How does Undershed work?
Undershed is an artist-led space where ideas and heart come first. We are driven by artists’ questions and ambitions, rather than the latest use for new technology.
Since opening in October 2024, we have had various exhibitions curated either as group shows organised around a theme or a single piece of work taking over the whole space.
Alongside finished artworks, our Unfinished at Undershed strand invites audiences to help shape new forms of storytelling by trying half-made projects in development. These are works-in-progress, and they tend to come from artist residents who are part of the Pervasive Media Studio community.
Pervasive Media Studio is internationally renowned for place-based, creative technology research and development, and houses a large resident community of 200+ artists.
Watershed also leads the development of Radius, a UK-wide network of venues presenting immersive work and is the Executive Producer for Immersive Arts, with Pervasive Media Studio serving as the programme hub.
How does programming work at Undershed?
We programme immersive and interactive work – and we define this as art that uses technology to actively involve the audience.
We do not commission new work - we are just a receiving house for finished pieces, though we sometimes adapt certain elements to make things work in our space. Unfortunately, we are currently able to programme performance apart from in very specific circumstances, for financial and operational reasons.
Each year, we expect to produce two curated exhibitions around a central theme, alongside various takeovers and showcases.
While the curatorial team is often researching work, once a year we will also issue a formal call for finished projects that are relevant to a theme. These themes are set by the curatorial team in collaboration with external advisors, including members of the audience. We often co-curate exhibitions with focus groups drawn from our audience.
If you would like to hear when our next call opens, sign up to our mailing list.
If you’d like to know more about the way we make decisions – please go to radius.work and explore the “Immersive Exhibition Parameters Matrix”. This outlines all sorts of details from the shape of the gallery to how we work with audiences. If you would like the Undershed curatorial team to consider your work outside of this theme-related call, please fill out this form. As we are a very small team, we will only be able to provide feedback to ideas received during our theme-related calls.
Hire Undershed
If you’d like to hire Undershed for other purposes unrelated to immersive and interactive artwork – please contact the events team.