FACT

Introducing a new three-part podcast series in which we hear from those who have direct experiences of the UK justice system and educators, alongside artists who have contributed to the multiyear art and research project, Resolution. FACT identifies the justice system as a collection of statutory, non-statutory and charitable agencies and organisations, with some responsible for upholding the law and some created to support justice-affected communities. Launched in 2019, Resolution expanded on FACT's long history of working within the justice system, inviting four artists to collaborate with participants from prisons across Liverpool, Rochdale and York to create new artworks. The aim of the project is to explore how art can affect public attitudes and influence decision-making. Working alongside Liverpool John Moores University, over four years, our Learning team and invited artists have collaborated with imprisoned people, staff members, and those who influence decision-makers.In Resolution, all artworks are presented in the gallery as part of our major exhibitions programme, and outputs and learnings are shared with relevant expert audiences: imprisoned participants, researchers, criminologists, and government representatives. In a three-part podcast series, the project participants expand on their understanding of the justice system, the impact they are trying to create through their day-to-day work, and the potential positive outcomes of such projects.In the final episode of the series, Helena returns to discuss the impact of her work, alongside other artistic and educational projects that are happening in and around Liverpool. Melanie and Rosie offer additional insights on Resolution. Host Paul also takes a moment to expand on his personal story, detailing how his life “has been transformed from offender to PhD student.” Mentions of those who are or have been imprisoned have had their names changed for confidentiality. Please be aware that some episodes contain mentions of abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and trauma. They are mentioned as part of the professional experience of one of the participants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing a new three-part podcast series in which we hear from those who have direct experiences of the UK justice system and educators, alongside artists who have contributed to the multiyear art and research project, Resolution. FACT identifies the justice system as a collection of statutory, non-statutory and charitable agencies and organisations, with some responsible for upholding the law and some created to support justice-affected communities. Launched in 2019, Resolution expanded on FACT's long history of working within the justice system, inviting four artists to collaborate with participants from prisons across Liverpool, Rochdale and York to create new artworks. The aim of the project is to explore how art can affect public attitudes and influence decision-making. Working alongside Liverpool John Moores University, over four years, our Learning team and invited artists have collaborated with imprisoned people, staff members, and those who influence decision-makers.In Resolution, all artworks are presented in the gallery as part of our major exhibitions programme, and outputs and learnings are shared with relevant expert audiences: imprisoned participants, researchers, criminologists, and government representatives. In a three-part podcast series, the project participants expand on their understanding of the justice system, the impact they are trying to create through their day-to-day work, and the potential positive outcomes of such projects.Episode 2 begins to highlight the outcomes of Resolution from two artists who have worked on the project — Melanie Crean and Katrina Palmer. The artists discuss the exhibitions presented at FACT and their unique creative approaches. Building on Episode 1, Rosie shares a poem she contributed to Katrina's project, along with the inspiration behind it. Additionally, we hear from Helena, a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, who is reshaping the educational landscape for students and academics who have experiences with the justice system by introducing courses centred around conversation, inclusion, and development.Mentions of those who are or have been imprisoned have had their names changed for confidentiality. Please be aware that some episodes contain mentions of abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and trauma. They are mentioned as part of the professional experience of one of the participants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing a new three-part podcast series in which we hear from those who have direct experiences of the UK justice system and educators, alongside artists who have contributed to the multiyear art and research project, Resolution. FACT identifies the justice system as a collection of statutory, non-statutory and charitable agencies and organisations, with some responsible for upholding the law and some created to support justice-affected communities. Launched in 2019, Resolution expanded on FACT's long history of working within the justice system, inviting four artists to collaborate with participants from prisons across Liverpool, Rochdale and York to create new artworks. The aim of the project is to explore how art can affect public attitudes and influence decision-making. Working alongside Liverpool John Moores University, over four years, our Learning team and invited artists have collaborated with imprisoned people, staff members, and those who influence decision-makers.In Resolution, all artworks are presented in the gallery as part of our major exhibitions programme, and outputs and learnings are shared with relevant expert audiences: imprisoned participants, researchers, criminologists, and government representatives. In a three-part podcast series, the project participants expand on their understanding