Territoriality is an anthropological concept derived from the observation of animal behaviours and is concerned with how animals (including humans) demonstrate ownership or occupancy of areas and possessions. Humans are not the only species to demonstrate this behavioural characteristic, however it is only humankind that extrapolate this behaviour into the complex social structures of nation states and agglomerated territories, such as the European Union.

The conference is the first event in Understanding Territoriality: Identity, Place and Possession (TIPP) a two-year cultural project investigating the tensions between the personal, the local and the general, tensions which are at the crux of the debate about identity, the nation state and the European Union.

TIPP is a collaboration between four contemporary art and design organisations: Fabrica (UK), Netwerk (Belgium) Cittadellarte (Italy) and Otvorena Soba (Macedonia). The conference brings together the partners with expert speakers from the arts and humanities, and invited guests. A limited number of tickets are also available to those with a developed interest in the theme of territoriality. The conference is co-sponsored by the School of Media, Film & Music at University of Sussex.

Speakers and subjects include:

Personal Realms: Objects, Identity, Intimacy and Meaning

Mary Agnes Krell (UK) is Head of Media Practice & Senior Lecturer in Media & Film Studies, Centre for Material Digital Culture, University of Sussex. Her current project There Are Places explores materiality, interactivity and questions our notions of intimacy.

Dr Louise Purbrick (UK), Principal Lecturer in the History of Art and Design, University of Brighton. Her monograph The Wedding Present examines the objects given and received upon marriage. It is an analysis of practices of preserving everyday things and an account of how the past is embodied in material form.

Common Interests: Competition, Co-operation and Trust

Marek Kohn (UK), an author and journalist, who writes about the implications of scientific thinking for ideas about human nature and society. He published Trust: Self-Interest and the Common Good in 2009.

Power, Representation and the New Demopraxy: reconfiguring relationships between the citizen, the institution, the state and the corporation

Paolo Naldini (IT), Director of Cittadellarte, Fondazione Pistoletto, a not for profit organization promoting the work, and vision of artist Michelangelo Pistoletto: that art can be a trigger for change at individual and societal level.

Prof. Dr. Pascal Gielen (BE), Director of the Arts in Society Research Centre, Groningen University where he is professor for Sociology of Art and Cultural Politics.

Re-making Space: Urbanism and Design

Anne van der Zwaag (NL), curator, writer and editor in the field of art, design, architecture, fashion and trend forecasting. Her book Looks Good, Feels Good, is Good - How Social Design Changes Our World, explores the Social Design movement.

All conference delegates are invited to join Fabrica for a drinks reception at Fabrica Gallery on Monday 25th May from 6pm - 8pm, for an exhibition tour and an opportunity to meet the speakers.