Between Strangers Symposium

Laura Bissell (Organiser),

Between Strangers is a one day symposium as part of Take Me Somewhere. It responds to ongoing debates about access and accessibility in contemporary arts culture and performance by focusing on questions of hospitality and strange(r)ness.

‘What do we share and what do we owe each other? How are “we” counted and who is included?’ - Lois Weaver

Questions to be explored include:

How do we ensure that performance is hospitable, inclusive or accessible? What is involved in hosting or making a home for such work?
What assumptions about familiarity shape our understanding of hospitality?
How do we make space for encounters with strangers and strangeness without fetishizing lives and experiences that may be different from our own?
Confirmed contributors include Lois Weaver, Stephen Greer and Amy Rosa. Further contributors will be announced mid-March.

As places are limited, we ask any interested individuals to complete a brief application to take part in the symposium so that the organisers can facilitate a mix of practitioners, researchers and students with a range of experiences and perspectives. Those allocated a place will be asked for their participation in all of the day’s activities from 10.30am - 7pm.

To enable access, the symposium is free, with symposium costs being met by the host organisations.

In the spirit of collaborative hospitality we’ll be hosting a shared pot luck buffet lunch, and a wine reception afterwards. Information on Take Me Somewhere performances surrounding this event will be released nearer the time.

ACCESS: We will have BSL Interpretation and a Hearing Loop available at the event. All spaces are wheelchair accessible.

The symposium is organised by Laura Bissell, Laura Gonzalez, Stephen Greer, Karl Taylor and LJ Findlay-Walsh, and is hosted by the University of Glasgow, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Take Me Somewhere.