of the justice system, the impact they are trying to create through their day-to-day work, and the potential positive outcomes of such projects.In Episode 1, we're introduced to podcast host, Paul, who has direct experiences of the UK justice system. Having experienced imprisonment himself, he has also dedicated nine years to supporting incarcerated men within the system. Paul welcomes Dave to the podcast, a prison officer at Altcourse in Liverpool, and Rosie, a probation officer based in Liverpool since she started her career in the 1980's. Both discuss the dehumanising effect that the justice system can have on already marginalised individuals, sharing personal anecdotes and reflecting on their experiences of working within the system.Mentions of those who are or have been imprisoned have had their names changed for confidentiality. Please be aware that some episodes contain mentions of abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and trauma. They are mentioned as part of the professional experience of one of the participants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to the personal stories and reflections of Alex, Mel and Luke - three young people who are currently being treated for cancer or who recently completed cancer treatment - as they share their unique perspectives in this experimental podcast produced by DOMES FM in collaboration with The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's Teenage and Young Adult Service.In 2022, FACT began a new partnership with The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre led by FACT's learning team. This collaboration invites artists to work with young people and staff at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to create artworks that delve into contemporary issues and draw from lived experiences. The initial outcome of this collaboration is a dynamic podcast created by three young participants – Alex, Mel, and Luke – along with artists from Domes FM, namely Tom Lye and Maeve Devine. Domes FM is a vibrant art and dance radio station housed at Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre in Prenton, Wirral. Through a series of workshops, Tom and Maeve introduced their artistic approach centred on facilitating rest, promoting active listening, and exploring innovative sound techniques. This allowed the participants to shed their preconceptions of what a podcast might be and to embrace the techniques found in experimental sound art.The participants discovered that this fresh approach created a different kind of space, providing a unique platform for them to share their stories. As they experimented with DJing, Ableton, sound and field recording, and interview techniques, Alex, Mel and Luke steered conversations on their own terms and discussed topics that were important to them.As you tune in, you'll encounter a fusion of distorted sounds from the ward interwoven with the voices of the young people. They capture candid conversations during routine procedures like blood pressure checks, reflect on experiences such as finding the right hair salon to shave your head, and recount poignant moments, including their involvement in outdoor charity events. The podcast concludes with an energetic segment showcasing their newfound DJ and audio skills with a catchy remixed bop about Crocs!This podcast served as an opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in artistic and creative practices while also sharing personal stories and exchanging experiences. It underscores the significance of storytelling in relation to wellbeing and provides a new space for Alex, Mel, and Luke to share their unique perspectives on their own terms.The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Arts in Health programme offers a range of creative activities and performances for patients as well as a collection of artwork to enhance the environment of their centres. The Arts Programme has been made possible through kind donations to Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BTS! Red Velvet! How is K-pop reaching all corners of the world? Discover the power of the popular Korean music genre, K-pop in a special K-Podcast. Join our special guest panellists to explore what K-Pop means to them. Alongside an energy filled K-pop dance tutorial, K-Podcast is the result of a collaboration between Yaloo, University of Liverpool's K-pop Society and a group of young people from Liverpool. Expanding on the themes of Yaloo's installation in the current exhibition My Garden, My Sanctuary, the young people share their views and critique of popular culture and social media, and how they craft and embody digital identities.Discussing all things K-pop, this special episode features South Korean visual artist Yaloo, FACT's 2022 Curator in Residence, Carrie Chan; Senior Lecturer of Music at the University of Liverpool, Dr. Haekyung Um; Learning Manager at FACT, Lucía Arias and University of Liverpool K-pop Society members Anna Franco and David Hitchmough. Also joining the discussion are members of Unity Youth Club K-pop Group: Mia Deakin (SpongeBob), Magda Felipa DeFreitas Mendoca (Dori), Iesha Deakin (Anemone), Sofia Rose Deakin (Seaweed) and Donnaya Panton (DD) as talk about what they like about K-pop and social media. Love all things K-pop? Get moving and try out our K-pop dance tutorial here! And don't forget to join us for a special K-pop Celebration event on Saturday 24 September! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the third and final episode of our podcast series, Gaining Ground, hosted by our curator-in-residence, Annie Jael Kwan. In this episode, Annie chats with artist duo Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, whose work is currently on display at FACT in an exhibition called Future Ages Will Wonder. Both Gaining Ground and Future Ages Will Wonder are supported by Artsformation. To find out more information about this podcast series, the exhibition or us, visit our website fact.co.uk

