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CONNECT The magazine of Kellogg College | 2023CONTENTS We’re committed to making as little impact on the environment as possible. That’s why this magazine has been printed on recycled FSC certified papers using vegetable inks by a company that holds ISO14001 certification and has carbon offset the paper used in this publication. If you have received this magazine via post but would rather, in future, receive an electronic copy, please email: alumni@kellogg.ox.ac.uk Designed by juicy-designs.com56 Indigenous art from the Northern Plains Natalie Hill’s journey from researcher to exhibition curator 10 Britain’s lost women artists Rediscovering lost art for Tate Britain 14 From the Bronx to the White House Nicole Isaac’s extraordinary journey 52 Amal Al Gergawi Climate quitters and non-linear careers 56 My role at Netflix Rajiv Dalal discusses his role as Director of Content & Studio Affairs 58 Breaking new ground Exciting first developments to Kellogg’s green spaces 22 Kellogg’s West Campus Our plans for expanding the College site 26 Street Voice Kellogg leads a ground- breaking project on the future of travel in Oxford 30 In pursuit of sustainable living Healthy cities, hosting internships & leading community engagement 34 Príncipe past and present Environmental lessons from a West African island 39 Alumni profile: Emily Petek-Sargeant Senior Marketer 40 Changing the world one weave at a time Bindu Vinodhan updates us on her work with Odisha’s women weavers Welcome From the President 18 Improving survival rates for children with cancer On a mission to find better answers 33 Alumni profile: Kathy Davies Historic Buildings Consultant 44 Profile: Jessie Weavers- Medina Meet GCHU’s Centre Administrator5 CONNECT MAGAZINE As a member or friend of our College, thank you for your support. Taken together, your contributions explain why this past year has probably been the most successful in our 33 year history; and why the coming year is set to be even more transformational. We saw our Fellow Professor Louise Richardson move from being the first woman Vice Chancellor in the University’s 900-year history, to become the President of the Carnegie Corporation, New York. One of Professor Richardson’s last acts in Oxford was her ‘In Conversation’ event at Kellogg’s Hub which culminated in a standing ovation. It also saw the arrival of the next Vice Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey, whose Inaugural Address urged community engagement, and sure enough, the next month she was at Kellogg for our Bletchley Park Week – an annual event which grows in impact each year. It was here that a World War II enigma machine was being demonstrated to an impressively diverse and enthusiastic audience from East Oxford Primary School, who were learning the truth behind the machine and behind the Oxford College walls, which they loved. The following week, at our Foundation Dinner, our new Vice Chancellor announced she had decided to accept our invitation to become a Kellogg Fellow. Welcome! This past year saw other Kellogg Fellows take on new roles. Professor Therese Hopfenbeck was headhunted by the University of Melbourne to become the Director of their Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre. Our continuing Bynum Tudor Fellow, HRH Prince of Wales, became King. His Prince’s Foundation continues to support our Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation, which epitomises our being the University’s most interdisciplinary college. One of their initiatives – the Commission on Creating Health Cities – is reported in this issue; supported by The Prince’s Foundation, the McCall MacBain Foundation, Bynum Tudor Fellow Dr Ralph Walter, and our great friend Halley Liu, the Commission produced a Report on Creating Healthy Cities which is being actively discussed and implemented locally and globally. As well as being Oxford’s most interdisciplinary college, we are also the most diverse, and the most international. I trust the benefits of this are illustrated here, in this edition of Connect. If you have any questions or comments, please do contact me. This is a joint endeavour. Professor Jonathan Michie President, Kellogg College Welcomeart Indigenous Northern Plains from the North American Indigenous art is little seen beyond the United States, which is why Natalie Hill (DPhil History, 2022) decided to curate an exhibition in Oxford of horse-related art from Native Americans of the Northern Plains. Here she describes her journey of this research topic and explains how she came to meet some of the artists. 6 CONNECT MAGAZINE7 CONNECT MAGAZINE Michelle Walking Bear’s children, Susanna and Spur Whiteclay, ready for the Crow Fair paradeAnthropological research has changed dramatically in the last few decades, as internet access and social media have spanned the globe and made remote connections possible. But there is a big difference between having information and Instagram posts at your fingertips and making a meaningful connection with someone. Despite spending the whole of my first year researching North American Indigenous Plains artists and horse people, by the time I needed to start my fieldwork I had few definite contacts despite a number of potential leads. So in the spring of 2017, with two possible connections on the Crow Reservation in Montana, I headed to the only accommodation I could find within Native American boundaries nearby – a cabin in the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, next to Crow Country. Within a day my hosts had introduced me to a Northern Cheyenne artist and horseman, who invited me to spend time at his ranch. This was Leroy Whiteman, one of the two people the art exhibition Evoking The Horse: Indigenous Artists of the North American Plains was dedicated to. Over the next few weeks my connections grew. Indian Country is a place where you have to be present to meet people, and I could see why my online research hadn’t produced many results. I wanted to provide a little window into this