Counterpoints: Walking to Change Direction
Old Library, West Dean
Friday 24 October, 9.30am - 5.30pm
Tickets
If ever there was a time to change direction, it is now.
Walking is an established methodology within creative practice, influenced by all manner of subjects, and with correlations across numerous cultural disciplines. This conference draws on these practices in an actively interdisciplinary way, creating connections between areas such as geology, cartography, post-growth economies, rurality, poetry, and the arts.
This vibrant day of talks and discussion will bring together what are often disparate disciplines to explore walking practices as they relate to land use, future-thinking, and the role of the radical imagination. The event will contribute to contemporary discourse that posits alternative possibilities for how we connect to the land and make manifest the legacy of place.
To navigate the myriad territories that these disciplines encompass, the conference will home in on one path; the South Downs Way.
The conference will mark the opening of a related exhibition, Every Step of the Way, at the Weald and Downland Museum (22 September - 9th February 2026). The touring exhibition invited 33 artists of diverse approaches to respond to different sections of the South Downs Way.
Speakers
Hamish Fulton
Prof. Kate Soper
Dr. Hope Wolf
Jack Cornish (Ramblers)
Lally MacBeth & Matthew Shaw (Stone Club)
Prof. Harriet Tarlo
Dr. Iain Biggs
Justin Hopper
Counterpoints
Walking to Change Direction is co-convened by Dr. Melanie Rose and Sarah Hughes of the BA (Hons) Art & Contemporary Craft at West Dean College.
Schedule
Registration 09:30-10:00
Introduction 10:00-10:10 - Tim Craven
10:15-10:45 Keynote 1 – Hamish Fulton
10:45-11:00 Q&A
Panel 1: Finding Forgotten Pasts Chaired by Tim Bolton
11:15-11:45 Jack Cornish (Ramblers)
11:45-12:15 Lally MacBeth & Matthew Shaw (Stone Club)
12:15-12:45 Panel Q&A
Lunch 12:45-13:45
13:45-14:15 Keynote 2 – Prof. Kate Soper
14:15-14:45 Q&A
Panel 2: Walking with Modernists Chaired by Dr. David Stent
14:45-15:15 Dr. Hope Wolf
15:15-15:45 Prof. Harriet Tarlo
15:45-16:00 Panel Q&A
Break
Panel 3: Facing Both Ways Chaired by Tabatha Andrews
16:00-16:30 Dr. Iain Biggs
16:30-17:00 Justin Hopper
17:00-17:15 Panel Q&A