Welcome to the second episode of our new podcast series, Gaining Ground, hosted by our curator-in-residence, Annie Jael Kwan. In this episode, Annie chats with Youngsook Chi and Taey Iohe of collective Breakwater, whose work is currently on display at FACT in an exhibition called Future Ages Will Wonder. Both Gaining Ground and Future Ages Will Wonder are supported by Artsformation. To find out more information about this podcast series, the exhibition or us, visit our website fact.co.uk

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast series, Gaining Ground, hosted by our curator-in-residence, Annie Jael Kwan. In this first episode, Annie chats with artists Yarli Allison and Boedi Widjaja whose work is currently on display at FACT in an exhibition called Future Ages Will Wonder. Both Gaining Ground and Future Ages Will Wonder are supported by Artsformation. To find out more information about this podcast series, the exhibition or us, visit our website fact.co.uk

A core question for FACT, from our work with artists and participants, has been around the idea of trust. How is trust built and exchanged in digital spaces? In his role as artist-in-residence on FACT's Board of Trustees, Jack Tan explores how trust exists as representation and as performance, asking how it is enacted between staff, trustees, funders and audiences?For this online event, Jack has invited Rachel Higham, Chair of FACT's Board of Trustees, to discuss how we build, maintain and explore trust through organisational work and policy-making. Also joining the conversation will be Jane Wentworth, bringing her extensive experience working within cultural institutions to refine their brand and embody their values.Performing Trust is part of Framework for Trust, a week of events and collection of resources created by artists-in-residence at FACT around the topic of trust. This online event is also part of the Transformer Summit: an international series of online conversations, interventions and workshops that look at how art can explore the social, cultural, economic and political benefits of digital transformation. The Transformer Summit is presented by FACT Liverpool, transmediale and Waag Amsterdam and is part of Artsformation, a research project exploring the intersection between arts, society and technology. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

A core question for FACT, from our work with artists and participants, has been around the idea of trust. How is trust built and exchanged in digital spaces? In his role as artist-in-residence on FACT's Board of Trustees, Jack Tan explores how trust exists as representation and as performance, asking how it is enacted between staff, trustees, funders and audiences?For this online event, Jack has invited Rachel Higham, Chair of FACT's Board of Trustees, to discuss how we build, maintain and explore trust through organisational work and policy-making. Also joining the conversation will be Jane Wentworth, bringing her extensive experience working within cultural institutions to refine their brand and embody their values.Performing Trust is part of Framework for Trust, a week of events and collection of resources created by artists-in-residence at FACT around the topic of trust. This online event is also part of the Transformer Summit: an international series of online conversations, interventions and workshops that look at how art can explore the social, cultural, economic and political benefits of digital transformation. The Transformer Summit is presented by FACT Liverpool, transmediale and Waag Amsterdam and is part of Artsformation, a research project exploring the intersection between arts, society and technology.

Reaching across time zones and geographical regions, artist in residence Angela YT Chan and curator Annie Jael Kwan, have co-created an experimental audio work that explores their shared fascination with liquidity.The piece weaves field sound recordings and research into water scarcity and embedded power structures in cultural narratives to examine rising waters and eco-anxiety alongside strategies of hydrofeminism and radical solidarity across borders.This work is made possible by funding from, and is part of, a wider research project funded by the European Union, called Artsformation. Artsformation has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation strand.Angela YT Chan was awarded the Jerwood Arts / FACT Digital Fellowship in 2020. Funded by Jerwood Arts, the annual fellowship and remote residency appoints 3 emerging artists, curators, creative technologists, critical thinkers or cultural activists, from any background, to support their potential as producers of the future.

