At The Work Room we know that over the past ten years, a groundswell of artists within our membership have been dedicating their attention and practice to environmental and ecological concerns; climate emergency and activism. Not just in concept or content, but by explicitly interrogating, and altering, ‘the how, the way, the why’ of dancing and making work.
The Ground Work working group brought together a working group of six artist members who have been exploring such ecological practice within their artistic work. The selected artists responded to an open call to join the working group in December 2023 ad come together at several points throughout early 2024, with Luke Pell, for a series of group meetings and practical research trips to explore the following questions from the perspective of independent dance artists, their practice and as members of The Work Room:
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What does ‘an environmental policy’ mean for independent dance artists in Scotland today and tomorrow?
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What does careful resource management look like for us?
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What’s unique and/or particular to our needs? How can we make change through acts of reciprocity?
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What and how can this be shared across our membership; Glasgow, Scotland and beyond?
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What can we do, together, that is tangible, timebound and relevant?
This podcast series traces some of that time and shares their findings in a new format for The Work Room. Drafted following a series of conversations and research activities undertaken by the Groundwork working group, they are intended as offers for The Work Room artist-members and the organisation to consider as part of approaches to greener working practices, environmental ethos/policies and sustainability in lieu of the climate emergency.