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Dear colleagues, The nights are getting longer and Halloween is fast approaching. We invite you to join us for the first assembly of GHost, Hosting I: "Haunted Houses", on 20 October 2009 at 6.30pm in the Court Room of Senate House (South Block), University of London, Malet Street, WC1 7HU. This is a free event but please rsvp [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> if you want to attend. "GHost" brings together artists, writers, curators, researchers and others to investigate the various roles ghosts play in contemporary culture. It consists of two workshops, so-called 'hostings' and an exhibition and screening of moving image art. The hostings take place at Senate House on 20 October and 17 November and the exhibition will be hosted by St Johns on Bethnal Green on 18 December. Both 'hostings' will be documented by the artist Julian Wakeling with a series of 'ghost images', which will haunt St Johns on the night of 18 December. GHost is organised by Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal with the support of the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London and St Johns Church on Bethnal Green Hosting I "Haunted Houses" Tuesday, 20 October 2009, 6.30 - 9pm, Court Room, Senate House, University of London Stéphanie Sauget, 'Haunted Houses with or without Ghosts?', talk Most of the time, in the ghost stories of the Nineteenth Century, ghosts and haunted houses seem to be linked and connected, even in the parody of the genre. But this "obvious" link between haunted places and ghostly creatures is not that clear in spiritualist press articles or in the supposed "real" cases studied by the SPR (Society for Psychical Research) or other scientists. In fact, it seems that the definition of "what a ghost is" changed a lot between 1750 and 1950, both in Europe and in the United Stated. Magnus Irvin, 'The Deadman Talks', performance Living people rarely have the opportunity to communicate properly with the dead. We can seek out the guidance of spiritualists and mediums but all of these, both genuine and spurious are but secondary messengers. In the company of a Dead Man talking we are given a fascinating, first hand insight into the ways of death and an opportunity to share the concerns of a corpse that has not completely given up on life. His stories from beyond the grave raise the arcane issues of mind-numbing silence, fundamental human urges, senseless desecration and ornamental lakes. Many of us can spend our whole life without acknowledging the existence of the dead or even meeting a real dead person. Here is an opportunity. Warning to parents and minders: The Deadman's views are frankly expressed. The feint-hearted and weak of spirit should be aware that he has been dead for a long time and doesn't give a damn about social decorum. Kirsten Marie Raahauge and Ivar Tønsberg, 'Contextual Autism', talk and art presentation This project deals with the notion of ghost from an anthropological and an artistic angle. The contextual autism of ghosting reveals itself as a sensation of in-betweeness in art as well as in everyday life. As a non-present presence the ghost flavours its host with ghastly sensations of something dim, vague, and indifferently deadpan. The artistic approach is trying to catch the poetics of ghosts, while the anthropologist is questioning haunted people about their real experiences of the unreal in haunted houses. The one haunts the other. Hosting II "Hearing Ghosts" Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 6.30 - 9pm, Court Room, Senate House, University of London Elena Kamilari, 'Ghosts on Radio, a Ghost-Medium', talk Sarah Wishart, 'Something's coming through - art and the spectre's voice', talk Fabrizio Manco, 'A Ghost is another Phantom?' performance and talk Artists, please note that you can still send us work for the exhibition on 18 December. For more info please email us at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> or visit our blog: http://host-a-ghost.blogspot.com/ <http://host-a-ghost.blogspot.com/> You can also join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=117301037117&ref=ts <http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=117301037117&ref=ts> Dr Ricarda Vidal Lecturer in Visual Culture Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies School of Advanced Study Stewart House, 32 Russell Squ, London WC1B 5DN <http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=530011&y=181908&z=0&sv=WC1B+5DN&st=2&pc=WC1B+5DN&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf> phone: 020 7862 8961