For Framework for Trust, artist in residency Tessa Norton and artist Shonagh Short have produced a podcast by exchanging voice notes. Their unfolding conversation considers how questions of trust are important to their practice, and asks how learning to trust can offer solutions or create problems. Are artists trusted, or indeed trustworthy?Shonagh Short is a socially engaged artist based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. They make participatory, playful work that uses language in its widest sense, including metaphor and everyday visual language, as a lens to explore class, gender and society. Aesthetically they are influenced by their working-class background, utilising everyday items as materials in order to unpick preconceived notions and distinctions between high and low art, cultural value and societal status. They use humour as a site of resistance from which structural inequalities can be made visible.Tessa Norton is a writer and artist based in West Yorkshire. Her work spans text, publications, performance and events, playfully exploring cosmic and expansive worlds using unlikely theoretical frameworks, like pop music, teen movies and ghost stories. Her publication The Fields Here Are Full of Ghosts was published by Wysing Polyphonic in 2019 and featured in Wysing Arts Centre's 30th anniversary exhibition, All His Ghosts Must Do My Bidding. Her writing has appeared in Tribune, The Wire, Doggerland, The Bad Vibes Club Reader, Corridor 8, LAUGH, Hoax and Art LicksThis podcast is made possible by funding from, and is part of, a wider research project funded by the European Union, called Artsformation. Artsformation has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation strand.Commissioned by FACT, Rituals of Loneliness is produced as part of Young at Art, a participatory arts programme that brings socially engaged arts and creative projects to the older population across the Liverpool Region. It is a partnership between FACT, Open Eye Gallery and National Museums Liverpool and funded by Arts Council England and The Baring Foundation.

In light of the rise in popularity of audio communication such as voice note, immersive narrative podcasts and Club House, Ebun Sodipo and Keiken have collaborated to create an audio piece that invites you on a journey: offering a full-body experience through your imagination with music and sound design by Khidja.The piece explores voice, tone, stories and sound as different modes of audio communication to create our own fleeting and invisible mode of communication and question, where does trust begin?

In this podcast, artist in residence Yambe Tam delivers a guided meditation of her new work Deep Dive (2021). Using sensory and creative technologies, Yambe Tam's work explores the evolution of consciousness in living and artificial beings.The artwork explores the connection between human presence of mind, and the uncertainty of the natural world, following the journey of a whale falling from the surface of the ocean to the seabed. Tracing memories from birth to the construction of a mature identity, to death and the afterlife, the aural prompts connect between and blur human and non-human perceptions. The meditation encourages an inner journey of self-understanding, inviting you to surrender and find comfort in the unfamiliar.Deep Dive (2021) is exhibiting at FACT until 3 October as part of Uncertain Data.

Black Obsidian Sound System: Lisa Amanda Palmer with Nzinger Sounds is the second of two episodes of podcasts produced by Sable Radio with FACT and Liverpool Biennial to accompany the exhibition ‘The Only Good System is a Sound System' by artist collective Black Obsidian Sound System. This episode is a conversation between writer and Deputy Director of the Stephen Lawrence Foundation, Lisa Amanda Palmer, and veteran DJ duo Nzinga Sounds, as they talk about their formation, experiences of being Black women in sound system culture, and their role in the wider Black arts movement in the eighties and nineties. For more information about FACT's programme, head to fact.co.uk

Black Obsidian Sound System: In Focus with TYGAPAW is the first of two episodes of podcasts produced by Sable Radio with FACT and Liverpool Biennial to accompany the exhibition ‘The Only Good System is a Sound System' by artist collective Black Obsidian Sound System. The exhibition can be seen at FACT from 19 May until 28 August 2021.This episode is a conversation between DJ, Curator and Producer TYGAPAW and B.O.S.S. member, writer and filmmaker Deborah Findlater. Stay tuned for the second episode of this podcast, coming soon. You can keep up with B.O.S.S.' work here and TYGAPAW's here. For more information about FACT's programme, head to fact.co.ukCommissioned by Liverpool Biennial for the 11th edition, The Stomach and the Port, curated by Manuela Moscoso.

