Open to all: Professor Nela Milic explores memory and art in Inaugural Lecture
The next event in BNU's Inaugural Lecture Series will welcome Professor Nela Milic, Professor of Arts Practice, to present her lecture Mapping Memory with Participatory Art Practices.
Taking place on Wednesday 15 April at 4pm in the Gateway Lecture Theatre, the lecture will explore Professor Milic’s practice-based research into memory and how artistic methods can help individuals and communities reflect on their past.
In her talk, Professor Milic will examine both personal and collective memory as important sociological aspects of everyday life. Drawing on examples from her creative work, she will demonstrate how participatory and multimedia art practices can help people remember, recollect and reflect, while also shaping our sense of identity and belonging.
The lecture will also explore how her auto-ethnographic research extends the boundaries of visual culture, feminist practice and critical studies. Professor Milic will discuss how these approaches contribute to the formation of communities and offer new ways of understanding experiences of marginalisation.
By the end of the lecture, attendees will gain insights into themes including memory, trauma, placemaking and belonging, particularly in contexts where identity is shaped by life on the margins.
Professor Milic’s research focuses on the intersection of time and space, leading to a range of practice-based, interdisciplinary and multimedia projects exploring memory, archives, activism, placemaking and participation, with a particular interest in East European art.
Her work has been presented internationally, including at the Olympic Stadium in London and the Venice Biennale, where she contributed to Vlatka Horvat’s project By the Means at Hand for the Croatian Pavilion in 2024. Her work is also held in the collection of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade in Serbia.
Throughout her career she has collaborated with organisations including the Royal Opera House, Barbican, Arts Council England, John Lewis, Al Jazeera, Campbell Works, the Oxo Tower, LIFT, the London Film Festival and the Refugees and the Arts Initiative.
She is a recipient of a European Cultural Foundation Artistic Grant for the project Wedding Bellas and received the Southwark Community Arts Award for the project Here Comes Everybody in 2015.
The University’s Inaugural Lecture Series celebrates the research excellence and achievements of academics who have been awarded the distinguished title of Professor or Associate Professor. The lectures offer an opportunity for the University community and the public to learn more about the impact of their work and to celebrate their contributions to their fields.
The event is free to attend and open to everyone.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion following the lecture.
Those wishing to attend can register online here. The lecture will also be recorded and made available as part of the Inaugural Lecture Series on the University website.