How can we use a mix of digital and physical spaces to connect and come together?
‘Come Together’ was a programme of public events, training, co-creation and commissions (summer-autumn 2021) exploring how we stayed connected through the COVID-19 pandemic and what new ‘hybrid’ spaces of connection we could imagine and create, using a mix of digital and physical spaces and tools.
The programme was designed to support artists and communities to develop new skills in ‘hybrid’ arts practices (mixing digital and physical) and co-create new inclusive spaces / experiences for connection and coming together.
Check out the full project on our Come Together Website
Read the original Project Outline here.
Illustrations by commissioned artist Mary Flora Hart
Come Together Weekender Public Programme of Events
After a summer of inspire workshops, experimentation and six artist commissions, we hosted our Come Together Weekender!
From 18th – 21st November, we held four days of talks, workshops, and events exploring ways to connect through a mix of digital + physical (‘hybrid’) spaces. Each day delved into a different question around ‘hybrid’.
Read about each day below, see photos and listen to free audio experiences for yourself.
Day 1: Inclusion In Action: What happens to ‘hybrid’ when you start with access and inclusion?
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- People joined online and via Zoom to explore activities and ideas based on disability cultures. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- People sitting comfortably on beanbags indoors. Some are reclined with their eyes shut. A few wear face masks and one person also has their eyes covered by a blanket. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- At Creative Access & Inclusion Lab, artist Raquel Mesenguer connected people in-person with those online using a ‘hand dance’ workshop. online using a ‘hand dance’ workshop. This photo is of a participant performing a hand dance to someone on Zoom. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- At Creative Access & Inclusion Lab, artist Raquel Mesenguer connected people in-person with those online using a ‘hand dance’ workshop. This photo is of a participant performing a hand dance to someone on Zoom. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- A screenshot of a Zoom call showing a screen share which reads “I have found it very helpful to talk about access in terms of magic”. On the side, you can see a few of the Zoom attendees. One is reclined on the sofa, while another sits in front of a purple outer space themed virtual background, while another is eating dinner!
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- Screenshot of Ebony Rose Dark at the Remote Access Party. Ebony is a visually impaired performance artist. Here, she performs an audio description drama where she is dancing while completely covered head to toe in a pink sheet.
On the first day, ‘Inclusion In Action’, we held a hybrid (in-person + via Zoom) Creative Access & Inclusion Lab to share ideas and activities based on disability cultures. In the evening, we moved online for a Remote Access Party: a virtual nightlife party celebrating the magic and wisdom of disability communities.
Day 2: Making It Sensory: How can we make digital experiences sensory, warm and engaging?
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- A photo of Linda Brothwell pouring several cups of Knowle West tea using a handmade gold wire tea strainer. She has a laptop of Zoom callers in front of her, who were invited to listen to an audio experience while the people in person drank tea. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- A hand holding a handmade gold wire tea strainer. This tea strainer is part of a pack called ‘Tools for Tea’ designed by Linda Brothwell in collaboration with local Knowle West growers. The pack contains the tools, materials, and instructions to make the tea strainer yourself, as well as a blend of Knowle West tea created and grown in Knowle. Photo by Ibi Feher.
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- Photo of a virtual cookalong with Grizedale Arts associate artist Motoko Fujita. Ingredients by Square Food Foundation.
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- Screenshot of a Zoom screen-sharing a presentation slide titled ‘what do we mean by utopia?’ Jae Tallawah can be seen talking next to it from their bedroom.
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- Photo of a local Knowle Wester on a Zoom call with a stranger as part of No Such Thing x Bristol Edition by Quarantine. He has a menu of conversation starters next to him, ranging from things like ‘what was the smell of lockdown?’ to ‘who should we let in?’ He is also holding a cup of the local Knowle West herbal tea, which the stranger on Zoom is also drinking.
On Day 2, ‘Making It Sensory’, we explored how to engage each of our senses inside digital + hybrid spaces. We connected over tea, both in-person and virtually with commissioned artist Linda Brothwell, explored multi-sensory utopias with Jae Tallawahfrom MAIA Group, had conversations with strangers as part of Quarantine’s ‘No Such Thing’, and had a virtual cook-a-long with Motoko Fujita of Grizedale Arts with ingredient packs for BS4 residents specially prepared by Square Food Foundation.
People were also invited to have a cuppa and enjoy ‘Listen, I’m Here For You’, an audio experience by commissioned artist Michelle Roche. You can still call this free number 01174631815 to hear a 23 min audio experience. Alternatively, listen to the audio here.
Day 3: Imagining for Real: How can we mix tools to include everyone in neighbourhood visioning?
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- Photo of Malcolm’s Balance box in front of a Zoom call showing a demonstration of how to use it. The box has flags, springs, wooden cutouts, coloured card, etc. all representing different parts of a neighbourhood. Photo by Ella Chedburn.
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- Cardboard cutouts, wooden pieces, plasticine, and mirror pieces being prepared for Balance boxes. Photo by Ella Chedburn.
