BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.5//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:12432@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20261105 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20261110 DTSTAMP:20260904T133128Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/annual-general-exchange-2026/ SUMMARY:Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre: Annual General Exchan ge 2026 DESCRIPTION:Economies\, Capacities and Topologies : 5 days of collective in vestigation into DIY organising and Arts Activism now.\n5th - 8th / 9th No vember 2026\nBOARC\, Merseyside\nAfter a 2-year hiatus AGE is finally back and we’re excited for this year’s format.\n\nFor 2026\, in all its in tensity\, we’ve settled on three themes that seem\, perhaps\, the most u rgently discussed at BOARC between our users. We are asking folks who are invested in these topics to put their thinking forward - through a light t ouch presentation\, that will gain some weight when we are together. So ma ny amazing people come through the building\, many doing really inspiring work - this is intended as point in which there is active crossover and a sharing of knowledge and strategy. Aimed towards hope\, solidarity and get ting down to what matters.\n\nFor those of you who are new to our Annual G eneral Exchange (AGE): this has always been time for thinking collectively about the politics and challenges of the moment. It’s always speculativ e\, heartening\, gets both nebulous and precise as it evolves a group conv ersation over terrain yet unknown. As a user-lead space\, during AGE\, BOA RC gets to think through issues important to its development\, whilst the questions addressed resonate widely enough to impact all of us that look t o activate social change through our practice – in whatever form that ta kes.\n\nWe expect thinking to move\, ideas to expand\, relationships to fo rm and everyone to come away a bit more pointed in their direction thanks to the tool of collective criticality.\n\nThe themes in view are broad\, t hey interlace and entangle - we’ve offered some notes\, hints\, question s not yet answered\, paths that need wandering. These are just a flavour: consider them very open prompts or starting suggestions. Please feel free to be specific\, be vast\, be geeky or unsure. These are the woods our col lective brain gets to forage in. Come with your academic-side-hustle\, lif e-long case study\, midnight rumination or evidence from your work sector. We are open and in total trust that what’s given will get us where we a re going.\n\nThe Thematics\n\nEconomies: Imaging Alternative Economies\, M easure Metric &\; Mean.\n\n>\; What happened to criticality? The impo rtance of para-academic strategies.\n\n>\; Thinking outside of finance - co-operative methods and energetic exchange.\n\n>\; Searching for scale in a disembodied world.\n\n>\; Renter capitalism - what hope lies where .\n\n>\; The changing face of class under turbocapitalism.\n\n>\; The not so hidden costs: The death drive of capital and psychology of willing ignorance.\n\n \;\n\nCapacities: Radical Networks of Care &\; Frame works for Deep Adaption.\n\n>\; Beyond the welfare industry: Alternative s to identity driven healthcare.\n\n>\; 15 years into accountability pra ctices\, where are we now?\n\n>\; Breaking learned helplessness: de-habi tuating state control from our relation to neurodivergence.\n\n>\; Intol erable grief and its impact on the collective imagination.\n\n>\; The fr actal relation between individual\, social and political health - when cra cks can no longer be patched.\n\n>\; Raising conscious kids in a time of black mirrors and ethics of abandon.\n\n \;\n\nTopologies: The Global Terrain\n\n>\; The death of ethics - 3 years into the current genocide in Gaza\, what have we learnt of the human condition?\n\n>\; Passive agg ression as a legacy of the UK’s colonial heritage - its role in fascism ’s rise.\n\n>\; Time as a human construction - the stasis of culture\, is there movement below?\n\n>\; The Systemic Field - lessons from the e astern traditions in non-duality.\n\n>\; Para-political repetitions - un derstanding contemporary exertions of power that eschew the framework of l iberal democracy.\n\n>\; Stirring the silent majority - in a digitized w orld will alienation ever activate the masses.\n\n \;\n\nThe Format\n\ nThe First 3 Days\n\nThe first 3 days will be made up of participant prese ntations that contribute to or are adjacent to the 3 themes.