Framework for Resilience is a three-part series of online conversations which bring together activists, artists, researchers and educators to think about the world we are creating, the world we are destroying, the systems which will fall, and those which should prevail.  In this third and final episode of the series, we discuss migration and adaptation. Host Kayt Hughes (Public Programme Producer at FACT) and mediator Maitreyi Maheshwari (Head of Programme at FACT) and joined by speakers Dr. Ali Meghji (Lecturer, Researcher), Jessica El Mal (Artist) and Niloo Sharifi (Multidisciplinary Artist). In 1990, the United Nations anticipated that ‘the greatest single impact of climate change could be on human migration’ with estimates predicting 200 million ‘climate refugees’ by 2050. While the scientific case for human-caused climate change has gained more certainty, the consequences for populations affected both by meteorological and political factors remain unpredictable. The disparity between countries and populations that had been a legacy of colonialism is becoming more pronounced as the effects of climate change are not contained within the borders of any single country. Whether motivated by need, opportunity or force, human mobility has been an inherent part of the human experience for millennia. As people move and adapt to new environments, how is our sense of self affected by the perspectives offered by distance away from a ‘home’ and across settled generations? Our sense of self is often located in ideas of place and narratives drawn from history and biology, creating a tension between our desire to assimilate and belong somewhere or to preserve our origins. How might digital spaces create alternative definitions of community and identities shaped by more fluid notions of belonging? And how can new technologies allow us to adapt to changing ecological conditions? The reading list for this conversation can be found here. ------ ABOUT FRAMEWORK FOR RESILIENCE This online conversation is part of The Living Planet, FACT’s year-long season which focuses on the non-human, and deals with themes such as climate change, ecology and communication, as well as the violence of ‘othering’. This series will inform our programme for the rest of the year which focuses on systems of knowledge and classification in the formation of identity and the exercise of power. They also form part of Artsformation, a research project which seeks to identify new ways of working, specifically at the intersection between art, society and technology, to overcome current social crises including justice, democracy and climate. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The title for these sessions is taken from the artwork, PESTS, by Shonagh Short. Commissioned by FACT in 2020 for FACT Together. ABOUT DR. ALI MEGHJI Dr Ali Meghji is a Lecturer in Social Inequalities in the department of sociology, Cambridge. He is the director for the MPhil in marginality and exclusion, the course organiser for SOC12 Empire, colonialism, imperialism, and the chair of 'Decolonising sociology’. Currently, Ali’s predominant research interests lie in bridging the epistemological, methodological, and empirical divergences between critical race theory and decolonial thought. Through this research, Ali intends to balance the study of national racialised social systems with the global process of coloniality. ABOUT JESSICA EL MAL Jessica El Mal is an English-Moroccan creative dedicated to valuing time, care and human connection in everything she works on. With a particular interest in ecology and migration, her work is both deeply personal and yet draws on the universality of the human experience through a balance of digital techniques, aesthetics and interaction. The work tends to address global structures of power through critical research, multidisciplinary projects, and speculative future imaginaries often centered around collaboration, co-curation and collective knowledge systems. Her current project ‘The Digital Forest’ commissioned by Signal Film and Media, Grizedale Arts and The Forestry Commission, explores how the online space can open up opportunities for sensory experiences of nature for black and brown communities. She also runs an art and nature group for migrant, asylum seeker and refugee artists called ‘This Garden Group’ which consists of workshops in a range of natural spaces, a peer support group and a public facing program to critique the role of botany in colonialism. Jessica's most recent exhibition Grounds for Concern exhibited at MAMA Rotterdam, challenged the authority of man-made borders through a digital installation and workshops, and her FACT Together digital commission has just gone live (see www.visionsofafuture.com). Previous projects have been with Manchester International Festival and Journey’s Festival International, as well as many collaborations with non-arts organisations such as the Collegium for Language in a Changing Society, Let’s Keep Growing Longsite, Furness Refugee Support. ABOUT NILOO SHARIFI Niloo Sharifi is a multidisciplinary artist from Liverpool, making collaborative works that facilitate polyphony. Her most recent work is the-magic-tree.co.uk, a digital piece that transforms by merging with pictures uploaded by visitors. The idea is to see what emerges when you let everyone speak; the same ethos informed the curation of the Liverpool chapter of the Goethe Institut’s Arrival City.

