Bodies of Water Symposium: Regenerative Art Practice

What is the role of socially-engaged public art in the context of our accelerating environmental crisis? Join UP Projects on Thursday 11 September 2025 in Liverpool for a half day symposium exploring regenerative principles and practices. The symposium will bring together expertise and insights from artists, curators, and environmentalists. 

Through panel discussions and dynamic workshops, the symposium will explore the role public and socially engaged art can play in the climate and biodiversity crises. It aims to raise the ambition for what it means to be environmentally responsible both technically and culturally. 

The symposium will equip participants with theoretical frameworks, case studies from best and emerging practices, as well as practical tools from the world of public art commissioning and beyond. Sharing learnings from UP Projects’ Bodies of Water commissions, the symposium will explore the human relationship to nature through the prism of water cultures, water management and hydropolitics. 

The symposium itself aims to be environmentally responsible with production principles that aim to reduce our carbon footprint, including avoiding unnecessary printing, minimising waste, prioritising speakers based in the UK and encouraging sustainable travel methods for all delegates. UP Projects has a long-term commitment to Environmental Responsibility, including commissioning work that addresses the climate emergency and sharing knowledge around innovative approaches to commissioning public art that have a net positive environmental impact.  

The Bodies of Water Symposium is curated by UP Projects and guest curator Justine Boussard, in partnership with the Liverpool Biennial.  

The symposium is part of Bodies of Water, a national, site specific public art commission by German/Korean artist Anne Duk Hee Jordan that explores the human relationship with the natural world, presented at A la Ronde in Exmouth, East Devon and Haigh Hall in Wigan, Greater Manchester. 

Bodies of Water is commissioned and curated by UP Projects working in partnership with A la Ronde and Wigan Council. It is generously funded by Arts Council England and Art Fund,and supported by Goethe Institute with engineering support from Civic Engineers. 

Accessibility 

British Sign Language interpretation will be available during specific panel discussions and breakout activities. Please refer to the symposium schedule below to see which activities will include BSL. The venue is wheelchair accessible with ramps, lifts and toilets available. To enter the venue via the ramps provided, please use the entrance via Sankey Street (off Great George Street). 

If you have any specific access needs or questions regarding the accessibility of the venue, please email info@upprojects.com in advance of the symposium, and we will assist where possible.  

Symposium Schedule

12:30 – 13:00 | Registration

Refreshments will be served and available throughout the day. Coffee will be generously provided by London Nootropics.

13:00 – 13:20 | Welcome

Introduction to the Bodies of Water Symposium. Speakers include Emma Underhill, Founder & Artistic Director (UP Projects) and Dr Sam Lackey, Director (Liverpool Biennial). BSL will be available.

13:20 – 13:30 | Opener

A grounding visualisation led by artist Seyi Adelekun. BSL will be available.

13:30 – 15:15 | Regenerative Art Practice: Questions of Legacy

Why should we take the long view in a time of emergency? This panel will explore environmental responsibility from the perspective of legacy: what systems we have inherited, what present realities we must address and what we should aim to leave behind.

Panel discussion with Alice Sharp, Artistic Director & Founder (Invisible Dust), Iman Datoo, multidisciplinary artist and Head of Research and Community (Radical Ecology), Anne Duk Hee Jordan, artist and Mala Yamey, Curator (UP Projects). Facilitated by Beatrice Pembroke, Executive Director of Culture (King’s College London). BSL will be available.

15:45 – 17:00 | Breakout Activities

Forum: Tools for Regenerative Art Practice

Simultaneous small group round table discussions will explore different aspects of regenerative art practice, from the technical, to the socio-cultural and beyond. Convened by Alice Bonnot, Independent art curator and sustainability consultant (Julie’s Bicycle), each round table discussion will be facilitated by different experts in their field.

These include Seyi Adelekun, artist, Marie-Anne McQuay, Guest Curator (Liverpool Biennial 2025) with James Harper, Programme Manager (Liverpool Biennial), Jon Davies, Producer (Metal Liverpool) and Co-chair (Shift), Dr Sylvia Travers, Head of Horticulture (Haigh Hall), Dr Suzy O’Hara, Curator and Lecturer (University of Sunderland), Manon Awst, artist, Harun Morrison, artist and writer, Rhys Williams, Associate Director (Civic Engineers).

Truth, Care, Change: A Framework for Navigating the Earth Crisis

A reflective workshop led by Bridget McKenzie (Climate Museum UK, Culture Declares Emergency) and Danny Chivers, carbon analyst and climate action consultant, inviting participants to map how to respond to the Earth Crisis in ways that go beyond decarbonisation. BSL will be available.

Neuroqueer Ecologies: Noticing Differently

A sensory walking workshop down to Queens Wharf led by artist James Aldridge, exploring ways of seeing and being with river ecosystems. Informed by James’s Queer River research project, including ongoing research into the value that sensory and processing differences bring to ecological awareness, this walk will encourage us to pay attention to our senses, to notice and record how water moves through the city.

Collaborative Place Futures Toolkit

A workshop exploring Futures Literacy as a tool for regenerative placemaking led by Rosanna Vitiello, Founder & Bureau Chief, and Allison Walker, artist and associate (The Place Bureau). 

17:00 – 17:15 | Closing Remarks

Closing remarks from Emma Underhill, Founder & Artistic Director (UP Projects) and Justine Boussard, Curator. BSL will be available.

17:15 – 18:45 | Networking Drinks

An opportunity to have a drink and meet some familiar or new faces.

Tickets

Tickets for the Bodies of Water Symposium are now available to purchase for £15. The ticket includes access to the panel discussion and one workshop. Ticket holders will be contacted and invited to select which workshop to attend when the workshop tickets become available from 11 August.

UP Projects believes in keeping events accessible to everyone and has a reserved number of tickets specifically for students and those who are unwaged or on a lower income. These tickets are available to purchase at a discounted price of £7.50. If you are a student and would like to purchase a discounted ticket, please contact info@upprojects.com using your university email address, and you will be provided with a dedicated link to access a discounted ticket. If you are an individual who is on a lower income or currently unwaged, please contact info@upprojects.com and request a discounted ticket.