealth, an award-winning theatre company making site-specific theatre events that encompass electronic sound, new writing, visual design and verbatim. Common Wealth are based in Bradford and Cardiff and tour productions across the UK and internationally. As Common Wealth director, her credits include: The Deal Versus The People (West Yorkshire Playhouse), No Guts, No Heart, No Glory, (Scotsman Fringe First Award / Live From TVC with BBC4), and Our Glass House (Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award). As a freelancer, Evie has collaborated and made work with The Royal Exchange, Battersea Arts Centre, Freedom Studios, Tamasha, Chris Goode and Company, Transform Festival and Southbank Centre. She was the recipient of the BBC Performing Arts Fellowship in 2015.