Join us for a day of interactive, exploratory learning hosted by five leading practitioners – artists, makers, writers, land guardians and natural builders.
Together, we will trace how everyday resources like clay, sugar, timber, and banana plants fuelled unequal colonial trades between the UK and the Caribbean, and explore how they have shaped our material world – from the food we eat to the buildings we make. Working with our bodies and our minds we will imagine and inhabit future worlds in which these relationships and processes are reconfigured.
The journey of these plants and minerals to materials, is complex. It involves fractured communities, disrupted ecosystems, and colonial trade routes that have shaped how we relate to the spaces and places we inhabit. What do we not know that we should? And how do we honour land and material through regenerative practices?
Throughout the day you can expect workshops, grounding and reflections on the alternative, impressive and just use of these plants and minerals. You will be in community with experienced facilitators, fellow participants, and the Material Cultures team
This day is supported by the re:arc institute.
PROGRAMME
09:40 – 10:00 – Arrival
10:00 – 11:00 - Welcome
11:00 – 13:30 – Workshop 1*
13:30 – 14:30 – Lunch
14:30 – 17:00 – Workshop 2*
17:00 – 17:30 – Reflections & End
Breaks are scheduled throughout the workshops. Light refreshments will be provided on-site, however lunch will not be provided. We recommend that you bring your own lunch where possible as there are limited options near Tipping Poing East.
There are five different workshops running throughout the day. Each workshop will be offered once in the morning session and repeated in the afternoon session. As a participant, you will attend one workshop in the morning and a different workshop in the afternoon. These session include:
- CLAY PLASTERING with Annabel Cameron-Duff - Learn about the use of clay in the UK and take part in a practical workshop understanding the natural building technique of clay plastering (using a mix of clay, sand and plant fibres), known for its breathability and low carbon nature.
- WEAVING with Mollie McMillen - How much do we think about the banana plant and it's properties? Explore the notion of an everyday material and our epic distance from it's source in tropical countries. Weave with banana fibres and plants foraged from around the site.
- CLAY VESSELS with Bisila Noha - Explore the potential of clay as a life-giving substance. When formed into vessels, what do we choose to carry, protect and enclose?
- WRITING with Sam Siva - We are situated next door to the 140-year old Tate and Lyle Sugar Factory. Take this chance to understand the sugar trade routes from the Caribbean to the UK, and imagine a radically optimistic future through writing.
- BUILD with Resolve Collective - Timber has historically been extracted from the Caribbean after the UK's own timber resources were depleted. Explore the potential of circular economies and radically reimagine infrastructures for community redistribution of materials in this build workshop at Resolve Collective's flagship 'Material Store'.
If you have any questions or special requests for access, please email info@materialcultures.org
Many people are under-represented in land work and construction, and we want to do all we can to help respond to this. We warmly welcome those from underrepresented backgrounds and/or from the global majority to apply.
The deadline for applications is Thursday 18 June, with participants notified w/c Monday 22 June.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- THE SITE: Tipping Point East (TPE) is the largest climate futures centre in the UK, established by Yes Make, Material Cultures and RESOLVE Collective. Link here for more information about the site.
- ACCESS: All of the workshops will be held in the TPE Site. Some of the workshops will be held on rough or bumpy terrain. Reach out to us if you would like more information and photos in order to assess together whether the site is accessible. There are two toilets on the site which have a small, raised lip at the entrance. Currently neither have handrails but we can accommodate for wheelchairs users.
- TRANSPORTATION: Material Cultures is rooted in a low-carbon approach so please travel to the workshop by public or shared transport if you can. TPE is a 5-minute walk from the Pontoon Dock DLR station.
