CHASE Lecture Series

D6: Art & Coalescence in Times of Rupture

Northumbria University's Centre for Health and Social Equity (CHASE) helps tackle inequalities through research, education and its work as an anchor institution in the North East of England. Through our new public lecture series, hosted by CHASE, we aim to raise awareness of inequalities and injustices of all kinds.

The 2025 CHASE lecture brings arts professional, Dima Karout and artist, Paul Nataraj in conversation for the first time, chaired by the international visual arts producer, D6: Culture in Transit.

Dima and Paul will present how they respond to rupture as political, societal and temporal constructs within their respective practice. They will share how they develop coalescence through partnerships and with communities across the UK and beyond, grounded in collaborative acts of reclamation and repair.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dima Karout is an arts professional with over 15 years of experience in curating and producing exhibitions, managing art projects, and designing publications and public programmes. She specialises in socially engaged art, cultural heritage, placemaking, innovative learning, and creative health. She has collaborated with leading museums, universities, charities, local authorities, and inspiring art practitioners to develop long-term partnerships, design creative projects, implement participatory practices, and shape inclusive cultural strategies.

Notable projects include her work with the London Borough of Culture, shaping a new vision for Sanctuary and engaging over 20 local organisations and 100 individuals—artists, cultural leaders, and residents—to create a borough-wide inclusive programme. She also formed a strategic partnership with local libraries and the Horniman Museum, where she co-produced Internal Landscapes, a book publication and a collective exhibition that welcomed over 10,000 visitors. Dima also designed the Migration Museum’s first residency programme for migrant artists and its one-year engagement programme, culminating in the group exhibition Borderless. She joined forces with Groundwork, Counterpoints Arts, and Play for Progress to design and co-deliver ESOL and Creative Health programmes empowering people experiencing the asylum process.

www.dimakarout.com

Paul Nataraj is a sound artist who is interested in sonic materiality, memory, identity and postcolonial subjectivities. His work explores the intra connections and relationships between the objects of sound and assemblages of the self.

Previous exhibitions and performances include the Jerwood Survey III at the Nottingham Contemporary (UK); Leeds City of Culture 2023 (UK); Kochi Biennale 2022 (India); British Textile Biennial 2021 (UK); Prism Contemporary 2018 (UK); and ZKM 2016 (Germany). His sound works have aired internationally on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction, Radiophrenia, Resonance FM, CAMP FR and NTS Radio.

Paul was an Associate Researcher on the project, Migrant Memory and the Postcolonial Imagination at Loughborough University, working closely with the South Asian community in the Midlands and East London. The work attempted to better understand how memories of Indian Partition and its connected political and social events, continue to shape social relationships both inside South Asian communities in the UK and between different groups and communities. He has also worked closely with the community in Whally Range, Blackburn, producing the podcast series, Kick Down The Barriers.

Paul holds a PhD in Sound Studies from the University of Sussex.

www.paulnataraj.uk

ABOUT D6: CULTURE IN TRANSIT

D6: Culture in Transit is a visual arts producer working with extraordinary artists, communities and partners across borders with a shared belief in the value of the arts in creating a more just and equal society. Through artistic exchange, research residencies and international projects, we explore social and environmental issues that concern and connect us all.

www.d6culture.org

Special thanks to Professor Donna Chambers and Professor Fiona Crisp (Northumbria School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries, Northumbria University).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Dima Karout has a long-standing relationship with D6: Culture in Transit contributing as a collaborator on past programmes connecting artists and cultural organisations across the UK, Cyprus, Jordan and Türkiye. Dima is currently serving as a D6 Board Member.

Paul Nataraj is one of the 22 commissioned artists participating in Contested Desires: Constructive Dialogues - an ambitious conversation between contemporary artists and the museums, archives and communities that shape our European colonial histories. D6: Culture in Transit is one of the international partners of the project. 

About CHASE

The Centre for Health and Social Equity (CHASE) at Northumbria University is dedicated to helping all people live healthier for longer, developing new interventions to support the most marginalised in society and shaping a healthcare workforce that will change lives and meet future needs.  

Through our experiential education, interdisciplinary research and engagement with the communities we work with we strive to tackle social equity issues and address inequalities, improve healthcare and social work practice, develop the workforce of the future and better understand our role as an anchor institution in making the world a fairer place.  

The CHASE Lecture Series brings together region, national and international stakeholders, students, academics and people from the communities we work with to discuss key challenges and how we can overcome those to ensure an equitable society. The series will raise awareness of marginalisation for various groups including presenting the perspectives of those who have lived experience of these issues and will challenge attendees to develop more inclusive practices and to prioritise their work across social mobility and inclusion.  

Professor Monique Lhussier, Director of CHASE

Having graduated as an engineer in biological sciences, with a Masters in cellular nutrition and a PhD in sociology, Professor Lhussier is a lifelong researcher. As a social scientist, she has expertise in marginalisation, welfare and wellbeing. Her work focuses on understanding processes of engagement for groups which are often deemed ‘hard to reach’ or in situations of social or health precarity. She has expertise in a number of research methodologies and is particularly known for my innovative work in realist approaches to research.  

She is the Director for the Centre for Health and Social Equity at Northumbria University and deputy lead for the theme of Health Inequalities and Marginalised Communities of the NIHR North East North Cumbria Applied Research Collaboration.  

She is currently co-leading a £1.4M UKRI funded programme of work to help tackle homelessness in the North East and Cumbria, which was described as one of the largest investments in homelessness research. She has also recently undertaken research on women's experiences of homelessness, on adults at risk of exploitation, and into women who have been subjected to recurrent care proceedings.