BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Counterpoints - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Counterpoints
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://counterpoints.org.uk
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Counterpoints
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20250330T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20251026T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20260329T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20261025T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20270328T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20271031T010000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260723T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260723T170000
DTSTAMP:20260722T111528Z
CREATED:20260722T111528Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260722T111528Z
UID:10000631-1784800800-1784826000@counterpoints.org.uk
SUMMARY:Sijelo Collective in Leeds - Arts of Noticing
DESCRIPTION:Supported by the Critical Digital Practice Lab\n\n\n\n\n‘Arts of Noticing’ is a one-day symposium where artists\, researchers\, technologists and organisers making and thinking with plants will come together to explore questions about nature\, memory\, and human connection through the senses. There will be a series of workshops and activities about embodiment and sensing with plants\, followed by a creative activity in the afternoon where we will bring together all that we’ve learned in order to create a collaborative living collage. \nSijelo Collective in Leeds present: ‘Arts of noticing’ \n“Noticing is my way of opposing… it is trying to take those blinders off to look at the world around us\, with special attention to the more-than-human world (the human plus non-human world).” – Anna Tsing \nSchedule for the day \n10.00–10.30: arrivals\, teas and coffees (provided by the Barn Cafe) \n10.30-11.00: Short intros from Sijelo and CDP Lab \n11.00–12.00: the art of noticing things \nBo Olawoye of Sijelo will facilitate a walking* activity where we will spend some time wandering\, looking and using our senses to explore the farm. You can decide what little things are worth noticing. These might be shapes\, colours\, shadows\, light or textures. \n*you are also welcome to sit or stand and notice \n12.00–13.00: Plant Switching II \nJoanne Armitage of CDP Lab will lead us in the digitisation of plant–human connections through the creation of simple soft-circuit switches. Using conductive materials and living plants\, we will experiment with translating interspecies encounters into binary on/off signals. Together\, we will reflect on how reducing these relationships to digital logic can flatten the complexity\, reciprocity\, and energies of plant–human interactions\, while also considering how such systems might be extended\, challenged\, or reimagined. \n13.00-13.30: COMMONING & [Co-]SENSINGTHOUGHT FORMS Pt I \nHow can we sense a shared language manifested in land\, people and ephemera? \nIn this playful collaborative workshop with artist Kim Chin of Sijelo\, we explore how we feel through natural forms and imagined symbolism\, sharpen listening skills with pairwork and probing\, and interpret what we “see-hear-feel” by markmaking with natural dyes. In addition to the creative activity\, we will engage in a short mindfulness activity\, light-touch introduction of visual forms of communication by communities-activists-artists and end with reflections to close the session. \n13.30– 14.30: Lunch \nVegan lunch provided by the Barn Cafe (please email hello@kaajalmodi.com with any specific dietary requirements) \n14.30– 15.30: COMMONING & [Co-]SENSINGTHOUGHT FORMS Pt II \nContinuing our session from the morning exploring how we feel through natural forms and imagined symbolism with Kim Chin. \n15.30–17.00: Sculpting with Nature \nIn this relaxed and experimental workshop facilitated by Tasnim Siddiqa Amin of Sijelo\, you are invited to explore your relationship with land and power through a queer lens through material collaging. We’ll also consider how our bodies can be incorporated into the sculpture. We can work as a group or work on your own small piece and then add it a larger shared artwork. \nMaterials to collage with will be provided\, including plants\, sensors\, and spices\, and you can also bring with you images\, words\, textures\, sounds and gestures that represent your relationship with Land and plants. If you have anything you would like printed please email it to hello@kaajalmodi.com by 13.00 on Wednesday 22nd July. \n17.00: Finish \n18.00: optional visit to PEST by Lucif Neave at Assembly House \nEvent/Booking link HERE \nAbout the Facilitators:\nBoseda Olawoye (known as Bo) is a freelance creative producer/consultant based in Nottingham who works nationally and beyond. She specialises in developing arts projects\, programmes and cultural strategies with and for diverse communities\, young people(13+)\, marginalised groups and artists. \nJoanne Armitage is a digital media practitioner\, researcher and artist. She is co-founder of the international maker-activist collective sus_NET (Sustainable Making for Feminist Action)\, which collaboratively explores issues of justice and equity through creative\, technical and community practice. Her work centres on developing methods to unpack\, critically engage with and rebuild technology alongside activist groups and within community contexts. Her approach emphasises slowness\, play and the everyday to untangle issues of agency\, power and expertise. \nKim Chin (they / she / we) makes art with others. Through experimental textiles\, time-based media\, installation and facilitating participatory activities\, their work is an invitation to enjoy the process of creating\, un/learning self-knowledge with others. We notice our breath\, bones\, mood and energy that we carry into physical and socio-political spaces – consciously and unconsciously. The alchemy of nature is Kim’s teacher; soil\, seeds and creatures know no borders. When site-specific textile pieces are shaped by environmental elements and oils of human touch\, they explore questions on labour\, ownership and material intent. \nTasnim Siddiqa Amin (she/they) is a queer\, working-class Bangladeshi-British artist\, theatremaker and activist from East London. Her interdisciplinary practice spans theatre\, performance art\, visual art and community arts facilitation\, grounded in anti-racism\, postcolonialism and intersectional feminism. \nTasnim’s practice is trauma-informed and grounded in care-based methodologies\, shaped by lived experience and a commitment to collective wellbeing. She designs and delivers participatory arts programmes that prioritise accessibility\, co-creation\, and long-term relationship-building using creativity as a means of connection\, reflection and resistance. \nSijelo are a UK-based art collective of women and non-binary people organising\, producing and making at the intersection of climate justice\, land rights\, migration and displacement. The collective came together through a series of residential events organised by Counterpoints from 2023–4\, and now loosely collectivise around specific campaigns\, events and issues that feel urgent to us https://counterpoints.org.uk/event/climate-displacement-part-ii-a-gathering-for-womxn-artists/ \nThe event is funded by Leeds Critical Digital Practice Lab (CDPL)\, a new creative and critical experimentation space-based at the University of Leeds. The lab is a space where we play with accessible technologies and feminist and decolonial practices in order to develop critical digital methods in response to the emergent moment. Led by Kaajal Modi\, Helen Thornham and Joanne Armitage. \n‘Arts of Noticing’ is an independently organized symposium\, officially recognized as part of a global conversation sparked by the If Trees Could Talk International Art Biennale. To learn more\, visit https://www.iftreescouldtalk.art/conversations/sijelo \nWith special thanks to the EMPIRE LINES podcast\, Meanwood Valley Urban Farm\, Counterpoints Arts and University of Leeds. \nImage: detail from a workshop series at The Showroom\, London by Kim Chin.
URL:https://counterpoints.org.uk/event/sijelo-collective-in-leeds-arts-of-noticing/
LOCATION:Meanwood Valley Urban FarmMeanwood\, England\, Sugar Well Rd\, Meanwood\, Leeds\, LS7 2QG
CATEGORIES:Learning,Sustainability & Climate Justice
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://counterpoints.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kim-Sijelo-Leeds.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR