What is the role of socially-engaged public art in the context of our accelerating environmental crisis? Join UP Projects on Thursday 11 September 2025 in Liverpool for a half day symposium exploring regenerative principles and practices. The symposium will bring together expertise and insights from artists, curators, and environmentalists.
Through panel discussions and dynamic workshops, the symposium will explore the role public and socially engaged art can play in the climate and biodiversity crises. It aims to raise the ambition for what it means to be environmentally responsible both technically and culturally.
The symposium will equip participants with theoretical frameworks, case studies from best and emerging practices, as well as practical tools from the world of public art commissioning and beyond. Sharing learnings from UP Projects’ Bodies of Water commissions, the symposium will explore the human relationship to nature through the prism of water cultures, water management and hydropolitics.
The symposium itself aims to be environmentally responsible with production principles that aim to reduce our carbon footprint, including avoiding unnecessary printing, minimising waste, prioritising speakers based in the UK and encouraging sustainable travel methods for all delegates. UP Projects has a long-term commitment to Environmental Responsibility, including commissioning work that addresses the climate emergency and sharing knowledge around innovative approaches to commissioning public art that have a net positive environmental impact.
The Bodies of Water Symposium is curated by UP Projects and guest curator Justine Boussard, in partnership with the Liverpool Biennial.
The symposium is part of Bodies of Water, a national, site specific public art commission by German/Korean artist Anne Duk Hee Jordan that explores the human relationship with the natural world, presented at A la Ronde in Exmouth, East Devon and Haigh Hall in Wigan, Greater Manchester.
Bodies of Water is commissioned and curated by UP Projects working in partnership with National Trust and Wigan Council. It is generously funded by Arts Council England, Art Fund and Vallum Associates, and supported by Goethe-Institut with engineering support from Civic Engineers.
Thank you to UP Projects’ Critical Friends Pauline Desouza, Diversity Arts Forum and Bridget McKenzie, Regenerative Culture for advising on the project.
Accessibility
British Sign Language interpretation will be available during specific panel discussions and breakout activities. Please refer to the symposium schedule below to see which activities will include BSL. The venue is wheelchair accessible with ramps, lifts and toilets available. To enter the venue via the ramps provided, please use the entrance via Sankey Street (off Great George Street).
If you have any specific access needs or questions regarding the accessibility of the venue, please email info@upprojects.com in advance of the symposium, and we will assist where possible.
Symposium Schedule
12:30 – 13:00 | Registration
Refreshments will be served and available throughout the day. Coffee will be generously provided by London Nootropics.
13:00 – 13:20 | Welcome
Introduction to the Bodies of Water Symposium. Speakers include Emma Underhill, Founder & Artistic Director (UP Projects) and Dr Sam Lackey, Director (Liverpool Biennial). BSL will be available.
13:20 – 13:30 | Opener
A grounding visualisation led by artist Seyi Adelekun. BSL will be available.
13:30 – 15:15 | Regenerative Art Practice: Questions of Legacy
Why should we take the long view in a time of emergency? This panel will explore environmental responsibility from the perspective of legacy: what systems we have inherited, what present realities we must address and what we should aim to leave behind.
Panel discussion with Alice Sharp, Artistic Director & Founder (Invisible Dust), Iman Datoo, multidisciplinary artist and Head of Research and Community (Radical Ecology), Anne Duk Hee Jordan, artist and Mala Yamey, Curator (UP Projects). Facilitated by Beatrice Pembroke, Executive Director of Culture (King’s College London). BSL will be available.
15:45 – 17:00 | Breakout Activities
Forum: Tools for Regenerative Art Practice
A series of small group round table discussions exploring different aspects of regenerative art practice, from the technical, to the socio-cultural and beyond.
Convened by Alice Bonnot, Independent art curator and sustainability consultant (Julie’s Bicycle). Each round table discussions will be facilitated by either artists, commissioners and producers including Seyi Adelekun, artist, Marie-Anne McQuay, Guest Curator (Liverpool Biennial 2025), Jon Davies, Producer (Metal Liverpool) and Co-chair (Shift), Dr Sylvia Travers, Head of Horticulture (Haigh Hall), Dr Suzy O’Hara, Curator and Lecturer (University of Sunderland), Manon Awst, artist, Harun Morrison, artist and writer. Further speakers to be announced shortly.
Truth, Care, Change: A Framework for Navigating the Earth Crisis
A reflective session led by Bridget McKenzie (Climate Museum UK, Culture Declares Emergency) and Danny Chivers, carbon analyst and climate action consultant, inviting participants to map how to respond to the Earth Crisis in ways that go beyond decarbonisation. BSL will be available.
Neuroqueer Ecologies: Noticing Differently
A sensory walking workshop down to Queens Wharf led by artist James Aldridge, exploring ways of seeing and being with river ecosystems.
Collaborative Place Futures Toolkit
A workshop exploring Futures Literacy as a tool for regenerative placemaking led by Rosanna Vitiello, Founder & Bureau Chief, and Allison Walker, artist and associate (The Place Bureau).
17:00 – 17:15 | Closing Remarks
Closing remarks from Emma Underhill, Founder & Artistic Director (UP Projects) and Justine Boussard, Curator. BSL will be available.
17:15 – 18:45 | Networking Drinks
An opportunity to have a drink and meet some familiar or new faces.
Speakers
Dr Suzy O’Hara
she/her
Lecturer in Digital Arts and Enterprise in the School of Art, Design and Performance (University of Sunderland)
Tickets
Tickets for the Bodies of Water Symposium are now available to purchase for £15. The ticket includes access to the panel discussion and one workshop. Ticket holders will be contacted and invited to select which workshop to attend when the workshop tickets become available from 31 July.
UP Projects believes in keeping events accessible to everyone and has a reserved number of tickets specifically for students and those who are unwaged or on a lower income. These tickets are available to purchase at a discounted price of £7.50. If you are a student and would like to purchase a discounted ticket, please contact info@upprojects.com using your university email address, and you will be provided with a dedicated link to access a discounted ticket. If you are an individual who is on a lower income or currently unwaged, please contact info@upprojects.com and request a discounted ticket.