Sunlight Liberation Network
Public events, workshops, online hub and network
Sheffield and online
Arts Catalyst and online, 2024
Climate change is radically restructuring how we live and work. Art is not immune to these challenges. In the UK, declining public funding means the sector is under-resourced when its workers face rising costs and rents, exacerbating existing power dynamics—pay, access, labour—that ultimately drive us to further exploit the planet and each other. The gap between the world we have and the one we need is growing, with complex threats indicating the need for a deep strategy shift requiring new skills and ways of working.
What do we do?
Sunlight Liberation Network (SLN) is an ambitious creative green transition project for the arts, developed with and for artists and local communities. Through collaboration, it builds innovative creating learning and training in local setttings that are deep, relevant, inclusive and regenerative; so more people can choose inspiring approaches to just and sustainable ways of making and participating in art.
How do we do it?
In the face of climate uncertainty, SLN comes from a shared commitment to empower underrepresented communities to build solidarity and capacity in low-energy, multi-regional and inclusive ways. With host partner Arts Catalyst, SLN brings together artists, residents and communities in Sheffield and internationally via:
Digital complaints box, interviews, and online talk featuring a performative viewer/audience ‘call in’ and discussion,
2-days of experimental hybrid creative skill-sharing workshops in Sheffield (Sep 2024)
20+ media/resources, including audio interviews, how-to articles, and vlog demos, that are easily shared and applied.
The project originated from an Artangel residency Making Time - a new initiative that responds to the climate emergency, bringing the ideas of artists and art production into conversation with new material possibilities. Artangel, Science Gallery London, Brighton CCA and Radar at the University of Loughborough partnered to facilitate a year of experimentation. The year-long programme supports artists to innovate, experiment, explore, fail, and succeed in the production of new materials.