Online arts programme from charity The Assembly House Trust continues with a look at and discussion about public art work which has been destroyed in some way

A free online art event will look at public art which has been destroyed whether deliberately or naturally to determine whether such art can ever truly be ‘finished’.

The event, on Thursday October 29 at 7.30pm, will be live-streamed at 7pm and will also be available to watch at a later date here

Assembly Online is a live stream series bringing regular free events to audiences at home – these include talks, screenings, discussions, performances, critical reading and poetry. Events are courtesy of Norwich-based arts charity The Assembly House Trust.

Archive of Destruction is a research project which Jes Fernie has been developing since 2011 and which involves looking at public art which has been destroyed by natural causes or by human action through fear, decay and love.

The project began with a conference called ‘Destroyed Public Art Work: A Critical Reflection’, which was inspired by the destruction by fire of a public sculpture by Heather and Ivan Morison, a life-size model of a dinosaur which had been due to visit Colchester after being displayed in Portsmouth for eight weeks.

Essex-based Jes also took part in a V&A Late about destruction in 2013 and worked with graphic designer Salome Schmuki to produce a booklet of public art projects from the past 100 years which involve an element of destruction which is poignant, engaging or politically transformative.

For the Assembly Online event, Jes will introduce the Archive of Destruction and reveal some of the stories within it and will be joined by artist Olivia Hernaïz, who will discuss her project Brussels Anti-Demolition Campaign.

Together, the pair will forge an argument that a public artwork is never finished; it is in a continual state of flux according to the political, environmental, social context in which it is located.

Jes is an independent curator and writer with 25 years’ experience of working with galleries, architectural practices and public realm organisations on public programmes, commissioning schemes, exhibitions and residency projects in the UK and abroad.

Olivia Hernaïz is a Belgian-Spanish artist based in Brussels. She studied law in Belgium and Argentina and while practicing as a copyright lawyer, completed a BFA at La Cambre, ENSAV in Brussels.

In 2016, she obtained an MFA at Goldsmiths University of London. She is currently enrolled in the HISK program in Gent, Belgium and her installations have been featured in multiple exhibitions around the world.

Archive of Destruction will launch in partnership with Flat Time House in spring 2021.

* Find out more at www.assemblyhousetrust.org.uk