Spike Island Associates is a professional development network for artists, curators, designers, writers and producers at all stages of their careers. Members span multiple disciplines and share a common interest in collaboration, experimentation and a desire to learn new skills.
AUTUMN 2026: ARCHITECTURES OF MEMORY
Spike Island is excited to announce the Autumn 2026 thematic programme for Spike Island Associates, Architectures of Memory, alongside a new programming strand, Performance in Practice.
Our Autumn 2026 Associates programme, Architectures of Memory, echoes and expands on the themes explored in the upcoming exhibition by Beverly Buchanan. Rooted in the landscapes and histories of the American Southeast, Buchanan developed a singular practice shaped by memory, materiality and place, exploring the enduring legacies of slavery through the histories embedded in architecture, landscape and everyday materials. As a Black queer woman living with chronic illness, Buchanan also cultivated communities of friendship and mutual support that were integral to both her life and artistic practice.
This season, the programme explores how race, memorialisation and the politics of place are held within society and the built environment. Through a varied programme of events including lectures, workshops, one-to-one sessions and away days, Associates are invited to come together to explore discourses surrounding memory, materiality, collective care and relationships to landscape.
Alongside our core offer of professional development, the thematic programme will activate research questions and rehearse ideas and methodologies inspired by our exhibition programme. We see Spike Island Associates as a site for collective knowledge production where artists, curators and creatives come together to explore contemporary critical debates and artistic practices.
AUTUMN 2026 HIGHLIGHTS
Lectures and mentoring sessions with:
James Jordan Johnson, an artist working in performance, photography, film and sculpture, exploring ideas of slowness, Blackness, and personal and collective memorialisation.
Rose Higham Stainton, a writer and critic who explores gender, material culture, and man’s construction of nature.
Imani Mason Jordan, interdisciplinary writer, artist, editor and curator interested in poetics and performance.
Workshops by:
Drawing Matter, a charitable trust that explores the role of drawing in architectural thought and practice, delving into the role of drawing in documenting architectural histories and imagining alternative futures.
WITTA (Writing In / To / Through Art), a research initiative that brings together artists, writers, practitioners and researchers whose work resides at the crossovers between writing and art.
Lemonade Press, an independent printmaking studio in Bristol, dedicated to exploring the process and possibilities of stone lithography.
Recent guests include: Pio Abad, Larry Achiampong, Olivia Aherne, Linnéa Bake, Simeon Barclay, Amrita Dhallu, Deborah-Joyce Holman, Taylor Le Melle, Maggie Matić, Jade Monserrat, Harold Offeh, Shy Bairns, Lucy Stein, Eliel Jones, Sim Panaser, Rianna Jade Parker, Angela YT Chan, Alice Theobald, Adham Faramawy, Melanie Manchot, Alberta Whittle, Abbas Zahedi, Paul Purgas, Michael Simpson, and Ashley Holmes.
Become a member to take advantage of this program
Spike Island Associates is supported by UWE Bristol. Spike Island and UWE Bristol work in partnership to deliver sector-leading support, facilities and opportunities for early-career artists and arts professionals to develop their skills and knowledge. The partnership incudes the provision of resources, arts research, joined-up learning opportunities for creative students, as well as shared public events.
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