The Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) investigates historical, theoretical and practice-based research in art, architecture, craft and design.
This research is driven by the desire to critique dominant ideas of 'globalisation' and to open up new perspectives that address questions of how art and design can respond to social (in)justice, decolonisation of institutions and the creation of more diverse global art histories. TrAIN’s members include internationally recognised scholars and practitioners across UAL as well as a community of post-graduate students. Issues and debates arising from research activities are disseminated by TrAIN conferences, lectures, reading groups, exhibitions and publications.
Director: Professor Paul Goodwin
Research Centre administrator: Ewelina Warner, e.warner@arts.ac.uk
What's On
The UAL Transnational Art, Identity, Nation research centre hosts various events including the TrAIN Open Lecture series, seminars, workshops, symposia, and exhibitions.
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Daiara Tukano at MAR São Paulo Street Art Museum, 2021. Photo by @dimitrie.
Contemporary Indigenous Art in Brazil with Daiara Tukano
TrAIN Open Live Event with Daiara Tukano: Wednesday 3 May 6-7.30pm
TrAIN stories
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On a Suriname River by Ahron de Leeuw
consent not to be a single being: Worlding Public Culture's London Gathering
1-8 December, the Worlding Public Cultures project at TrAIN will host a major international online conference and programme at Tate and Chelsea College of Arts. It will explore the legacies of Caribbean thought on global art histories, public culture and activism.
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Angela Detanico and Rafael Lain, The World Justified, Left Aligned, Centred, Right Aligned, 2004. 4 Light Boxes,120 x 250 x 12cm each. Installation View. Photograph Ding Musa. Courtesy of the artists
Book now for Worldviews conference on Latin American art on 4 November
Worldviews: Latin American art and the decolonial turn is being held online between 4 November and 2 December 2021.
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Felipe Scovino, Professor of art history at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Professor Felipe Scovino returns to UAL as TrAIN Visiting Scholar
TrAIN welcomes Felipe Scovino, Professor of art history at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as Visiting Scholar. Formerly the curator for the estate of Lygia Clark, Professor Scovino has since worked extensively as an independent curator. His current research focuses on the work of artist Hélio Oiticica and architect Lina Bo Bardi.
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Cloud patterned textiles by Hugging Yue MA Textile Design Chelsea UAL Photo by David Poultney
New TrAIN Associate Dr Nela Milic to lead on Postsocialism and Art
TrAIN is excited to welcome new research Associate Dr. Nela Milic, who will lead on decolonial research project, Postsocialism and Art. Dr Milic is an artist and academic in the Design School at UAL’s London College of Communication.
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Ilona Németh, Eastern Sugar, 2018-21. Derelict sugar factory in Pohronský Ruskov, 2020. Photo Olja Triaška Stefanović. Courtesy of the artist.
Postsocialism & Art: A Masterclass with Maja and Reuben Fowkes
Our Postsocialism and Art research project reflects on the current state of Eastern European postsocialist heritage. This March we are excited to welcome the first in a series of Masterclasses delivered by renowned scholars in the field - Unruly Elements: Ecologies of Post-Socialism, presented by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
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The statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art in Glasgow, Scotland
New TrAIN MA seminar Series: Monuments, Museums and Myths
As the research centre’s new contribution to postgraduate curricula, TrAIN will be running a transnational MA seminar entitled ‘Monuments, Museums and Myths: the colonial legacy and the modern nation’.
Current projects
Postsocialism and Art
TrAIN has received grants by the British Society of Aesthetics and Association for Art History for the project Decolonising the Arts that is seeking to explore the Eastern Europe within the context of transnational and global arts by creating a platform for the emergence of a community of artists and art historians.
- Learn more about the Postsocialism and Art project
Worlding Public Cultures
This project aims to develop a critical art theory and practice based approach to social innovation, which takes worlding as its central methodology. It’s a collaborative research project and transnational platform conceived by the Transnational and Transcultural Arts and Culture Exchange (TrACE) network and funded by a Social Innovation Grant from the Trans-Atlantic Platform for the Social Sciences and Humanities.
- Find out more about Worlding Public Cultures
Our history
Since 2004 when it was founded by art historians Professor Toshio Watanabe and Professor Oriana Baddeley, TrAIN has played a leading role in establishing the discourse of the ‘transnational’ in the field of art and design globally. This has resulted in an increased awareness and critical understanding of transnational art and design, to the benefit of the Museums and Galleries sector, arts organisations, and the artistic community.
Our members
- Dr Michael Asbury
- Professor Oriana Baddeley
- Dr Djurdja Bartlett
- Professor Sonia Boyce
- Professor Jane Collins
- Dr David Dibosa
- Professor Paul Goodwin (Director)
- Dr Pratap Rughani
- Dr Lucy Steeds
- Professor Carol Tulloch
- Professor Toshio Watanabe
TrAIN postdocs
- Dr Maribel Hidalgo Urbaneja (Research Fellow Worlding Public Cultures)
- Dr Kimathi Donkor (TrAIN Research Fellow 2017-2018)
- Dr Ope Lori (TrAIN Research Fellow 2017-2018)
TrAIN associates
- Professor Yuko Kikuchi (Kanazawa College of Arts, Japan)
- Dr Deidre Osborne (Reader, Goldsmiths University of London)
- Dr. Athanasios Velios (Reader in Documentation, UAL)
- Abbas Zahedi – TrAIN Co-Lab Artist Research Residency
- Samboleap Tol – TrAIN Co-Lab Artist Research Residency
- Dr Nela Milic
PhD students
Nwakaego (Ego) Ahaiwe Sowinski | Ellen de Medeiros Nunes | Lucia Gomez Mejia | Pamela Jikiemi-Pearson | Roxy (Caroline Roxana) Minter | Stephanie Cheung | Maria Kheirkhah (Smith) | Marcia Michael | Madeline Yale | Scott (Louis) Schwager | Gerard Choy | Jin Ah Lee | Lynton Talbot | Gustavo Montero Grandal | Ewelina Warner
Get in touch
Contact
TrAIN Research Centre
University of the Arts London
16 John Islip Street London
SW1P 4JU
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7514 2165
+44 (0)20 7514 7839