\n\nThese are intended to be light work. There is no need to come with a fancy powerpoin t or fully elaborated thesis. We are just asking interested/ing folks to t hrow their hat in the ring by speaking for their current research\, the fi ndings generated through their practice\, or social strategies they are cu rrently thinking with.\n\nYour presentation might not be the heart of your work but representative of a questions you’ve been seeking answers for. In this challenging moment we are after the thing that makes you say: “ Others need to know about this and… I need to know what they think about it too”. Be it doom laden or hopeful\, micro or macro. Your academic-si de-hustle or life’s current case study.\n\nWe bracket an hour for each i nput\, a presentation could take 20 mins with questions and break out time \, or you might choose to take the whole hour to talk.\n\nWe are hoping fo r 5 or 6 per day and have a few suggestions already.\n\nBefore dinner we ’ll do a collective diagramming session - this is a tool BOARC has been using and basically involves splitting into small groups to try trace\, ma p and move through some of the key idea’s emerging – it is great\, fun and effective.\n\nThe evenings will be reserved just for Joy! Music\, fil ms\, dancing\, flirting\, feasting - generally letting off steam and enjoy ing each other’s company.\n\nDay 4\n\nWe’ll go into expanded practice - working with other more physical and creative tools. We don’t know wha t yet. We imagine Systemic Constellations will be in there (as an example) but if you’ve a nice meeting or discussion structure please suggest it. \n\nWe’ll have BOARCS AGM and some form of party.\n\nDay 5\n\nThe team a t BOARC will have a day capturing stuff\, drawing things up into policy\, anyone invested in the project or DIY spaces more generally is very welcom e to join. The contribution of others is necessary and always really appre ciated. We are looking to set up a working group/steering committee as the project goes forward and this will be in the background of some of our co nversations.\n\nWe are offering a 4th night of free accommodation for thos e wishing to stay and work with us.\n\n \;\n\nCost &\; Booking\n\nB ASIC\n\n£160\n\nCovers 3 nights stay &\; 4 days of food\n\nThe 4th opt ional night is free for those staying to work with us on BOARC.\n\nBOARC i s an unfunded DIY project. This gathering is being organised by a voluntar y team. If you’d like to contribute towards the cost of the running the program (organisers childcare\, transport\, etc.) the suggested donation i s £40-60\n\nWe are offering a few discounted places at £100 for those in extreme financial hardship (long-term unemployment\, full-time carers\, o n benefits) please get in touch.\n\nDAY RATE\n\nFor those local\, it is po ssible to come for the day.\n\nThe cost is £25 p/d which includes 2 colle ctively prepped meals.\n\nWe will also offer 2 hardship places\, per day\, please get in touch.\n\nBOOKING\n\nTo get involved get in touch: enquirie s@bidstonobservatory.org\n\nIf you just want to show up\, great. Your pres ence is enough.\n\nIf you’d like to present\, just write a couple of lin es about what you are thinking of / working through and which thematic you see it sitting best with.\n\nBook Now\nMore Info\n\nAccessibility\n\nBids ton Observatory is a historic building and presents some access challenges . Sadly the site includes multiple staircases and there is no lift. We are committed to making the event as accessible as possible and encourage any one with access requirements to get in touch with us in advance so we can discuss how best to support your visit.\n\nParking and Tranport\n\nWe have free onsite parking. Info on transport connections can be found here: htt ps://bidstonobservatory.org/practical-info/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2026/09/unnamed-12.jpg CATEGORIES:Events,Network Events,Talks,Workshops LOCATION:Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre\, Wilding Way\, Prent on\, Wirral\, CH43 7RA\, Merseyside\, United Kingdom GEO:53.400897;-3.073394 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Wilding Way\, Prenton\, Wir ral\, CH43 7RA\, Merseyside\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Bi dston Observatory Artistic Research Centre:geo:53.400897,-3.073394 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR