20-23 September 
We are hosting the first retreat for Syllabus IV, our collaboratively-produced alternative learning programme. The artists are: Scott Caruth, Libita Clayton, Jessica Coleman, Bettina Fung, Laura Hindmarsh, Beth Kettel, David Lisser, Alicja Rogalska, Kirsty Russell and Abigail Sidebotham. The Artistic Advisors this year are Sonya Dyer and Helen Nisbet.

Empathy

Thursday 20 Sep
Day of Introductions programmed by Wysing Arts Centre

In the Open Call, we described Syllabus IV as a “collaboratively produced programme”. It’s a collaboration between the ten Syllabus artists, but also between the Artistic Advisors, the six partner organisations and all of the people who work for them. This first day will be for you to get to know the people you will be working with over the next ten months.

The morning will see arrivals and icebreaker activities led by Wysing

Desert Island Syllabus
In pairs, we will take turns interviewing each other following the classic Desert Island Discs format. Imagine that you are about to spend the next ten months not with Syllabus, but stranded on a desert island. Which 8 pieces of art, music, literature or theory would you want to take with you?

Lunch

Ask Us Anything
This is your chance to find out about the partner organisations and the people that work for them. Syllabus artists will split into three interview panels and will have a chance to brainstorm a series of interview questions before quizzing individual members of each partner organisation. 

The afternoon will have a walk to the nearby village of Bourn followed by dinner with partners

In the evening, watch a film from the Artist Advisor's list, think of questions for ‘Question Time!’ or just relax in the farmhouse.

Friday 21 Sep
Welcome from the Artistic Advisors

3 Things
The Artist Advisors ask all artists to think of 3 Things that tell us something about themselves. These should not be about artist practice, but instead should symbolize who you are, what you think about, what you like. They can be funny, sad, clever, daft, very literal or very abstract. Each artist will have one minute to talk about all of their 3 Things on Saturday. Please prepare in advance and bring images, a power point, or the Things themselves if this is possible.

After lunch, the Syllabus artists will present their work to eachother and the partners followed by a walk.

The evening sees Question Time! Artists will be asked to submit questions anonymously and some (potentially not all) will be picked from a hat and read at set points. Questions will also be posed by the Artist Advisors. Artists are invited to write questions on a piece of paper, which will be put into a box prominently displayed in the farmhouse. This is followed by dinner in the farmhouse.

Saturday 22 Sep

You Are A... Workshop led by the Artistic Advisors 
Developing the theme of empathy, the Artist Advisors will propose a series of scenarios that artists will work together in groups to develop a response to. Specially, this exercise is designed to get the group to think about the various ways in which interactions between artists, curators, administrators and other facilitators affect the trajectory of their practice – sometimes unknowingly. Can we generate mutual empathy?
 

Question Time! followed by Clips n Chat - A discussion on Empathy led by the Artistic Advisors

Lunch 

3 Things followed by a group reading of Audré Lorde, ‘“Notes from a Trip to Russia”

Question Time! followed by a break and then dinner in the Farmhouse

Sunday 23 Sep

Brunch and planning for the next two retreats, then departures

Please note that we have selected the artists for this year's Syllabus IV programme.

To receive information on the next round of Open Calls for this and other programmes at Wysing, please subscribe to our e-bulletin, click here.