Ben Russell’s highly influential Headmap Manifesto written in the late 90s, inspired a generation of artists and academics by way of anticipating the impact that locative aware technologies would have on our lives and the world around us. While much of the utopic revolution Russell called for hasn’t transpired, the Manifesto still serves as one of the most prescient documents around creative locative practices and their potential for disruption today.
Leading academic in early locative media arts, Andrea Zeffiro and Soundtrails founder, Hamish Sewell, unpack the Headmap Manifesto and the times it was written; explore what went right and what went wrong with Russell’s vision, and what relevance the Manifesto still has for today’s crop of artists and academics in our post-smartphone era of locative arts and disruptive practices.
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Headmap Manifesto – the utopic revolution of locative practices
Soundtrails founder, Hamish Sewell, and leading academic in early locative media arts, Andrea Zeffiro, as they unpack the Headmap Manifesto and the times it was written; explore what went right and what went wrong with Russell’s vision, and what relevance the Manifesto still has for today’s crop of artists and academics in our post-smartphone era of locative arts and disruptive practices.
Info session Reading Water – A Contemplative Ecology of the Rivers Nile and the Thames
An open info session for all interested to participate, and all others interested, to find out more about the project for young people in the UK and in Egypt, with locative storytelling, group ecological restoration and art projects, during COP27.
• The Walking Assembly 2026
The Walking Assembly 2026 (9–13 May 2026) is a nomadic, field-based gathering in Catalonia for artists, researchers, educators, and collectives exploring walking as embodied, relational, and ecological knowledge. Moving from conference to assembly, it proposes learning without teaching, where knowledge emerges through shared walking, presence, and collective experience. From Salt to Albanyà and along the Muga River, the Assembly foregrounds water, movement, attention, walking and being together in place as pedagogical forces.
• Walktober – celebrating walking art with the Marŝarto Awards
2023 marked the inaugural Marŝarto Award for outstanding walking art, for which we had an overwhelming response, with submissions from 5 continents. Meet the shortlisted artists, and discover the nuts and bolts of making walking art, in this roundtable discussion hosted by Geert Vermeire. Ten walking artists who had had pieces shortlisted in the Award, joined the discussion, and
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