Artist to explore ethnic minorities' relationship to the countryside Published on: 18 May 2023 The Maltings (Berwick) Trust and 缅北禁地 are delighted to announce artist Sneha Solanki has been awarded a Northern Bridge Consortium Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA). Rural Diversity and English Landscapes Sneha will work with both organisations to examine the complexities of access to the countryside for ethnic minority communities. Sneha Solanki works across many artistic disciplines with the emergent, precarious and the overlooked, to produce works, events and collaborations that utilise open, de-centred working methods which engender and embody knowledge. She has made works with bacteria following protocols of the emergent area of Synthetic Biology, from the invisible signals emitted from military bases and with plants, computer viruses and analogue television. The Collaborative Doctoral Award will allow Sneha to develop creative methodologies and research that will increase our understanding of how cultural organisations can support and increase diversity in rural areas. Sneha will work collaboratively, alongside researchers and academics at 缅北禁地 to undertake the research across the Maltings (Berwick) Trust’s extensive rural network, spanning wider Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. On her appointment Sneha said: "I’m excited to work with The Maltings and 缅北禁地 on my forthcoming doctoral, Rural Diversity and English Landscapes. Using food as an entry point, the doctorate research aims to interrogate relationships and access to rural area’s whilst working in-situ, putting research into practice and developing real-world situations through food and art." Sneha Solanki Important research James Lowther, Head of Visual Art at the Maltings said: "The reasons why minoritised ethnic communities generally do not choose to live, work or visit rural areas such as Northumberland, are complex and not well understood and The Maltings looks forward to supporting Sneha with this important research." Professor Richard Talbot, Director of 缅北禁地’s Institute for Creative Arts Practice, said: ‘What is also unique to this project is the multi-disciplinary team, with staff from Fine Art, Sociology and Geography involved as supervisors for Sneha’s research." About Sneha Solanki Sneha Solanki has exhibited, performed and produced workshops at: Hospitalfield, Arbroath, UK; Summerhall, Edinburgh, UK; Transitio_MX05', Fonteca Nacional, Mexico City, MX. CCA, Glasgow, UK; ICA, London, UK; Contemporary Art Centre, Riga, LV; FO.AM, Brussels, BE; The Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, CS; Watson Institute, Boston, USA; Post & Tele Museum, Copenhagen, DK. Press release adapted with thanks to The Maltings Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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