Framework for Resilience is a three-part series of online conversations which bring together activists, artists, researchers and educators to think about the world we are creating, the world we are destroying, the systems which will fall, and those which should prevail. In this second episode of the series, we start from a collection of questions of how we engage with time, land and ownership: What happens if we consider that the very earth and trees, as well as non-sentient beings like AI and stones, have rights? How can we understand time and consequence differently: understanding that indigenous deaths caused climate change in 1600, and prevent the repeating of history? How do we peacefully transform a racialised colonial system which values the very commodities which are destroying lives, bodies, and lands? Episode host Dr. Nicola Triscott (Director/CEO of FACT) and mediator Helen Starr (Curator), and gathered speakers Jack Tan (Artist), Himali Singh Soin (Writer, Artist) and Nabil Ahmed (Artist, Educator), consider how Western principles do not allow for ethical collaboration between beings, focusing rather on exploitation and one-sided gains. They instead explore how indigenous approaches might influence the way we establish ideas of kinship, and open up our sense of community to include other forms of existence, particularly in the future. If we approach the world with a different sense of time, and with empathy for all modes of existence, we might be able to create new forms of collaboration and notions of belonging. The reading list for this conversation can be found here. ------ ABOUT FRAMEWORK FOR RESILIENCE This online conversation is part of The Living Planet, FACT’s year-long season which focuses on the non-human, and deals with themes such as climate change, ecology and communication, as well as the violence of ‘othering’. This series will inform our programme for the rest of the year which focuses on systems of knowledge and classification in the formation of identity and the exercise of power. They also form part of Artsformation, a research project which seeks to identify new ways of working, specifically at the intersection between art, society and technology, to overcome current social crises including justice, democracy and climate. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The title for these sessions is taken from the artwork, PESTS, by Shonagh Short. Commissioned by FACT in 2020 for FACT Together. ABOUT HELEN STARR Helen is an Afro-Carib curator, producer and cultural activist from Trinidad, WI. She began curating exhibitions with artists such as Susan Hillier, Cindy Sherman and Marcel Duchamp in 1995. Helen founded The Mechatronic Library in 2010, to give marginalised artists access to technologies such as Game Engines, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR). Helen has worked with many public institutions such as Wysing Art Centre, FACT, Liverpool and QUAD in Derby. Being Indigenous-American Helen is interested in how digital artforms transform our understanding of reality by world-building narratives through storytelling and counter-storytelling. How, by “naming one’s own reality” we can experience the Other. Helen has commissioned projects from artists such as Rebecca Allen, Danielle Braithewaite-Shirley, Anna Bunting-Branch, Megan Broadmeadow, Aliyah Hussain and Salma Noor. Helen believes that speculative artworks can give a glimpse of a future filled with hope. Helen is on the board of QUAD, Derby and in 2020 she co-founded DAAD Futurism with Amrita Dhallu and Salma Noor. ABOUT JACK TAN Jack uses law, social norms and customs as a way of making art. He creates performances, sculpture and participatory projects that highlight the rules that guide human behaviour. Jack trained as a lawyer and worked in civil rights NGOs before becoming an artist. His Ph.D research explored legal aesthetics and performance and he co-edits the Art/Law Journal. Recent projects include Four Legs Good (2018) a revival of the medieval animal trials for Compass Festival Leeds and V&A London; his Singapore Biennale presentation Voices From The Courts examining the vocality of the State Courts of Singapore (2016), Law’s Imagination (2016) a curatorial residency at arebyte exploring legal aesthetics; his solo exhibition How to do things with rules (2015) at the ICA Singapore; and Closure (2012), a year-long residency and exhibition at the UK Department for Health looking at the liquidation of their social work quango. Jack has also taught sculpture at the Royal College of Art and University of Brighton, and politics at Goldsmiths. ABOUT HIMALI SINGH SOIN Himali is a writer and artist based between London and Delhi. She uses metaphors from outer space and the natural environment to construct imaginary cosmologies of interferences, entanglements, deep voids, debris, delays, alienation, distance and intimacy. In doing this, she thinks through ecological loss, and the loss of home, seeking shelter somewhere in the radicality of love. Her speculations are performed in audio-visual, immersive environments. Her almanac ‘we are opposite like that’, comprises missing paraphernalia from polar archives, false philosophies, unreliable observations from the ship, love letters, ekphrastic poems, and made-up maps. It marks the culmination of the eponymous interconnected body of work (since 2017) exploring the uninhabited parts of the Arctic and Antarctic circles from the perspective of ice, and its uncanny bearing on the rest of the world. ABOUT NABIL AHMED Nabil Ahmed is a transdisciplinary scholar and writer. He leads INTERPRT, an environmental justice project that investigates and advocates for the criminalisation of ecocide under international law. INTERPRT’s long term research has been exhibited most recently at the Warsaw Biennale/The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Beirut Arts Centre and The Museon museum for science and culture in The Hague. He has written for Third Text, Candide: Journal for Architectural Knowledge, MIT Press, Routledge, Documenta, Volume magazine, Sternberg Press, Mousse Publishing, Scientific Reports, Archeological and Environmental Forensic Science, among others. He holds a PhD from the Centre for Research Architecture He has taught and lectured extensively in the UK and internationally.

