Saturday 14 June 2025
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What is the roles of creativity: thinking solutions. Key to this development is a fresh consideration of materials combined with the power of creativity and imagination.
For this one-day symposium at Messums West took art as a starting point to explore new materials and new ways of making that could shape our futures. We invited artists, designers, makers, researchers and institutional representatives to talk on and discuss how they are thinking about materiality in the 21st century.
The day was split into three parts; the first focusing on new and exciting research into materials which are beginning to be harnessed to re-shape the fabric of the human-made world. The second explored design and making, considering techniques – modern and historic – which are being adopted to create a more sustainable culture of manufacture and consumption. Lastly, we thought about the art world and the artists who are leading the charge in championing sustainable making practices, thinking about ephemerality and permanence.
On the Day:
10:55 Welcome and introduction by Lisa Anderson
11:00 James Binning from Assemble Studios ‘Common Treasures’ – Talk and Q&A
11:45 Break
12:00 Exhibiting artist Zena Holloway AKA Rootfull ‘ROOTED: Material Ecologies’
12:45 Lunch
13:45 Irene Gallou ‘Materiality on the Moon’ – Talk and Q&A
14:30 Break
14:45 Natalia Eernstman ‘Making our Imagination Material ‘
15:30 Break
15:45 Panel Q&A with James Binning, Zena Holloway, Irene Gallou, Dr Natalia Eernstman and Johnny Messum
16:15 Final words with Johnny Messum
Keep your children creatively engaged whilst you attend the symposium with a FREE Natural Colour Workshop at Messums Studios.
NATURAL COLOUR WORKSHOP | 14 JUNE 2025 | Free for children age 13+*
Tutor: Polly Bennett
Date: Saturday 14 June
Time: 10am-1pm
Venue: Messums Studios, Unit 1, Homeland Security, Chilmark, SP3 5DU
FREE to attend by young artists age 13+ *who live in the South West Wiltshire area. This workshop if generously funded by the Wiltshire Council
This is a hands-on pigment making workshop, where you’ll transform raw earth from Wiltshire, Kent, and Sussex into vibrant handmade watercolour paint.
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PIGMENT MAKING WORKSHOP WITH FRANCESCO POIANA | 15 JUNE 2025
Tutor: Francesco Poiana
Date: Sunday 15 June
Time: 10am-1pm
Venue: Messums Studios, Unit 1, Homeland Security, Chilmark, SP3 5DU
Course fee: £65
This course is aimed at adults, but young artists might come accompanying a paying adult for £35
Explore the creative potential of paint-making using natural pigments sourced from the rich and varied soils of the Wiltshire landscape.
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