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- Photo of a laptop with, ‘a different future?’ written on the screen. This is part of Phoebe Tickell’s Impossible Train Story which tells the story of the pandemic through the metaphor of an impossible train. In front of the screen is a clear crystal and a silk scarf, as attendees were invited to bring objects which help them to enter an imaginative and magical headspace.
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- Photo of three people playing with mini wooden blocks on a table outdoors, reconfiguring them into different shapes. The blocks are a pale beige colour with their sides painted black. Behind them in front of a larger structure which looks just like the mini blocks only bigger!
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- Claire Innes of We Can Make shows drop in attendees how Block West’s blocks can be attached and reconfigured.
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- A group of people about to enter a half-built home by We Can Make. It is one storey and covered with black fabric and scaffolding. In front of it are long planks of wood.
On the third day, ‘Imagining for Real’, we spent the day playing, building and neighbourhood imagining both in-person and virtually. Online, we reimagined our local neighbourhoods using Balance boxes with commissioned artist Malcolm Hamilton of Play:Disrupt then explored possible futures with illustrator Phoebe Tickell. In person, We Can Make showed us how neighbourhood planning has taken shape through their homes built in gardens across Knowle West. We were also invited to play with mini blocks of the Block West pavilion, which was co-created with the community using digital fabrication technology during lockdown.
Inspired by Day 3’s theme of ‘Imagining for Real’, you can still listen to a newly recorded ‘Conversation for Change’ with Onion Collective and We Can Make (38 mins) below. Hear more about how communities can make the impossible possible. Discover how creative approaches and a mix of digital + physical tools and spaces can mean that everyone is included in neighbourhood planning, dreaming, imagining, making. Press the play button to listen:
Want to hear more about Block West? Watch a video about how Block West was made in collaboration with community members HERE. Artist and dancer Tim Lytc also created a dance film inspired by the making of Block West. Watch Tim Lytc’s film ‘Assembling’ HERE including audio from community members about our approach to neighbourhood planning.
Day 4: Claiming the Right to Rest: How can we use ‘hybrid’ to access spaces of rest & wellbeing
The final day of the Weekender, ‘Claiming the Right to Rest’, was a chance to pause and claim our right to rest. We re-grounded in nature with commissioned artist Emma Blake Morsi by listening to a meditative outdoor soundscape, making our own photo collages (at KWMC and via Zoom) and then for those at KWMC we all walked together to the Roundhouse in Springfield Allotments to chat over hot winter veg soup, whilst those online listened to a special walk soundscape. What a lovely way to end the Come Together Weekender!
You can experience the outdoors yourself without leaving your home. Listen to a 13 minute chat between artist Emma Blake Morsi & local walker Vince, mixed with the soothing sounds of Knowle West’s green spaces. Recorded & edited by sound artist Keziah Wenham-Kenyon. Listen by clicking the play button below:
Recorded especially for the weekender you can also still listen to this ‘Resourcing Rest’ conversation with Euella Jackson and Roseanna Dias. Produced by Will Taylor. Get comfortable, settle back, lie down if you’re able to, and enjoy a 40 minute conversation exploring what we need to create collective spaces of rest. Asking: What are the spaces that make us feel good? How can we resource and hold these spaces with care? Can digital tools can help create inclusive spaces for connection and community wellbeing? Listen by clicking the play button below:
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Come Together Weekender and helped to make the four days so special. We will be compiling an archive of documentation and resources into a brand new Come Together website, watch this space for a link in Spring 2022!
The Come Together Artist Cohort
In July 2021, we commissioned a cohort of four artists: Ant Lightfoot, Linda Brothwell, Malcolm Hamilton, and Emma Blake Morsi; and two digital storytellers: Mary Flora Hart and Michelle Roche. They each have different lived experiences, that they were excited to bring to the project, and are at varying stages of their career. Together with the local Knowle West community they explored new ways of connecting through a mix of digital and physical approaches and tools. They also developed relationships with our national partners across the country (Onion Collective, Maia group and Grizedale Arts) and shared their projects and learnings at the Come Together Weekender.
Commissioned Artist Cohort for Come Together 2021
Inspiring the Come Together Artist Cohort
Throughout July 2021, the cohort attended workshops exploring how to create more inclusive and accessible ‘hybrid’ spaces that mix the digital and physical.
These included, a Proxy Politics workshop led by artists Arjun Harrison-Mann and Kaiya Waerea, exploring perspectives on access through creating DIY harnesses for video calling devices, as well as a workshop in ‘Creating Inclusive Hybrid Spaces’ co-facilitated by John Kelly and KWMC with special guests from: Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists and Access all Areas.
The cohort joined local residents in re-imagining Filwood Broadway using an augmented reality experience called ‘Future Places Toolkit’ created by Uninvited Guests, which pictured everything from ‘’more community benches’’ to ‘’hoverboards’’.
Alongside this, the cohort developed practical skills in Soundtrap and live broadcasting, as well as integrating online collaboration tools such as Miro, Jamboard and Padlet.
