Bunker Talk #162: The Guardians of Living Matter

Arts & Humanities Department of Art & Performance

In partnership with Lowry, hosted by Alasdair Swenson (SODA)

SODA  Cinema

Bunker Talks 2026

Bunker Talks invite artists and researchers to talk about who they are and what they do. Curated by the Performance Research Group at Manchester School of Art, Bunker Talks explore geopolitical, ecological or economic concerns.

Bunker Talk #163: The Guardians of Living MatterIn partnership with Lowry, hosted by Alasdair Swenson (SODA)Artists Sophy King and John-Paul Brown discuss their current exhibition The Guardians of Living Matter, opening at Lowry from 31 January - 29 March 2026. Their collaborative practice explores ecology, climate justice and our relationship with living and digital networks - bringing together sculpture, installation, research and regenerative materials.Centred around a major new multi-sensory installation made from AI and mycelium, the exhibition imagines radical ecological futures and new ways of living in balance with the world around us.Join us for a conversation about artistic collaboration, living materials, and what it means to create in the age of climate crisis.The project has been commissioned through Lowry’s flagship artist development programme, Developed With, which supports artists across the North of England to scale their ambitions and reach new audiences. The exhibition will run in Lowry’s Andrew Law Galleries from 31 January – 29 March 2026.Bunker TalksThis event is part of Bunker Talks. Bunker Talks invite artists and researchers to talk about who they are and what they do. Curated by the Performance Research Group at Manchester School of Art and the School of English, Bunker Talks explore geopolitical, ecological or economic concerns. The talks create space for critical encounters, presentations, provocation and dialogue as part of a civic conversation.Originally conceived in the pandemic to explore how artists, writers, curators and researchers continued to make and share their work, live Bunker Talks now take place at The Salutation every month. Since 2020, over 160 talks have been hosted by Performance Researchers and colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. All talks are recorded, edited, captioned and then archived to create an online catalogue, capturing how artists, makers and curators think about the world today. Find previous talks here: <a href="https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/" title="https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/</a>Main Event Contact and URL:Michael Pinchbeck m.pinchbeck@mmu.ac.uk<a href="https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/talk-163/" title="https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/talk-163/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/talk-163/</a>

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Bunker Talk #162: The Guardians of Living Matter

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Bunker Talk #162: The Guardians of Living Matter

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