Register interest to be kept up to date with future talks and symposiums
The Barn at Messums West is a 13th century barn and wooden roof over the heads of discussions and the sharing of information in person about creativity and our environment.
Our season of talks brings together experts and audiences to discuss the role of creativity and the relationship with environment across a range of topics from Art to architecture and Oceans to writing.
Thematically the days explore and share the means of making, the ideas and sources for inspiration and the drivers for change in a positive way.
We allow the space for discussion and time for consideration and hope that the information shared allows our audiences to form their own opinions and effect change in whatever way they feel is personally appropriate. 
 
Talks are free to attend for Students and can be joined in person and online. 
Tickets are available in advance and where possible up to a limitation of numbers we try to have lunch together on one table for up to 80 people to break bread and share thoughts.

FORTHCOMING SYMPOSIUMS

CERAMICS SYMPOSIUM

Saturday 1 March 2025

Join artists, writers and curators in a day of insight and investigation into ceramic and the innovative artists making with clay today.

DOES ART WORK?

Saturday 24 May 2025

This Symposium seeks to illustrate by way examples from experts within the creative industries, science, education, politics and welfare why the arts not only create but work.

LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD - ART, MAKING & THE ENVIRONMENT

Saturday 14 June 2025

In an age dominated by environmental crises, what is the future of making? It is clear that we cannot justify continuing to extract the planet’s dwindling resources and create objects which neither last, nor can be recycled; and so, as a species, we must find a new, sustainable way to exist.

STATIC OBJECTS IN A CHANGING WORLD

Saturday 12 July 2025

What is the place of sculpture in the 21st century? In an era which has seen government funding for the arts hit record lows, the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence in art and culture, the destruction of historic statues around the globe, and a crisis in art education, what is the fate of this medium that has been an integral part of human creativity for milenia.

THE LANGUAGE OF BUILDINGS

Saturday 4 October 2025

This symposium invites us to pause and look harder at contemporary architecture and ask the question, ‘what do the buildings that we encounter every day tell us about the world we live in?’. In talks and panel discussions, architects, designers, architectural historians and critics, will explore the buildings of modern Britain. 

SYMPOSIUMS ARCHIVE

Monday 11 November 2024

A platform for discussions that bridge artistic expression with environmental awareness, focusing on how landscapes can inspire and be transformed by creative endeavours.

Saturday 5 October 2024

The symposium was in partnership with Ocean Rising (an alliance connecting the ocean with culture) and was dedicated to the understanding of our oceans with leading scientists and experts as guest speakers.

ARCHITECTURE: RESTORE NOT MORE - REIMAGINING EXISTING BUILDINGS

Saturday 7 September 2024

This year’s annual architecture symposium focused on the positive impact that rejuvenating, repurposing and refurbishing existing buildings has on both design and sustainability. 

PAINT SYMPOSIUM 2024

Saturday 27 July 2024

A symposium on the subject of painting today and the Inaugural John Golding Lecture Series. Leading artists, academics, curators and art historians explored contemporary painting including concepts of abstraction and discussing the current position of abstract painting.

CERAMIC SYMPOSIUM 2024

Saturday 6 April 2024

This symposium took place during Earth Month and focussed on the themes of our ‘Of the Earth’ exhibition. It drew attention to makers that are engaging with the raw materiality of clay and connection with the landscape.

Saturday 7 October 2023

This year topics will included creative spaces for arts in the community, the relationship between art and architecture, the interface between sculpture and architecture and the role of beauty in architectural practice considering the relationship between aesthetics and functionality.

ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTALISM SYMPOSIUM

Saturday 3 June 2023

The symposium examined some of the issues we are currently facing in problem solving around the environment. One of the key ones is understanding the metrics we are all working to and whether they are working, is there a consensus?

CERAMIC SYMPOSIUM 2023

Saturday 1 April 2023

The symposium programme included presentations by the exhibiting artists and writers and curators of ceramic. The symposium was paralleled by a ‘Young Clay Symposium’ organised by Messums Creative where participants aged 10+ could celebrate  ceramic through hands-on learning.

ARCHITECTURE SYMPOSIUM: RE-USE, RE-CYCLE, RE-IMAGINE

Saturday 17 September 2022

Our 2022 symposium celebrated the latest innovation and evolution in construction and design. Examining changing practices with current examples of creativity, and ideas of what might be possible.

LIVING WITHIN - ARCHITECTURE 2020

Saturday 7 October 2020

Our architectural models exhibition opened with a symposium that considered the radical changes going on in the spaces we inhabit. From the context of both our own private and individual environments, we have all become increasingly aware of the space we are ‘living within’. 

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REFUNDS & CANCELLATIONS

We appreciate that sometimes things can change. Please see our Refunds & Cancellations Policy for more information.

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We look forward to sending you advance information and keeping you up to date. Please check your email inbox for further information from Messums.org