We are Here: Filmmaker Chris Ivey on documenting under-served communities and gentrification in Pittsburgh

Screening and talk

Edward Street 105

Tuesday 21st May

16:30-18:00

No booking necessary.

Chris Ivey (hyperboyfilms.com/@hyperboymedia) is an award-winning filmmaker who started his career in the Pittsburgh advertising industry, then ventured into documentary filmmaking to address his own frustrations with racism and public policy in Pittsburgh and to serve as a conduit for its underserved black community. Chris is known internationally for his documentary series East of Liberty, which focuses on race, class and gentrification fears. Currently, Chris is completing his new film East of Liberty: Youth Rising, a film that interweaves the experiences of youth in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Through the film, we hear from students first-hand about their own journeys and experiences involving teen pregnancy, gang-related activities and discussions focusing on their own futures.

Chris believes that media is an indispensable tool for reaching teens and that it is crucial for African-Americans to control the impact of media in their communities. Through the creative use of film, we can transform a culture engulfed in self-destructive media and create alternative visions that can lead black youth to success. He has produced video work for major clients including the Smithsonian Institute and the Ellen Show, and created a museum installation called “We Are Here: Finding Beauty In The Raw” that opened at the Mattress Factory Museum in May 2018. The exhibition tackles the history of racism through segregation and apartheid in the United States and South Africa. He is also a big supporter of every kid lemonade stand he sees and loves a good churrascaria.

Photo of Chris Ivey by Huny

Chris Ivey, Black Girl Magic, from We Are Here: Finding Beauty in the Raw (The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, 2018)

حذف اکانت تلگرام

This two day international symposium aims to bring together activists, practitioners and researchers responding to housing inequality to explore the global and historical interconnections of the housing crisis and its localised consequences.

6-7 June 2019 Grand Parade Main Building

This is a free event, please register here

In contemporary society, the so-called housing crisis and inequality surrounding access to housing is a central theme in public debates. The current hyper-commodification of the housing market, the dismantling of the social rent sector and mass-scale dispossession do not only entail an unequal distribution of housing, but also reflect the conditionality of access to the right to home.

The event will address contemporary debates of:
– Gentrification, dispossession and displacement
– Social housing, stigma and exclusion
– Private rental sector and commercialisation of homes
– Homelessness and criminalisation
– Squatting, housing cooperatives, alternative homes and new utopias

Confirmed speakers include:

•      Tom Youngman and Laura Barrio, Coordinadora de Vivienda de Madrid
•      Václav Orcígr, Charles University, Prague
•      Kyla Ellis-Sloan, University of Brighton
•      Taina Meriluoto and Paula Puranen, Tampere University, Finland
•      Steph Grohmann, University of Edinburgh
•      Sam Bergum, University of Sheffield
•      Ana Vilenica, London South Bank University
•      Wendy Charlton, Social Practice Artist

This event is jointly hosted by School of Applied Social Sciences, School of Humanities and Radical Futures Housing Forum