Katherine Midgley is an artist and curator who is currently studying for an MScR in Collections and Curating Practices at the University of Edinburgh. She gained a BA in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2014, and works with video, text and performance to explore concepts of history and ways in which dominant narratives can be subverted. She is particularly interested in the space between fact and fiction, and possibilities for uncovering new forms of knowledge through collaborative practices. This is a key reason for her increasing involvement in curatorial projects, which she sees as a way to explore different methods of group-working and sharing knowledge with others. She gained a great deal of experience of collaboration through her recent student placement at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery, which is how she came to be nominated for the Making Marks residency.
What inspired Katherine on the Making Marks visit to Kuwait was the amount of dedication people showed when creating work, and the number of exciting and boundary-pushing collaborations that she encountered. She wanted to build a project that allowed women in Scotland to become part of a similar collaborative community, which is how Making Space was formed.
Making Space was a series of artist-led workshops for women and non-binary people to discuss politics together, which took place in Glasgow, UK, during the summer of 2019. The aim of the sessions was to create a space where women (self-identifying inclusive) and non-binary people could learn more about politics in an accessible and social way. The project was based on the following broad themes: getting to know the area where you live; finding out more about community action; learning more about how politics affects you; and learning what collaboration can achieve. The 8 sessions had the following themes:
Open Session: a general introduction to Making Space, and a chance to contribute to shaping the workshop series.
Making and Mending: A sewing and mending workshop, and a discussion of the history of women’s sewing circles.
Making Money: An introduction to feminist economics.
Queering Space: A workshop and performance discussing LGBTQIA domestic life.
Walk This Way: A discussion and gesture workshop on the theme of neighbourhood and public space.
States of Emergency: An interactive session exploring protest and community action.
Sounds Between Us: A singing and songwriting workshop on the theme of empowerment.
The series ended with a special event: Space Made, which was a performance and community meal to celebrate the workshop series, featuring songs written to reflect the discussions and ideas which circulated in the workshops. This event was attended by more than 50 local people.
Making Space offered young artists a meaningful opportunity to develop their participatory practice, and the community benefited from a series of free workshops with funds for travel and childcare, together with the chance to meet new people, share food, and feel more engaged in local/national politics. A real community developed around the workshops, and they also generated a lot of followers on social media.
Participants: in total, 140 people took part in Making Space events.
The Making Space Team
Collaborators: Katherine Midgley, Rosa Farber, Lily-Ross Millard
Workshop facilitators: M.E. Smit-Dicks, Wei Zhang, Usma Ashraf
The collaborators facilitated one workshop each. They also joined in with each workshop in the series, giving a feeling of continuity and allowing discussions to continue across several workshops.
Photo credit: Wei Zhang and Martyn Noreika
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