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A group of people wearing brightly coloured clothes sit in an informal circle on a patch of grass. They appear to be listening to a speaker, a black man wearing a dark jacket and dark trousers. In the background there is green foliage.

With For About

4th Dec 2015 — 17th Jun 2020
Project Details
Categories
  • Collectivity

#WithForAbout

A different kind of conference. Each year we invite colleagues and comrades from the UK and beyond to the town of St Helens to discuss, the role of art in the modern world.

  • What is the role of art and artists in civil society?
  • What are the fierce and urgent questions facing collaborative and social art today?
  • What is the potential of collaborative art, with and within community and social contexts?

With For About is a moment for public critical reflection and a chance to explore some of the tensions and challenges in our work and in this field of practice.

Read about previous conferences below:

2020

With For About 2020

A slow conference for a fast evolving crisis, With For About 2020 responded to the additional challenges that Covid-19 creates for many marginalised people and communities. Heart of Glass’ 5th annual conference, it was curated by Cecilia Wee and the vacuum cleaner.

Visit the website to watch a series of discussions from the event.

A group of East Asian audience members wear face masks and white overalls. A person whispers into the ear of another person who is holding a performance text. Other audience members watch.

With For About 2020

27th May — 17th Jun 2020
Categories
  • Collectivity,
  • Care
A slow virtual conference for a fast moving crisis.
Read More

2019

With For About: Art & Democracy

The fourth annual With For About conference was held on 23rd May 2019 and asked:

"Is art, and the making of art, the last frontier in the fight for democracy and the realisation of civil society?"

A double glazed window is framed by curtains and a cushioned seat that are patterned in colours of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks. On the window, post its read 'Intro, Story Sharing, Response, Exchange, Converge Insights' - a red arrow points to 'story sharing'. Behind the window there is a bowling green of green grass.

With For About 2019: Art and Democracy

23rd May 2019
Where
Ravenhead Social Club, Alexandra Drive, St Helens, WA10 3JH
Categories
  • Collectivity
The politics of our times have presented us with an unprecedented moment of re-evaluation. Our communities, our values, our social structures are in flux.
Read More

2018

With for About: Making a Meal of It

In April 2019, over 120 participants were invited to collectively produce a dinner course, present it in a meaningful way; document the process and the event; contribute to discussion; submit a page for publication.

Facilitated by artists Joshua Sofaer, idle women, Claire Weetman, Chrissie Tiller, Mark Storor, Eggs Collective, Cathy Cross and Heather Morison, this was a special edition of our With For About conference series. This event was the fifth Staging Post of the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme (CAPP) - an ambitious transnational cultural programme focusing on the dynamic area of collaborative arts across Europe.

A large group of people gather around two long tables in the centre of a large hall. The walls of the hall are white and there are 5 large and ornate windows that reveal a dusky sky.

With for About 2018: Making a Meal of It

17th Apr — 18th Apr 2018
Categories
  • Collectivity
A special edition of our With For About conference, where we hosted the fifth Staging Post of the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme (CAPP), an ambitious transnational cultural programme focusing on the dynamic area of collaborative arts across Europe.
Read More
A large group of people gather around two long tables in the centre of a large hall. The walls of the hall are white and there are 5 large and ornate windows that reveal a dusky sky.
With For About: Making A Meal of It, 2018. Image credit: Stephen King.
Two people sitting at a table hug intensely. One wears a blue hat and buries their head in the shoulder of the other. Behind them the room is full of people sitting at long tables.
A person in camouflage trousers and black boots is wearing a blackboard sandwich board and standing at the end of a table. The blackboard reads 'When you buy from a small business you're not helping a CEO buy a third holiday home you're helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy his team shirt, Mam's and Dad's put food on the table. Shop Local.' There are people sat at the table reading the blackboard.

2017

With for About: Art, Activism & Community

In May 2017 we partnered with Axisweb, idle women and Chrissie Tiller to host the second iteration of the conference With For About.

In the middle of a large room with wooden beams and dividers a man stands throwing a cloud of jigsaw pieces and glitter in to the air above his head. An audience look in to the air towards the cloud, some smiling.

With For About 2017: Art, Activism & Community

2nd May 2017
Categories
  • Collectivity
In May 2017 we hosted the second iteration of our conference series With For About. Sixteen speakers / provocateurs and 100 participants explored collaboration, language and our role as artists, producers and commissioners in an ever-changing socio-political landscape.
Read More

2015

With for About

For our first With For About, 73 artists, producers, caretakers, educators, participants and commissioners gathered to talk and share ideas in St Helens Town Hall. The event aimed to create a space to explore validation, working in context, public art and publics and approaches to professional development.

A crowd of people are gathered underneath a huge castle made of cardboard. It is a sunny warm day with blue skies. The castle sits in front of a large Town Hall building.

With For About 2015: Conversations About Collaboration

4th Dec 2015
Categories
  • Collectivity
Heart of Glass and Axisweb are delighted to present an exciting professional development and networking opportunity for artists, producers and creatives interested in the field of social and collaborative arts practice.
Read More
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