Framework for Resilience is a three-part series of online conversations which bring together activists, artists, researchers and educators to think about the world we are creating, the world we are destroying, the systems which will fall, and those which should prevail. In this first episode of the series, we focus on the dismissive and destructive ways colonial powers have overtaken the natural world, extending the same attitudes to those who call these spaces home. Foregrounding the importance of empathy and practices of care, we discuss the effects of taking a more mindful and generous approach to the places we live, and our neighbours. Reframing our role as one of caretakers (of culture, the planet, one another), and encouraging positive action and education, we can begin to see the way to a more inclusive form of co-existence. This episode is hosted by Lesley Taker (Exhibitions Manager at FACT), mediated by Dr. Luiza Prado de O Martins (Artist, Researcher) who are joined by Dr. Edna Bonhomme (Historian, Writer, Interdisciplinary Artist), Céline Semaan-Vernon (Founder of Slow Factory Foundation, Designer, Writer, Activist) and Shonagh Short (Artist, Socially Engaged Practice). The reading list for this conversation can be found here. ------ ABOUT FRAMEWORK FOR RESILIENCE This online conversation is part of The Living Planet, FACT’s year-long season which focuses on the non-human, and deals with themes such as climate change, ecology and communication, as well as the violence of ‘othering’. This series will inform our programme for the rest of the year which focuses on systems of knowledge and classification in the formation of identity and the exercise of power. They also form part of Artsformation, a research project which seeks to identify new ways of working, specifically at the intersection between art, society and technology, to overcome current social crises including justice, democracy and climate. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The title for these sessions is taken from the artwork, PESTS, by Shonagh Short. Commissioned by FACT in 2020 for FACT Together. ABOUT DR LUIZA PRADO DE O MARTIN Dr. Luiza Prado de O. Martins is an artist and researcher whose work examines themes around fertility, reproduction, coloniality, gender, and race. We invited Luiza to mediate the discussion for her extensive speaking experience, and doctoral research interests. In 2019, she was selected as the recipient of the Vilém Flusser Residency for Artistic Research with her project “The Councils of the Pluriversal: Affective Temporalities of Reproduction and Climate Change.” She was also, in 2019, the recipient of the first Dieter Rückhaberle Förderpreis, awarded by the Künstlerhof Frohnau. She is a founding member of Decolonising Design. ABOUT DR EDNA BONHOMME Dr Edna Bonhomme is a writer, historian of science, and cultural worker. She holds a PhD in the History of Science from Princeton University and a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University. As a researcher, Edna’s work interrogates the archaeology of (post)colonial science, embodiment, and surveillance. A central question of her work asks: What makes people sick? She answers this by exploring the spaces and modalities of care and toxicity that shape the possibility for repair. Edna's creative work is guided by decoloniality, care, and African diaspora world making. She has collaborated on and exhibited multimedia projects at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Galerie im Turm, Display Gallery, Savvy Contemporary, and other interdisciplinary spaces. Edna has written for publications such as Africa is a Country, Al Jazeera, analyse & kritik, The Baffler, Der Freitag, The Nation, The New Republic and more. ABOUT CÉLINE SEMAAN-VERNON Céline Semaan-Vernon is a Lebanese-Canadian designer, writer, advocate and public speaker. She is the founder of Slow Factory Foundation, a 501c3 public service organization working at the intersection of environmental and social justice, which produces a conference series promoting sustainability literacy called Study Hall, and the first science-driven incubator in fashion called One X One. She is on the Council of Progressive International, became a Director's Fellow of MIT Media Lab in 2016, and served on the Board of Directors of AIGA NY, a nonprofit membership organization that helps cultivate the future of design in New York City from 2016-2017. ABOUT SHONAGH SHORT Shonagh Short is a socially engaged artist based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. They make participatory, playful work that uses language in its widest sense, including metaphor and everyday visual language, as a lens to explore class, gender and society. Aesthetically they are influenced by their working-class background, utilising everyday items as materials in order to unpick preconceived notions and distinctions between high and low art, cultural value and societal status. They use humour as a site of resistance from which structural inequalities can be made visible. They have been artist-in-residence on the Limehurst estate in Oldham since 2016, they have also completed residencies for Kahoon Projects and the Nasty Women International Art Prize and have exhibited work at galleries across the UK.

