First Friday is a monthly social event open to anyone. These events are somewhere between the last meeting of the week and the first event of your weekend. You might meet an artist or an engineer, a school teacher or a city leader. It is a place to connect with someone you might not otherwise meet, and hear about stuff you didn’t already know. All are welcome - from inside and outside the city, online or in the Watershed building.

March 2024 Event

In-person attendees can have a look around the Studio to find out about the work that happens here. There will also be some equipment set up to chat with people joining the event online.

In-person attendees will also get to see work from the research project Connecting Through Culture as We Age. The project commissioned teams to co-design prototypes for new arts and cultural experiences to support healthy ageing.

Retirement Reloaded: This female led project has focused on reimagining the narrative for older women by reinforcing and invigorating the message of vibrancy and value that older women hold in society.

Anyone Remember the Washhouse?: Through animations, objects, sayings, stain-removing recipes, improvised hand clapping and folk song, Anyone remember the washhouse? invites you to remember and reflect on the bygone 'wash-house world'.

Recycle City: Recycle City is a speculative city founded on the values of creativity, community, opportunity, human and animal welfare, healing, connection, conversation, love, joy and celebration.

Expressive Pockets: Embellishing fabrics as a medium to express identity as we age; the Expressive Pockets team have devised a way to relate to life stories through making. Join them to explore the theme of 'Age Rebellion".

University of Bristol: With older adult co-researchers, creative and project partners, they've been co-designing new arts and cultural experiences that aim to support wellbeing and social connection in later life. Follow their journey as they move away from traditional approaches to design and digital innovation for ageing by embedding design in the everyday, as a response to older adults' diverse live, creative interest and passions.

Murmurations: Murmurations seeks to share the hidden experiences of older people, queer people and the crip community - the highs, the lows, and the strategies we use to navigate the world. They have worked closely with groups spanning these communities, listening, talking, and finding out what must be heard.

Videos and more information for the above projects are available here.

The hosted element of the event will finish at 18:00. In-person attendees are welcome to continue conversations in the Café & Bar.

Online attendees can take part in short speed networking conversations. Our software will pair you up at random for a series of five minute one-on-one conversations. There is an option to take a break between each chat and you are welcome to pop in and out whenever you like. It's fine to join the event late and leave the event early.

About the Pervasive Media Studio

The Pervasive Media Studio hosts a community of artists, companies, technologists, and academics. We are a space for risk taking; for the kind of projects that inhabit art, technology, and society.

Our projects span play, robotics and location-based media.

We have an open-plan studio with a culture of generosity, curiosity, and interruptibility. By bringing people together from a range of backgrounds, all our ideas become better.

Join the First Friday mailing list here.

This event is supported by MyWorld.

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