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PROFORMA

@_proforma_

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Artist Residency & Curating Platform
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'Draped around the walls of the gallery, the banners invite close inspection and the slow unravelling of meaning, enabling nuanced messages to be shared and received. The collaborative and participatory processes that created them demonstrate what can be achieved when people put their creative minds together to untangle and challenge dominant narratives.' Dawn Woolley explores ‘Faces and Threads’, a collaborative project by artist and social science researcher Dr Lone Sorensen and artist Parham Ghalamdar, working with curator Chris Bailkoski/PROFORMA and community partners in Beeston/Hunslet and Longsight. The most recent iteration of the project was on view at BasementArtsProject from September 1 to October 4, 2026. Link in bio to read the full piece ✨ @dawnwoolleystudio @lonesorensen93 @Parham.Ghalamdar @basementartsproject @_proforma_ @longsightartspace Images – 1-4) Installation views of 'Faces and Threads', BasementArtsProject, Leeds, 2026; 5&6) Installation views of 'Faces and Threads', Longsight Art Space, Manchester, 2026; 7) Banners installed at The Corner, Beeston, 2026. All photos: Parham Ghalamdar.
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#REPOST @_proforma_ What happens during a year long artist residency? Join us in Manchester this September to find out as we share reflections of our COMPASS project. Over the past year, this project has connected artists Emma Illingworth and Margaret O’Brien (both Greater Manchester based) with Kimberley Foster and Jane Scobie (both Norfolk based) through residencies at Cromer Artspace and Rogue Artist Studios. The sharing event will include an update from each artist about their experiences and work so far along with a presentation from Chris Bailkoski covering COMPASS, artist residencies and funding strategies.   Date: 26/09/2026
Time: 12pm - 5pm Venue: The Salutation Pub 12 Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED @thesalmcr 

