Share your experiences of precarious work, working life and relationship to technology and help a new project supported by Broadway's Near Now Fellowship.
Presented in collaboration with OTOKA, a nomadic & fluid research, exhibition, residency, online platform & studio space currently taking over Broadway Gallery.
You are invited to take part in a discussion and workshop to influence the final outcomes of a new project by artist Sophie Huckfield.
We're looking for workshop participants who:
- Identify as women, non-binary and gender fluid;
- Live or work in the East Midlands;
- Are aged 18+.
For Broadway’s Near Now Fellowship, Sophie is exploring the histories and futures of labour and technology in the East Midlands, drawing on local histories and stories relating to worker movements such as the Luddites and research related to the implementation of automation technologies.
Sophie’s Fellowship will culminate in a body of research and contribute to the development of new artworks to be exhibited in Nottingham in 2023.
Each workshop participant will receive £50 for taking part. Spaces are limited and there is a brief Expression of Interest process. See below for details.
The workshop
In the workplace, technological ‘progress' can lead to a loss of jobs, exploitation and attacks on workers' agency. Something Nottingham's weavers and textile workers were all too aware of when, early in the 19th century, the industrial revolution brought with it new machinery to replace skilled workers — and the Luddite movement was born.
In this workshop you will be asked to discuss your experiences of precarious work, working life and relationship to technology, alongside exploring creative forms of resistance and expression, in the form of creative writing and collage.
The session aims to unpick our relationship to work, exploring and reframing histories related to the Luddites from a gender fluid perspective.
What do we mean by ‘precarious work’?
Precarious work is “a term that critics use to describe non-standard or temporary employment that may be poorly paid, insecure, unprotected, and unable to support a household”.
Who is ‘Lady Ludd’?
The Lady Ludd Riots took place in Briggate, Leeds, in August 1812.
“At the height of summer, when a group of women and boys marched through the street attacking corn merchants in protest at perceived high prices. The group was led by a figure styling themselves as ‘Lady Ludd’ – named after ‘Ned Ludd’, the (possibly mythological) personage said to have inspired the Luddites by his breaking of machinery. Some have speculated that ‘Lady Ludd’ was a male protester dressed as a woman to evade identification."
"Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Lady Ludd riots is the suggestion … that Lady Ludd was actually a Leeds-woman, Alice Mann, in disguise. Alice was a hugely influential figure in Leeds Radical politics."
This workshop accompanies OTOKA's takeover of Broadway Gallery with All that is fluid melts into air, a solo exhibition by artist Candice Jacobs taking place from 10–26 March. The exhibition expands on new understandings of the body through m/otherhood & how this connects to ideas of fluidity, liquidity & stability; the economy, the climate & the internet.
Want to take part?
Workshop spaces are limited. Up to 8 participants will be selected.
Please complete our online Expression of Interest form to confirm your eligibility and to share some notes on your relevant experiences.
Deadline for submission: Thursday 9th March, 11:59PM
Participants will be notified of their involvement by the end of Friday 10th March.
Prefer an email or call?
Can't fill in the form? Or would you prefer an online/phone call to help complete an expression of interest? Let us know:
Take part online
Can't make it to the workshop at Broadway in person? Sophie is able to host a limited number of additional one-to-one sessions online.
Please let us know in the Expression of Interest form if you would prefer this option.
Participation fee
Each participant will receive £50 for taking part.
Depending on your circumstances and preference, this can be either:
• Credited to your bank account (only if you are registered as self-employed and can submit a suitable invoice to Broadway for payment within 30 days)
• Broadway Giftcard (voucher valid until 31st December 2023. Non-cash refundable, vouchers redeemable to qualifying products. Giftcards can be redeemed at Broadway's Box Office for cinema tickets as well as snacks, sweets, and bottled soft drinks)
Please let us know in the Expression of Interest form which option you would prefer.
Access
Broadway’s design and innovation spaces are fully wheelchair accessible, with ramps and lift access from Broadway’s Box Office.
Using the Expression of Interest form, please describe any access needs you have or any information you wish to share which you feel would help us support you better during the workshop.
Hot and cold drinks will be provided.
Bringing along a little one?
Let us know on the Expression of Interest form!
We can provide storage for prams and there will be a playpen in the workshop space with a limited amount of space for children under 3 years old.
About Sophie Huckfield
Sophie Huckfield
sophiehuckfield.com
Sophie Huckfield (she/they) is an artist. Her practice draws on contemporary research and histories related to technology, labour, craft, social-class and industrialisation. She incorporates layering and cutting as a conceptual tool to reframe these complex socio-political histories, to develop multidisciplinary works which reimagine and reconfigure ‘production’ contexts and challenge the dominant narratives employed to frame specific stories, histories and experiences. Her practice aims to re-purpose the tools and technologies of production, both materially and culturally, to make space for redefining how we produce values, relations and traditions which are in turn embedded into the objects and stories we make.
About OTOKA
OTOKA is a nomadic & fluid research, exhibition, residency, online platform & studio space established by artist Candice Jacobs after returning to Nottingham during the Pandemic and becoming a mother.
Banner image: 'The Leader of the Luddites', an agitator wearing a woman's bonnet and dress gesturing in front of a burning building with a crowd waving knives and guns (May 1812). Hand-coloured etching. Via Wikimedia Commons.
