The Work Room Launches GROUNDWORK Podcast & Manifesto on Climate Justice & Dance

Over the past ten years, The Work Room (Glasgow, Scotland) has seen a groundswell of artists within our membership dedicating their attention and practice to environmental and ecological concerns; climate emergency and activism. Not just in concept or content, but by explicitly interrogating, and altering, ‘the how, the way, the why’ of dancing and making work. 

GROUNDWORK was a project by The Work Room, which emerged from ideas and conversations during IETM's Green School (2023). Led and facilitated by Luke Pell, GOUNDWORK brought together a working group of six artist members who have been exploring such ecological practice within their artistic work. The participating artists -Amy Dakin Harris, Emily Nicholl, Hamshya Rajkumar, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood and Penny Chivas - came together at several points throughout early 2024, for a series of group meetings and practical research trips to explore the following questions from the perspective of independent dance artists, their practice and as members of The Work Room: 

• What does ‘an environmental policy’ mean for independent dance artists in Scotland today and tomorrow?
• What does careful resource management look like for us?
• What’s unique and/or particular to our needs? How can we make change through acts of reciprocity?
• What and how can this be shared across our membership; Glasgow, Scotland and beyond?
• What can we do, together, that is tangible, time-bound and relevant?

At the heart of every conversation the group has had an intention to work towards more embodied approaches to responding to climate and biodiversity injustice in our work and our daily lives. 

Through their work, they produced two resources, a PODCAST SERIES and a MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE, intended as offers for The Work Room artist-members and the organisation to consider as part of approaches to greener working practices, environmental ethos/ policies and sustainability in light of the climate emergency.

Read more about GROUNDWORK and their actionable proposals  for responses to climate emergency for artists, organisations and individuals, listen to the PODCAST, and download the Manifesto for Change on The Work Room's website