programme
18th October 2025
WORKSHOPS
1pm-3pm
sam topley
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pom-pom synthesizer
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Sam Topley, UK, is a sound artist who creates handmade electronic musical instruments with e-textile interfaces. Her work stems from a DIY culture, where artists craft, experiment and create with technology as a post-digital method of music making. Topley’s participatory projects explore the joyful and social experience of collectively ‘musicking’ alongside ideas in collaborative crafting. Her instruments are designed to be playful and intuitive. The projects have a broad socio-political intent and explore ideas in ‘craftivism’, where electronic textiles and DIY textile handcrafts are used to engage new audiences with creative music technology and experimental music making.
3pm-5pm
shortwave collective
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open wave-radio
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Shortwave Collective is an international feminist group using the electromagnetic spectrum as artistic material. They are creative practitioners from various backgrounds and disciplines (sound and radio art, activism, social science, media and artistic research), brought together by an interest in feminist practices and the radio spectrum. Part of their feminist ethos is ‘learning through doing’, to de-mystify aspects of technology by making it more accessible. Open Wave-Receiver is a simple, low cost, no battery, radio receiver loosely based on foxhole radios and crystal sets. Parts of the circuit have been replaced with household objects that are more easily accessible, providing intriguing results.
INTERLUDE | Dee-Jay
5pm-7pm
spin-off
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OPEN DECKS
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Helen stead
Join us in TiM Cafe for ambient sounds and socialising as we switch vibes from the afternoon workshops into the early evening performance. Our DJ workshops were really popular last year, so we’ve squeezed an open deck session into the programmed interval. Beginners are more than welcome – if anyone wants to just have a go using one of Helen’s easy pre-prepared house mixes this is a good intro for someone who has never done it before.
20 minute slots available to Women & Wom*n who create sets using MP3 via Rekordbox. Members of BSWN can book a timeslot in advance on the WhatsApp group. compatible with MP3 that have been prepped through Rekordbox on USB and Laptops. Have-a-go session, demonstration, assistance and equipment provided by Helen Stead.
Helen Stead began transitioning into music in 2020, enrolling in an evening production course. When lockdown cancelled it, she was offered a place on an Access to HE in Music Technology instead. She began experimenting with Moog and Farfisa to support technical development. In 2023, she completed a DJ course in Saltaire and began curating a collection of varying genres, mainly house. After buying decks, Helen spent two years building sets and learning BPM, keys, and song structure. Having just completed an HNC in Music Technology, she will begin the HND in September, leading to a degree. Her current focus is developing applied skills in audio production, sound design, and music technology in academic and professional contexts. Her current project is to create nine solfeggio tracks.
PERFORMANCE
7pm-9pm
Maria Chávez
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turntablism
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Maria Chávez, Peru, is an improviser, curator, and sound artist. She moved to Texas at age two, and at 16 she began working with sound and turntables. Chávez’s work includes sound installations, visual objects, and live performances that explore the value of accidents and the unique possibilities of sound-emitting machinery like turntables. Her experimental turntablism, influenced by contemporary art and improvisation, focuses on the paradox of time and the present moment. She uses both new and broken needles, which she calls “perfect to ruin,” to create a distinctive sound palette from vinyl. Chávez layers broken shellac and vinyl to create live sound collages in real-time.
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