Re:Formed is a new commission by queer, disabled artists Tammy Reynolds and Natalia Bedkowska and queer audio describer, Dot Alma for FACT Together. Their work looks at accessibility not just as a basic right, but as a radical creative practice. Re:Formed exists on the FACT website as an accessible online photography gallery and series of conversations between the artists, made into a podcast. The work explores how access can be produced within the same space, and with the same intent, of the artwork to which it refers. Working together as queer practitioners, the trio forms a relationship of exchange, reclaiming the gaze so often used against them - through a process of mutual trust, and collective learning.

Celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day with us! Acclaimed ecological field recordist and musician Geoff Sample joins with Daniel Thorne, saxophonist, composer and founder of the Immix Ensemble, to create a sonic reimagining of the dawn chorus. Using musical instruments, Thorne will respond to Sample's recordings of different landscapes and the birds that inhabit them - from woodlands to wetlands, to parks and cities - echoing the call and response of the morning symphonies we hear every day. This project is part of The Living Planet, a free online programme that explores our relationship with the natural world. To find out more, visit fact.co.uk/thelivingplanet

FACT and a-n present Precarity in the Arts. Listen to Julie Lomax, CEO of a-n The Artists Information Company, and Emily Speed, Artist and Chair of a-n Artists Council, in conversation with artists in Liverpool on the ongoing debate about precarious work in the field of contemporary art. FACT is a leading visual arts organisation, based in Liverpool, that makes internationally exceptional art, science and technology projects that radically explore society and its most pressing issues. a-n initiated the Paying Artists campaign and is the largest professional membership organisation for visual artists in the UK with over 24,000 members. This discussion was recorded live and took place at FACT on Tuesday 30 July 2019.