The Open University’s Race and Ethnicity Hub Commissions ‘Art is about Transformation: A Conversation with Helen Cammock’

Open Learn is part of The Open University’s website which offers free learning. The new Race and Ethnicity Hub on Open Learn offers fresh perspectives on race, racism and ethnicity through free courses, articles, interactives and audio/visual materials.

When Sas Amoah, The Diversity Hub’s programmer and executive producer, looked to commission a fresh look at the voices who write our history, he contacted Hamlett Films with the idea of featuring the work of Helen Cammock and her take on the voices of history.

Helen Cammock

Helen’s view of history and her art is to create a space in which to hear a collection of voices which can often be drowned out by those which dominate society. The resulting film explores Helen’s notions of multiple voices and explores how Helen listens and gives a platform to those who might otherwise never be heard.

Helen Cammock was the joint winner of the Turner Prize in 2019 and her exhibition The Long Note, was presented at Turner Contemporary, Margate as part of Turner Prize, 2019. She was winner of the 7th Max Mara Art Prize for Women.

Still from ‘A Conversation with Helen Cammock’

‘Hamlett’s short film manages to capture the nuances and complexities that exist in exploring how you see yourself personally in a world where you’re carrying a number of identities, and the creative challenges that emerge in translating those themes into various creative artforms’
Sas Amoah
Chair of The Open University’s Black and Minority Ethnic network and OpenLearn Producer