What’s softest in the world rushes and runs over what’s hardest in the world. Water and Stone.
– Ursula Le Guin, Tao Te Ching, (1997, p.43)
The Social Practice Lab at Winchester School of Art, in partnership with KUBU culture house in Kemiönsaari, Finland, invites you to tune into our Elemental Hybrid Conversation series.
Our monthly sessions kick off in March 2026 with a focus on the element of water, with each conversation bring us into deeper concord with this vital force, often described as the “matrix of life.” Drawing on a wide range of perspectives, the series spans ocean justice and governance, hydropolitics, the fluid mechanics of computer circuits, to the weaponisation of water and the breath-holding experiences of a free-diver.
Conversations with guests are moderated by Teresa Dillon, convenor of the Social Practice Lab, at Winchester School of Art and curator of the Elemental programme.
26.3. 13.30 GMT
southampton.ac.uk/people/629gxd/doctor-giulia-champion
Researcher at Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute
University of Southampton, UK
Blue, energy and environmental humanities scholar and researcher working on ocean governance, kelp forests, and seabed extraction.
16.4. 13.30 GMT
westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/directory/philippopoulos-mihalopoulos-andreas
Professor of Law & Theory and Director of The Westminster Law & Theory Lab, University of Westminster, UK
Legal scholar, artist and author of the book Hydropolitics (2025).
21.5. 13.30 GMT
kaajalmodi.com
Multidisciplinary artist and Teaching Fellow, University of Leeds, UK
Exploring more-than-human life entanglements with a focus on microbes and water pollution.
25.6. 13.30 GMT
instagram.com/margarida___mendes
Researcher, curator, educator and co-editor of The Word for World Is Water: World-Building and Creative Resistance Through Liquid Alliances (2026)
16.7. 13.30 GMT
kathyhinde.co.uk
Artist, composer and instrument maker inspired by behaviours and phenomena found in nature with works including Listening to the Fen (2025) River Echos (2021) and Tipping Point (2014).
27.8. 13.30 GMT
bryonygillard.co.uk
Artist, researcher and educator, working on the politics of waste water.
24.9. 13.30 GMT
imagininggodzilla.fi
Independent Artist & Uni Arts Helsinki,
Transforming a Pahi 42 polynesian style sailing catamaran, into Imagining Godzilla – a mobile platform for creative research with a focus on the Baltic Sea and its surroundings.
22.10. 13.30 GMT
October: (TBD)
26.11. 13.30 GMT
ioanavrememoser.com
Sound artist engaged with hardware electronics, speculative research, and tactile experimentation, specialising the in the field of fluid mechanics.
10.12. 13.30 GMT
ninamcgowan.com
Professional record-breaking freediver, artist, and climate advocate, working on sea level rising and water bodies.