Our two-day artist development programme Turning Together centres around alternative ways of communicating and working together, rooted in digital tools and culture.

Turning Together borrows its name from speculative fiction author Ursula K.Le Guin’s understanding of the ‘mother-tongue’ as a way of communicating rooted in listening, experience, exchange and ‘relating’ to one another.

We invite artists and arts professionals to join us over one or two days to share in exchange and discussion, and to investigate new models of communication and ways of working.

Day 2 takes place here at FACT and is an opportunity to have a first-look at our new artist-studio space, Studio/Lab.

Following on from the practice-led workshops of Day 1, the second day is dedicated to alternative ways of working. Throughout Day 2, you'll look at the ways in which we can work together to create more equitable relationships, and break down and question the binaries of work and play; pleasure and resistance; and physical and digital realms.

The morning begins with a tour of FACT's brand-new Studio/Lab.

We'll then welcome Cape Town-based independent curator and award-winning artist Khanyisile Mbongwa to deliver a talk on their curatorial practice and experience in curating the Liverpool Biennial 2023, currently on show in galleries and venues across Liverpool until the 17th September.

Speculative writer and pleasure activist Ama Josephine Budge will lead a speculative writing workshop taking Le Guin's famous essay "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" as a starting point with which to co-create speculative stories not dependent on conflict, gender/kinship/human-nature binaries or "long hard things for bashing and killing".

Over lunch, you'll have the opportunity to speak to Directors and Lead Programmes of arts organisations who specialise in commissioning and working with artists on longer-term projects. Guests, with more to be announced, include: Helen Starr (Cultural Activist, Curator, and Founder of the Mechatronic Library), Peter Bonnell (Arts Programme Manager, QUAD & Festival Director, FORMAT), Nimrod Vardy (Creative Director and Founder of arebyte studios), and Jenny Porter (Director, Metal Liverpool).

We’re then joined by artist Rae-Yen Song, who will lead a workshop on world-building and exploring alternative sustainable futures. Alongside the sharing of practice, connections, and ideas, you'll consider the ways in which you can communicate and shape the environments you wish to practice in when working with others and institutions.

FACT exhibiting artist Kerolaina (Laina) Linkeviča will respond to their current presentation of work by leading a discursive and practice-based workshop. Laina will share theory and ritual which communicates the art of sensing the more-than-human worlds specifically drawing upon embodied knowledge which has been passed onto them through their Baltic ancestors.

The day ends with a special performance from artistic duo Laina Linkevica & Nicholas Delap (Studio Misti).

→ Find out more about Day 1 here

Artist Biographies

AMA JOSEPHINE is a Speculative Writer, Artist, Curator and Pleasure Activist whose interdisciplinary practice navigates intimate explorations of race, art, ecology and Blackness. Ama’s fiction, art writing and essays has been both commissioned and published internationally.

KEROLAINA LINKEVIČA (Laīna) is an imaginal-digital-physical artist, born in Latvia and now living and working in Manchester. Their current practice explores the artefacts of Goddess-centred societies and water epistemologies through ceramics and digital technologies.

STUDIO MISTI is a collaborative journey between artists Nicholas Delap x Laīna Linkeviča. A generative inter-space where mythic English and Baltic histories entwine, spiralling into the ether of imaginative landscapes navigated through ‘journeying’, digital worlds and physical installations. By intermixing their multidisciplinary art practices and utilising them as immersive tools, Misti facilitates the activation of primordial and alternative ways of being through worldbuilding. They explore performative structures by navigating and interacting with these environments, focusing on the journey itself as a ritual from which to grow.

RAE-YEN SONG explores self-mythologising as a survival tactic: using fantasy and fabulation to create a personal cultural language informed by autobiography, family stories, relationships and shared memories. Song’s work often involves the use of drawing, sculpture, costume, props, video, family collaboration and performative actions in public.

KHANYISILIS MBONGWA is the Curator for the Liverpool Biennial 2023. She is a Cape Town-based independent curator, award-winning artist and sociologist who engages with her curatorial practice as Curing & Care, using the creative to instigate spaces for emancipatory practices, joy and play.

GOOD TO KNOW

We recommend taking a look at our Good to Know section before making your booking. Still unsure on something? Send us a message via residency@fact.co.uk and a member of the team will get back to you.

TICKETS

A day ticket costs £20, including access to workshops, food and refreshments. Find more information on the different ticketing options below. Please book your Day 1 (15 July) and Day 2 (29 July) tickets separately.

DAY 2 (SAT 29 JULY)

£20 Ticket → Book here

• Full day of workshops at FACT Liverpool
• Lunch & snack provided
• Discount on dinner at either The Canteen at FACT, Maray, or Bundobust

CAPACITY

Each workshop session is limited to 30 places.

AGE LIMIT

Please note that our Turning Together workshops are only suitable for those over 18 years of age.