Future Burngreave (2020)
WE LIVE IN THE HOMES
OF THE FUTURE.
80% of the homes we will be living in by 2050 have already been built. To meet the UK’s emissions targets we must deep retrofit the UK’s 25 million homes.
Future Burngreave explores community-led retrofit by the activist community of Burngreave. Through common ownership of their homes, the project demonstrates neighbourhood-scale retrofit is an opportunity to add value to communities through social and technological infrastructure to live sustainably and affordably.
Future Burngreave was featured in Climate Action and Visual Culture (2021), an online exhibition, event and publication, produced by Temporary Contemporary and Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield.
You can view the publication here.
WE LIVE IN THE HOMES
OF THE FUTURE.
80% of the homes we will be living in by 2050 have already been built. To meet the UK’s emissions targets we must deep retrofit the UK’s 25 million homes.
Future Burngreave explores community-led retrofit by the activist community of Burngreave. Through common ownership of their homes, the project demonstrates neighbourhood-scale retrofit is an opportunity to add value to communities through social and technological infrastructure to live sustainably and affordably.
Future Burngreave was featured in Climate Action and Visual Culture (2021), an online exhibition, event and publication, produced by Temporary Contemporary and Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield.
You can view the publication here.
Little Queens (2022) + Hidden Mothers (2021)
Studio Polpo x Tereza Buskova
Tereza Buskova is a Birmingham-based Czech artist whos practice deals with ritual, tradition and craft - often drawing from Slavic rituals and traditions and reinventing them through collaboration and performance. Studio Polpo has collaborated on a number of Buskova’s projects, designing and making structures and artefacts used in her works.
Hidden Mothers (2021) [Public Performance] Every Woman Biennial & London Festival of Architecture, Copland Gallery, London
(Watch film here)
Hidden Mothers was inspired by the cultural customs of Great Britain, Central and Eastern Europe, and focused on the empowerment of women, in particular mothers, who experience isolation and routinely face stigma in the UK. The project had three parts: workshops, a procession, and the installation of a large-scale representation of a Slovak inspired cottage façade produced by Studio Polpo – a tangible representation of home and togetherness.
Little Queens (2022) [Public Performance] Shine a Light Festival, West Bromwich High Street, Birmingham
(Watch film here)
The project reimagined an ancient Czech ritual connecting rural neighbourhoods to nature and celebrated the role of women, young and old, within their communities. Studio Polpo’s ceremonial staffs drew upon the symbolism of Black Country heritage and heraldry as well as Czech folk patterns and worked to support the purpose made canopy.
Find out more about these collaborations with Tereza Buskova on Studio Polpo’s website.
Studio Polpo x Tereza Buskova
Tereza Buskova is a Birmingham-based Czech artist whos practice deals with ritual, tradition and craft - often drawing from Slavic rituals and traditions and reinventing them through collaboration and performance. Studio Polpo has collaborated on a number of Buskova’s projects, designing and making structures and artefacts used in her works.
Hidden Mothers (2021) [Public Performance] Every Woman Biennial & London Festival of Architecture, Copland Gallery, London
(Watch film here)
Hidden Mothers was inspired by the cultural customs of Great Britain, Central and Eastern Europe, and focused on the empowerment of women, in particular mothers, who experience isolation and routinely face stigma in the UK. The project had three parts: workshops, a procession, and the installation of a large-scale representation of a Slovak inspired cottage façade produced by Studio Polpo – a tangible representation of home and togetherness.
Little Queens (2022) [Public Performance] Shine a Light Festival, West Bromwich High Street, Birmingham
(Watch film here)
The project reimagined an ancient Czech ritual connecting rural neighbourhoods to nature and celebrated the role of women, young and old, within their communities. Studio Polpo’s ceremonial staffs drew upon the symbolism of Black Country heritage and heraldry as well as Czech folk patterns and worked to support the purpose made canopy.
