About this Event
Join us for a tour of Outer Spaces’ Exchange Place building currently used by over 140 artists, including four artists-in-residence.
The event features the workshop ‘More Than Meanwhile’, led by researchers Dr. Emma Coffield and Gareth McMurchy from Newcastle University. This session seeks to better understand how artists and practitioners experience accessing and running creative spaces and will inform a scoping study commissioned and funded by Creative Scotland. By bringing together artists, businesses, grassroots organisations, and researchers, we will reflect on "meanwhile use" models, exploring their unique opportunities, challenges, and long-term impacts on creative communities.
This workshop leads into a discussion featuring Edinburgh-based practitioners who have utilised meanwhile spaces to exhibit, collaborate, and animate the city. Gain insights from researchers on how temporary models function and the motivations driving their current research and share your thoughts.
Following the discussion, please stay to continue the conversation over drinks and nibbles.
Schedule
1pm - A brief tour of Exchange Place
1.45pm - Coffee and biscuits
2pm - 'More Than Meanwhile' workshop (2 hours)
4pm - Discussion with invited local contributors
4.45pm - Drinks, nibbles and networking
Facilitators
Dr Emma Coffield is a Lecturer in the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University. Emma is internationally recognised for her collaborative work around artist-run/led initiatives and meanwhile use. For over 15 years she has worked with a range of self-organised, grassroots artistic practices run by and for artists across the UK, as well as local and national governments, to highlight the working conditions and limitations imposed upon creative practice by temporary use. To date, Emma has led or co-led 10 collaborative, transdisciplinary projects in this area bringing together artists, creative practitioners, academics and local policy makers in order to foster co-designed, long-term urban futures. Emma also has a keen interest in notions of ‘employability’ in the cultural and creative industries, and the impact of this discourse on students’ experiences of teaching and learning within Higher Education.
Gareth McMurchy is a PhD student and design researcher based within the multi-disciplinary research group Open Lab, Newcastle University. With an educational background in product design and a keen interest in the arts, his research focuses on the relationship between archival processes and uses of technology within artist-run initiatives. Employing a Research through Design methodology, he uses provocative design artefacts as tools for scrutinising these existing practices and to speculate upon preferable future technological possibilities. Through this work, he has gained a deep understanding of the difficulties artists face operating within a cultural sector profoundly affected by precarity, austerity, and limited provision of creative space. As a workshop co-ordinator, Gareth will draw upon this knowledge and experience to facilitate a series of workshops that aim to enrich our understanding of meanwhile spaces’ contribution to Scottish arts ecology.
Outer Spaces supports the creative and professional development of artists through studio and project spaces, awards, commissioning and partnerships. We create temporary art spaces in major towns and cities and subsidise the research and production costs of artists in our network with free studio space. Our curatorial projects and partnerships offer new avenues of support, promoting exchange, engagement and visibility.
Stipend to support workshop participation
Attendance is free and we have a limited number of travel bursaries of £89.80, available on a first come first served basis, to attendees who would benefit from financial support to attend the workshop. If this stipend would support you in taking part, please contact [email protected].
Accessibility Information
The Outer Spaces Exchange Place 1 Building has level access, lift access to upper floors and accessible toilets. If you require any accommodations during the visit, please let us know in advance and we'll do our best to make the necessary arrangements.
Travel info:
Outer Spaces prioritises environmental travel where possible. There are public bike racks located directly outside on Morrison Street and we also encourage attendees to use Edinburgh’s excellent public transport links to get to Exchange Place 1.
The closest Train station is Haymarket Station, only a 10-minute walk away, or Edinburgh Waverley is a 20-minute walk or a quick 10-minute taxi/tram ride.
The closest Tram Stop is West End + a 5-minute walk via Lothian Road.
There are nearby bus stops on Lothian Road and Morrison Street.
Car Parking: Please note there is no on-site parking. Instead use the nearby Q-Park Capital Square.
Doccumentation:
Photography and audio recordings will be taking place during the event. If you would like to opt out of audio recordings or ensure your image is not publicly shared, please dont hesitate to speak to a member of the Outer Spaces team on arrival.
Event Image Credit: Crystal Bennes, Pilot Residency Artist, Outer Spaces, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. Credit- Sally Jubb
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Outer Spaces, Exchange Place, Edinburgh., Outer Spaces, Exchange Place 1, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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