Inaya Folarin Iman and Simon Sebag Montefiore have been appointed by the Prime Minister as Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery for four year terms from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2025.

Inaya Folarin Iman is a journalist, political commentator and social campaigner. She is the Founder and Director of The Equiano Project, a forum to promote freedom of speech and open dialogue on the subjects of race, identity and culture. She is on the Board of Advisors for the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR).

She has also helped found and deliver numerous freedom of speech initiatives including Index on Censorship’s Free Speech Is For Me, the Free Speech Union and the Free Speech Champions project.

Her freelance journalism has appeared in various publications including The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Times, Standpoint, The Sun, Spiked and others.

Dr Simon Sebag Montefiore is a prize-winning, bestselling historian and novelist whose books are published in 48 languages. ‘Catherine the Great & Potemkin’ was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. ‘Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar’ won History of the Year Prize at the British Book Awards.

‘Young Stalin’ won the Costa Biography Prize (UK), the LA Times Biography Prize (US) and Le Grand Prix de Biographie (France.) ‘Jerusalem: the Biography’ won Book of the Year, Jewish Book Council (USA) and Wenjin Prize (People’s Republic of China). ‘The Romanovs’ won the Lupicaia del Terricio Prize (Italy). He is the author of the Moscow Trilogy of novels of which ‘One Night in Winter’ won Political Novel of the Year.

He has written and presented five BBC series on Jerusalem, Rome, Istanbul (‘Byzantium: a tale of three cities’), Spain (‘Blood and Gold’) and Vienna. He read history at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD). A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he is married to the novelist Santa Montefiore and lives in London.

These roles are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Inaya Folarin Iman has declared that she stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the 2019 General Election. Simon Sebag Montefiore has not declared any activity.

BACKLIT is delighted to be working with artist Joshua Sofaer and the Environment Agency on this exciting interdisciplinary exhibition, bringing art and environment together to trigger some critical discussions.

Joshua’s work focuses on how audiences engage with the world and has previously worked with Tate Modern, University College London and the Science Museum in London. This unique collaboration between the artist, the Environment Agency and community will enable social engagement, allowing participants to feel some ownership of the final design – a plastic sculpture of a body weighing 98.66 kilograms.

In the UK we produce 98.66 kilograms of plastic waste per capita annually. The unbelievable truth is we are throwing away significantly more plastic than our own weight as an entire population, every single year.

Joshua Sofaer says of the project’s conception and his involvement in the show:

In 2019 I had the opportunity to shadow members of the Environment Agency Regulated Industry team as they conducted their checks on industrial sites, including one of the largest plastic recyclers in the UK and a giant pork pie factory. I also visited small ‘end of life’ workshops that depollute cars, materials recycling facilities, and illegal waste sites.

It was an eye-opening experience. Then the pandemic struck, and the world changed. But one thing that hasn’t changed, and in fact is getting worse, is the amount of waste that we produce.

Single use PPE, which is saving lives, has only made this problem greater. This exhibition wants to raise some questions about the work of the Regulated Industry team and the scale of the plastic waste problem in the UK, including the waste produced by the creation and exhibition of art.

I’m delighted to be working with BACKLIT and the Environment Agency on this project and looking forward to engaging with people across Nottingham.

‘Regulated Exhibition’ will see BACKLIT Gallery transformed into a ‘factory’ where the public can drop off plastics in the depot which will be accepted and sorted by Science Communicators.

Throughout the exhibition, the Environment Agency will periodically regulate the processes undertaken and provide an insight into their work. There will be a film following the day in the life of a Regulated Industry officer at the Environment Agency and how they regulate and manage waste.

Mark Haslam, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency said:

We have partnered with the BACKLIT Gallery in Nottingham and artist Joshua Sofaer to produce ‘Regulated Exhibition – a plastic human’ as part of our community engagement. Much of the plastic waste produced by individuals in the country ends up being sorted, processed, and disposed of at sites regulated by the Environment Agency.

The focus of the exhibition is to engage local communities to consider plastic usage through a sustainability lens. It also provides an ideal opportunity to raise awareness around the role the Environment Agency plays in protecting the environment through its regulation.

This is the first time we have worked with the arts sector in the East Midlands to highlight environmental issues and show how the Environment Agency regulates and manages waste. We’re sure the exhibition will be highly successful in increasing awareness of how we all need to reduce, reuse, and recycle more of our waste and resources.

The plastics collected from the public will be used to create a mould and human sculpture of a person representing the annual waste, which will then become part of the final show. The live ‘body cast’ will be carried out 30 October by Richard Arm, Senior Research Fellow at Nottingham Trent University and leader of the Flexural Composites Research Laboratory for the Advanced Textiles Research Group in the School of Art and Design.

We need your help:

BACKLIT is making a call out to a member of the public who is 98 kilograms (15.4 stone) to volunteer for the live ‘body cast’ for the mould for the final piece. They will need to be available 30 October and public will be invited to watch the process. Moulding the cast of the plastic person will take place 20 November which will then be displayed as part of the exhibition.

Please help us find a suitable person and support us collecting plastic. All types of plastics will be accepted but they must be washed and cleaned.

Other events will run throughout the exhibition, some by BACKLIT Studio Artists, including panel discussions with scientists, artists, and regulators about the hidden environmental impact of art making. There will be film about the artists’ work, community and family workshops. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with organisations outside of the arts sector, highlighting environmental issues and promoting responsibility.

Matthew Chesney, BACKLIT Director and Curator, says of the exhibition:

BACKLIT is delighted to work with the Environment Agency to explore very important conversations around waste produced by the gallery and the environment. We are thrilled to work with one of UKs most exciting artists, Joshua Sofaer, whose previous projects have engaged and ignited the public to come together and be accountable for the artwork. This is a chance to use art to enable people to take part and have crucial conversations on how they can make their environment a safer and more enjoyable place.