world for people here in the UK. Doing this by displaying artworks is not only more accessible and engaging for a wider public, but also allowed me to promote the art of some of the artists I worked with. The exhibition showcases Native American art relating to horses, and brings together the artwork of several contemporary Northern Plains artists. The collected works consider the relationship between people and horses, and the cultural, spiritual and political significance of the horse both in the past and today. Using art as an anthropological source I have been working with horses and art in my research for many years now. During my undergraduate degree in Archaeology and Anthropology (at the University of Bristol) I found I could combine my love for animals and my artistic background in my research. For my initial project I was interested in working with a minority community in the UK. I began work with Gypsy Traveller communities because of their specific relationship to horses and the way some of their art (e.g. decorated vardos) is closely linked to horses. I moved to Oxford to undertake a Master’s in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology, which strengthened my dedication to using art objects and images as anthropological and historical sources, and increased my skills and experience in working with museum collections. I want to promote these research methods, which is why the exhibition also encourages reflection on the value of exploring art and objects in academic research. I started researching Native American connections to horses and their depictions in art at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of 8 CONNECT MAGAZINE Crow Fair parade 2018: note beaded decorations, same style as in exhibition the American Indian (Washington DC). My Master’s thesis was an analysis of their temporary exhibition A Song for the Horse Nation. I continued the topic for my DPhil in History, which traces the history of human-horse relations in several North American Indigenous communities, and how those relationships were and still are depicted in art. I focus on the Northern Plains region, from c.1700 to the present day, looking at how these historic relationships were represented in art and craft items, many made by women, at a time when horses were a major catalyst for change within Plains tribes. The relationship between horses and Plains Indians continues today. For most of 2017 and the next two summers I undertook ethnographic fieldwork within Native American horse culture communities, which is when I acquired the artworks. The art in the exhibition came together through the kindness and generosity of many people. I stayed on the Apsáalooke (Crow), Tsis tsis’tas (Northern Cheyenne), Pikuni (Blackfeet) and Lakota (Western Sioux) Reservations. To meet artists and horse people within the communities, I went to fairs and art events, parades and Native Days. One of the social hubs on the Crow Reservation is the Trading Post – part store for Native merchandise, both commercial and made by local artists, part popular café-restaurant, where I was able to make and maintain contacts. I also met key individuals who had wide networks and went out of their way to make introductions for me. The friendship and spirit of giving I encountered were unparalleled. Some artworks were gifted to me, a few I bought from artists who were participants for my research. The exhibition represents artists from the Apsáalooke, Pikuni and Lakota Nations. It presents original artworks from Mona Bear Medicine Crow, Ernest Marceau, Birdie Real Bird and Jeremy Johnson, along with printed works from Earl Biss and Butch ThunderHawk. The artists take inspiration from historical Indigenous artistic traditions, such as ledger drawing, painted parfleche designs and beadwork, whilst innovating and reworking ideas to respond to their contemporary world. By bringing them together and exhibiting them in the Rothermere American Institute, I aim at bringing visibility to Indigenous artists’ work, influencing the physical and intellectual dynamics within the Institute, and communicating the importance of the horse in these cultures, and human-animal relations in general. Sharing with an audience beyond the academic Although my research has evolved in multiple directions, in essence my vision and thesis questions and interests remained the same. I had always wanted to curate an exhibition as part of the outcome of my research. Accomplishing this has only increased my enthusiasm for disseminating my research in more public spaces, rather than solely in academic circles. One example is the film I made of the exhibition for those who could not attend in person. It includes narratives of my relationship with each artist and each piece of artwork. I have also created a website for my research and am in conversation with a filmmaker about making a short film of my fieldwork. It has become increasingly important for me to share my work and my contacts’ stories with a wider audience, especially using visual dissemination and my contacts’ own voices. The website hosts online exhibitions and provides a space where I can share aspects of my research. A version of the exhibition can be seen on the website, and will be followed up by an expansion to promote additional artists. I hope it will also provide an important resource for other researchers, hosting a dataset of photographs and information on art and horses within the communities I worked with. Beyond the confines of a thesis, it will be a place to explore significant ideas and themes. For more information please visit: horsenationsart.com Evoking The Horse: Indigenous Artists of the North American Plains exhibition is on until the end of August 2023 at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford (www.rai.ox.ac.uk). 9 CONNECT MAGAZINE Natalie admiring Butch ThunderHawk’s prints Crow Fair parade 2018: traditional regalia, as seen in ledger artworkExploring Blackfeet County, MontanaBeing taught fringing by Mamie Stewart Yellowtail at Crow FairNext >