Ticket Link in Bio 🔗
 If you require any further information, please contact Chris Bailkoski at info@proforma.org.uk
 Image: Photo Collage ©️Kimberley Foster 
This project is kindly supported by Arts Council England and Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy #happeninginmcr
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Almost ready for tonight!
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Faces and Threads - a participatory arts research project exploring how marginalised communities feel about online climate debates - returns for its last exhibition opening on Tuesday 1st of September (5.30pm to 8pm) @basementartsproject Led by @lonesorensen93 the exhibition brings together the experience of the entire project into a narrative about how intersecting existential crises affect the climate debate and will include the screening of five experimental film screenings as well as the exhibition launch (that you will then be able to catch until Sunday 4th of October). Find more info via Basement Arts or Lone Sorensen's Instagram account or Basement Arts' website: https://basementartsproject.com/faces-and-threads-exhibition #leeds #exhibition #filmscreenings #climatedebate #marginalisedcommunities
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Come along to the last of our exhibition openings for Faces and Threads - a participatory arts research project that explores how marginalised communites feel about online climate debates. This exhibition brings together the experience of the entire project into a narrative about how intersecting, and at times competing, existential crises affect the climate debate - it's been an interesting ride! We'll be screening five experimental art films that speak to the project in different ways. Opening 1 Sept 5.30-8pm at the Basement Arts Project, Beeston, south Leeds. All welcome.
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Saturday is going to be a big one! 💫 Here is what the day looks like on Saturday 22 August at Crowcroft Park. ✦ Opening of Our Longsight Festival '26 — 11:00am ✦ Worn with Pride: Fashion Show — 11:15am ✦ March for the Future: Climate Parade — 11:30am ✦ Turn it Up: DJ Set by Mega Dredd — 12:00pm ✦ Gnawa Manchester: Live — 1:00pm ✦ Bhangra, Longsight Style — 1:30pm ✦ Gidda by Women of Sanjha Virsa — 2:00pm ✦ Liberation Sound: Samrai & Nuradin — 3:00pm ✦ Dhol Beats — 4:00pm And that is just the performances. Throughout the day you will also find free workshops, community and information stalls, food, art, an outdoor exhibition and a brand new interactive sculpture. Something for everyone, all day long. Free. No ticket needed. Just turn up. 📍 Crowcroft Park, Longsight, M12 4GA 🗓️ Saturday 22 August, 11:00am - 5:00pm
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Big things are taking shape in the park! We are extremely honoured to announce that Shahed Saleem @shahed.saleem is creating a brand new public sculpture which will be revealed on 22nd August for Our Longsight Festival. A sculpture that you can sit within, chat together, and will be adorned by flags created by members of the community during workshops with the talented local artist Fajar @fajkart Titled 'If you live with me, I'll live with you' the sculpture is about co-existance, created out of two pieces hanging together, though it is not clear how they are interconnected or how they support each other, somehow they do. About the artist: Shahed Saleem is an architect, author and Reader in Architecture at the University of Westminster. He works across disciplines to create installations, buildings, texts and drawings. He explores the built envrionment as a complex interplay of narratives as embodied through people’s individual and collective memories and imaginations. Saleem co-curated the V&A Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2021 and his book ‘The British Mosque’ was published in 2018 by Historic England. His design work has been nominated for the V&A Jameel Prize 2013 and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016, and his research work won a RIBA Presidents Medal for Research commendation 2020 and was nominated for the Historic England Angel Award and the SAHGB Colvin Prize 2019.
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"We are thrilled to annouce Nadia Sultana @henna.fusionz has been making a stunning new artwork for Our Longsight Festival. Over the past month she has been running workshops across the city, helping people of all ages and backgrounds create silver and gold butterflies that will be installed amongst the trees right here in Crowcroft Park! Come watch the magic happen starting 22nd August from 11 am to 5 pm. About the artist: Lancashire-born and deeply rooted in South Asian heritage, Nadia is an artist whose work moves between the intricate and the expansive, from traditional henna and mandala-making to large-scale outdoor installations. Her recent commission brought together local participants to hand-make foil butterflies, which came together into a shimmering installation celebrating creativity, community and transformation.
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✨ IT'S HERE. ✨ Our Longsight Festival '26 is coming and this year we are going bigger than ever. Three days. Three experiences. One neighbourhood. 🎬 FRI 21 AUG: Film Screening, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Longsight Art Space 🌳 SAT 22 AUG: Day in the Park, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM Crowcroft Park 🌙 SUN 23 AUG: Community Dinner, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Orchard Garden This year's theme is People & Place. How do the people shape the place we live in? And how does that place shape us in return? Whether it's a family's story of how they came to arrive here in Manchester, the street you grew up on, or the way this neighbourhood has changed over time. This year is a celebration of the people and places that make Longsight, and Manchester, what it is today. Over the coming weeks we'll be introducing the organisations, artists, performers and activities joining us for the weekend. Watch this space. 📍 Longsight, Manchester Poster Credits: @hamazingdesigns
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I felt it was important to create a zine to celebrate the first of many BGW artist residencies. 📷 Here are some images of the zine, so you can see how beautiful it is. 1. The front cover using the infamous lino print I made earlier in the year 2. My thank you page, so many incredible people have supported this work over the last 6 months 3. Our first three artists 4. Gorgeous photograph of the great hall at our permanent new home in Bootle, taken by Pete Regan 5. Some of the glossary terms. I have written definitions of some of the words and phrases used a lot in BGW discourse. I explain generally and then add what the word means for me, and why its used often 6. An important page! Acknowledging that we are also unlearning the hate, bias and judgements that have been embedded into society. We dont always get it right, but we're actively learning, listening & working to understand better. This is community. It is ok to not always get it right. 7. Some suggested ‘research’ - film, literature, music. Thing we have been reading, listening to and watching. Includes Alice Wong, Olivia Laing, Charlie Porter, Fern Brady, Self Esteem, Sprints, CMAT, Martha. 8. Sources that helped to inform some glossary definitions, including from Daily Life LTD, Dash Arts, PROFORMA, The Vacuum Cleaner and Venture Arts. 🤘🏼 Thank you Lisa (@teamtridentpress) for your RISO printing, advice, support and design work. As always, you create something beautiful for BGW. Over the weekend, I will be announcing an online store. There will be a zine, a hand printed tote bag, lino print dyptich and a mug available to purchase. 📢 Limited Edition Each item will be limited to just 20! The edition size is a tribute to our home in Bootle's L20 postcode. We will be adding items, including original artwork from incredible artists, over time, to raise funds to support our projects. ⭐️ Work is supported by Arts Council England, Sefton Council and Kindred. Thank you!
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Final week for 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽! One week left to visit this exhibition at All Saints Church, Wighton, see the work of these artists and more: Artists shown here: 1-Ruth Brumby 2-Carl Durban 3-Paul Wolterink 4-Jessica Loveday (Background: Helen Breach, John Cox, Helen Street) 5-Guy Holder (left) Rose Davies (right) 6-Kevin Lewis 7-Rachel Collier-Wilson 8-Lin Hartley 9-Jane Scobie 10-12-Judith Campbell 13-Mary Blue (right), Nicki Darrell (foreground), Peter Swann & Paul Ebbens 14-Joy Pitts 15-Kate Morse & Lizzy Sainsbury 16-Michelle Louise Carter 17-Jim Brown A huge thanks to each of these artists 🙌 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 is open 10am-5pm daily until 2nd August #undercurrent #Wighton26 #NNEP #northnorfolkexhibitionproject #Contemporaryart
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♠️♦️Faces and Threads❤️♣️ An exhibition in four parts: Part Three~ SNUG at Crowcroft Park  Launches 24th July  Faces and Threads is a community arts project taking place in Longsight, Manchester and Beeston, Leeds. Led by Dr Lone Sorensen in collaboration with artist Parham Ghalamdar, the project has transformed climate misinformation into large Tarot-inspired banners. Residents in each city were invited to respond to social media content about climate change, adding to these banners and capturing the emotions, experiences, and voices of these communities. These voices have turned the banners into a form of protest and displaying them outside during one of the hottest summers on record highlights the urgent need for climate justice. The artwork here was presented at Longsight Art Space between 10th-23rd July and visitors are invited to paint onto these banners this evening. Music tonight is provided by Fossil Heads 🎶🎼🎵 Curated by Chris Bailkoski #FacesandThreads #ParhamGhalamdar #LoneSorenson #ClimateJustice #Tarot
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