Find out more about these collaborations with Tereza Buskova on Studio Polpo’s website.
Heeley Mushroom Project (2020-22)
Studio Polpo
The Heeley Mushroom project was initiated by Studio Polpo to explore issues of waste, circular economy, and natural materials. We worked at Anns Grove Primary School where pupils made a series of tiles using mycelium spawn and waste cardboard, alongside a series of large mycelium roof panels we grown by Studio Polpo (at Soft Ground). Pupils took part in workshops run by an artist Sally Barker around mushrooms and plants, natural dyes and sculpture, and also the hanging of the mycelium tiles.
The project not only allowed us to experiment with new processes, but also to engage the pupils, staff and parents with crucial issues around the ecosystem and built environment. The panels demonstrate the use of ‘waste’ as a substrate for the mycelium, and are then themselves compostable, and the structure itself is locally sourced green timber and dowels which are demountable and avoids the use of glues and screws.
Find out more on Studio Polpo’s website.
A film of the project, sponsored by the British Mycological Society will be available early 2023.
Studio Polpo
The Heeley Mushroom project was initiated by Studio Polpo to explore issues of waste, circular economy, and natural materials. We worked at Anns Grove Primary School where pupils made a series of tiles using mycelium spawn and waste cardboard, alongside a series of large mycelium roof panels we grown by Studio Polpo (at Soft Ground). Pupils took part in workshops run by an artist Sally Barker around mushrooms and plants, natural dyes and sculpture, and also the hanging of the mycelium tiles.
The project not only allowed us to experiment with new processes, but also to engage the pupils, staff and parents with crucial issues around the ecosystem and built environment. The panels demonstrate the use of ‘waste’ as a substrate for the mycelium, and are then themselves compostable, and the structure itself is locally sourced green timber and dowels which are demountable and avoids the use of glues and screws.
Find out more on Studio Polpo’s website.
A film of the project, sponsored by the British Mycological Society will be available early 2023.
DS2
(2018-19)
Studio Polpo x The Drawing Shed
DS2 was a collaborative project centred around the design, production, use, and touring of an open-source, adaptable, mobile kit of parts, called DS2. DS2 acted as both a physical and conceptual framework for a number of activities of exchange, making, and performance which explored ideas of commoning, air pollution and the climate emergency.
You can read an article about DS2 on the Social Art Library here.
Studio Polpo x The Drawing Shed
DS2 was a collaborative project centred around the design, production, use, and touring of an open-source, adaptable, mobile kit of parts, called DS2. DS2 acted as both a physical and conceptual framework for a number of activities of exchange, making, and performance which explored ideas of commoning, air pollution and the climate emergency.
You can read an article about DS2 on the Social Art Library here.
YVAN Nourish Programme (2021)
Social Art Network Sheffield
Development programme and action research on artist’s networks with Yorkshire & Humber Visual Arts Network (YVAN), working with SAN Sheffield to support the development of newly established SAN Leeds through a programme of collaborative arts activity. Through this activity SAN will be identifying how it can best support artist through it’s mutual aid model of building agency and support.
This programme has been delivered in collaboration with: Jennifer Booth, Lily Lavorato & Emma Bentley Fox, with support from YVAN.
SAN Sheffield & Leeds programme of meetups supported by YVAN continues through until Autumn 2021. You can find more information here.
Social Art Network Sheffield
Development programme and action research on artist’s networks with Yorkshire & Humber Visual Arts Network (YVAN), working with SAN Sheffield to support the development of newly established SAN Leeds through a programme of collaborative arts activity. Through this activity SAN will be identifying how it can best support artist through it’s mutual aid model of building agency and support.
This programme has been delivered in collaboration with: Jennifer Booth, Lily Lavorato & Emma Bentley Fox, with support from YVAN.
SAN Sheffield & Leeds programme of meetups supported by YVAN continues through until Autumn 2021. You can find more information here.