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 at The Black-E 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 National Trust and Wigan Council. It is generously funded by Arts Council England, Art Fund and Vallum Associates, and supported by Goethe-Institut with engineering support from Civic Engineers.
Thank you to UP Projects’ Critical Friends Pauline Desouza, Diversity Arts Forum and Bridget McKenzie, Regenerative Culture for advising on the project.
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 31 July.
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.