In-keeping with Come Together’s theme of ‘hybrid’, all physical workshops have been accessible digitally through Zoom as well as in person. Even the outdoor Tree Walk by local resident Jim Smith was made hybrid, with video callers being strapped into a DIY harness to experience the walk virtually!
Come Together Summer Workshops
Come Together summer workshops and resources for you to enjoy…
‘Creating Inclusive Hybrid Spaces’ with John Kelly, Eilis Bevan-Davies, Helen Bryer and Adam Smith
We explored how to create inclusive hybrid (virtual plus in person) spaces and experiences with Diverse City, Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists, and Access All Areas. Watch a clip of Helen Bryer and Adam Smith’s presentation here (co-directors of Still Here)
‘Creative tools for remote collaboration: How To Use Miro’ with Fiona Dowling
We learned how to collaborate using Miro, a free online whiteboarding platform where a group can add digital sticky notes, drawing tools, etc. It runs inside your web browser and all you need to join is an email address. Watch Fiona’s 32 minute tutorial here.
‘Connecting through audio experiences: How To Use Soundtrap’ with Mike Moast
We learned how to use Soundtrap, an online digital audio workstation that allows users to create music or podcasts for free, a great tool for creating audio for hybrid experiences. It runs inside your web browser and all you need to join is an email address. Watch Mike’s 11 minute tutorial here.
‘Creativity and Care’ with Josephine Gyasi and Roseanna Dias
We reflected on what care means to us, what we and others need to feel cared for, and how we can embed practices of care into our work. Josephine and Roseanna shared their ‘Creativity + Care’ project, watch their 12 minute presentation about it here and read more here.
‘Future Places Toolkit: Augmented Reality Experience’ with Uninvited Guests
We joined local residents in re-imagining Filwood Broadway using an augmented reality experience called ‘Future Places Toolkit’ created by Uninvited Guests, which pictured everything from ‘’more community benches’’ to ‘’hoverboards’’.
‘Live Streaming and Running Hybrid Events’ with Lewis Campbell
We learned how to set up hybrid events where people can join both virtually and in person. Lewis shared which equipment and software to use as well as how to assemble it. Watch Lewis’ 54 minute tutorial here.
‘Proxy Politics: Making and Unmaking Perspectives on Access’ with Arjun Harrison-Mann and Kaiya Waerea
Arjun and Kaiya led us through different prompts for activities that invited us to see our domestic spaces from new perspectives, think broadly about the social model of disability and the politics of acting as a proxy for someone else through using the Proxy Protest tools.
Knowle West Tree Walk with local resident Jim Smith
‘Filwood Tree Champion’ Jim Smith guided us through the Northern Slopes. Jim spoke about the trees, local life and history of Knowle West. We met other local walkers who shared their experiences, and streamed our walk live on Zoom using a DIY harness from the ‘Proxy Politics’ workshop above. View our Miro board documentation here
Project Night
In June we hosted a special ‘Come Together’ themed Project Night where invited guests Anagram gave us the opportunity to experience an immersive hybrid work called Messages to a Post Human Earth. They shared how they made the work, for people to connect in local parks during lockdown, and give an insight into their process.
'Come Together' Hybrid Project Night, June 2021
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- Participating in Anagram’s interactive audio experience, ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Participating in Anagram’s interactive audio experience, ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Participating in Anagram’s interactive audio experience, ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Participating in Anagram’s interactive audio experience, ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’, at our Project Night in June 2021. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Participating in Anagram’s interactive audio experience, ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Arts Producer Georgia Hall chatting to the online Zoom audience at our hybrid Project Night. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Hybrid set-up for real-life audience and virtual Zoom audience. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Hybrid set-up for real-life audience and virtual Zoom audience. Image by Ibi Feher.
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- Hybrid set-up for real-life audience and virtual Zoom audience. Our guest speaker, Anagram, were speaking on Zoom about their interactive audio experience ‘Messages to a Post Human Earth’. Image by Ibi Feher.
Five Questions: ‘Coming Together In and Out of a Pandemic’
Throughout this project, members of the Knowle West and KWMC community shared how they came together during the pandemic. These recordings act as an introduction to our community and a way to inspire how we might stay connected in the future.
by Georgia Hall, Arts Producer at KWMC
by Ella Chedburn, Programme Assistant at KWMC
by Martha King, Arts Programme Manager at KWMC
by Ant Lightfoot, Commissioned Artist for Come Together at KWMC
by Emma Blake Morsi, Commissioned Artist for Come Together at KWMC
by Mary Flora Hart, Commissioned Digital Storyteller for Come Together at KWMC
by Don Jones, Knowle West’s local gardener
More information
Are you an artist or creative technologist making inspiring hybrid work? We would love to hear from you. Email martha.king@kwmc.org.uk
The call out opportunity for Artist Commissions (Artist Brief) and Digital Storyteller (Digital Storyteller Brief) has now passed.
Credits
The ‘Come Together’ project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Funders