Events

• Friday 8 October, 11am -1pm at BACKLIT, no booking required, free.

• Friday 12 November, 11am -1pm at BACKLIT, no booking required, free.

Donate plastics for recycling.

Walk and talk

• 27 November, 1pm – 3pm; behind the scenes insight into the making of the exhibition with artist Joshua Sofaer and Matthew Chesney (BACKLIT Director). This will be followed by a Panel Talk: Arts, Ecology and Accountability 3-4pm with Environment Agency, BACKLIT, Academics and local groups.

Public programme

The public programme events can be booked via Eventbrite.

• Family activity: Wild Worlds, Sunday 24 October, 2 pm – 4 pm, with Jess Emsley (BACKLIT Studio Artist). Free; suitable for 4+. Booking is essential via Eventbrite due to limited places (maximum 8).

• Community workshop – A Sculpted Story: Our Old Sustainable World, Saturday 6 November, 2pm – 4pm, with Shadia Houssein (BACKLIT Studio Artist). Free; participants must be 18+. Booking is essential via Eventbrite due to limited places (maximum 8).

• Film event – Buffering… The Smog of the Sea (2017), Saturday 13 November, 6 pm – 8 pm, with Pending Collective. Watch trailer. Suitable for 16+. Booking is essential via Eventbrite due to limited places (Maximum 16 places). £5 per ticket, all proceeds going to the Canal & River Trust for their Treasure Your River project.

• Community workshop – Nurture Nature: Rewild your Habitat, Saturday 4 December, 2 pm – 4 pm, with Katie Sandoval (BACKLIT Studio Artist). Free; suitable for 18+. Booking is essential via Eventbrite due to limited places (maximum 8 places)

Notes to editors

Background information

About the Environment Agency:

• The EA has a role in auditing materials recycling facilities to ensure permit conditions are met. This includes a range of criteria such as pollution levels, pest control and sampling procedures. This covers the measurement of how much product at a site is recyclable. Monitoring how much of this is recycled by each facility is done on a commercial level at each site.
• Between 2000/2001 and 2019, the amount of waste going to landfill decreased by 43%.
• The government’s landmark Environment Bill and Resources and Waste Strategy set out how we will go further and faster, to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and help leave the environment in a better state than we found it for future generations. These include plans to place greater responsibility on producers to make their items more resource efficient and easier to reuse and recycle.
• Businesses and householders should carry out checks to ensure that they are using legitimate companies to deal with their waste. To check if a waste carrier is genuine visit the Environment Agency’s public register.
• The project supports the Environment Agency’s ambition to promote better environmental practices that result in a reduction of plastic waste, helping to achieve the goals and commitments outlined in its EA2025 five-year plan to create a better place for people, wildlife and the environment, and the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.
• Follow us on: Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram

About BACKLIT Gallery

BACKLIT www.backlit.org.uk, Alfred House, Ashley Street, Sneinton NG3 1JG is a 3-storey independent art gallery. It consists of studios that houses 100 young and emerging artists, supporting early career graduates, contemporary artists, and international touring practitioners. In recent years, we have shown major works by Simon Starling and Yinka Shonibare, as well as an artistic and public engagement project by Turner Prize winner Gillian Wearing. BACKLIT provides a dynamic public programme of national and international artists including original artist commissions, workshops, screenings, and live debates. It has a strong working relationship with regional and national organisations and universities. It is committed to supporting community engaged projects and provides unique critical sessions for artists working in the city.

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

For more information and images please contact BACKLIT Marketing Coordinator helen.trout@backlit.org.uk or for artist interviews and information contact BACKLIT Director matthew.chesney@backlit.org.uk +44 (0)7877926072. For information about the Environment Agency contact linda.parker@environment-agency.gov.uk or Communications_Midlands@environment-agency.gov.uk

Co-Presidents and colleagues, I am honoured to represent the UK, and I thank Italy and South Africa for bringing us together today.

The UK would like to reaffirm its strong support for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and for the organisation that underpins it.

We welcome this opportunity to garner support for the Treaty’s entry-into-force, which we have advocated for twenty-five years.

Our goal is very simple: to bring an end to nuclear weapon test explosions, anywhere on the planet.

Each signature and ratification takes us closer to this goal.

I therefore welcome the ratifications by Cuba and the Union of the Comoros since the last Conference, and I call on the remaining Annex 2 States to sign or ratify the Treaty.

The UK condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s continued development of illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

We call for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea.

I know I speak for many of us when I urge the country to resume dialogue with the international community.

We call on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Though entry-into-force has not yet become a reality, we should be clear how much the Treaty Organisation delivers.

It makes it extremely difficult for would-be proliferators.

And with a verification regime now over 90% complete, it not only detects explosions, but also natural disasters.

It contributes to tsunami early-warning detection, and measures the impact of climate change.

I congratulate Dr Robert Floyd on his recent appointment as Executive Secretary of the CTBTO.

We look forward to working with you, to progress entry-into-force, and strengthen the verification system, as the Treaty turns twenty-five.

We will raise those benefits at the NPT Review Conference when that is able to proceed.

The UK is an enthusiastic participant in all of the Organisation’s work.

We are a vocal campaigner in multilateral forums, and one of the largest contributors, providing £4.5 million annually.

We give technical and political support to the Preparatory Commission, and host thirteen facilities that support the International Monitoring System.

Co-Presidents, I conclude by welcoming the assessed contributions. I urge States yet to pay, to do so.

It is our collective responsibility to sustain the Organisation and promote the Treaty’s entry-into-force, as a step towards our shared goal, of a world without nuclear weapons.

ENDS