Events
Somatic Listening: Practices in Responsive Filmmaking | Workshop with Jess Holdengarde
Part of Learning
In this free workshop with artist Jess Holdengarde at Forgan Arts Centre participants will be introduced to practices of deep listening that engage with ecology, sound and site-responsive practice.
There are 12 places available and the workshop is open to artists who are based in Scotland and not in education.
The workshop will begin with a listening session of Holdengarde’s ‘Rock, Body, Water’, a sound work developed in collaboration with sound designer Robbie Thomson as part of a multichannel sound, video and lighting installation presented at Stills Centre for Photography in 2024.
Following this, participants can take part in a guided, site-responsive listening walk in the garden at Forgan Arts Centre. Through a series of sensory and recording prompts participants will be encouraged to use zoom recorders, contact mics and hydrophones to attune to their surroundings and consider the reciprocal relationships between people, place, and water.
The workshop will conclude with a facilitated reflective discussion, inviting conversations around the role of art in climate discourse, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the possibilities and limitations of experimental methodologies when engaging with environmental change.
The deadline for booking this workshop is Tuesday 13 October 2026.
Schedule
1 – 1.15pm: Arrivals and Intros
1.15 – 2pm: Workshop Part 1
2 – 2.15pm: Break
2.15 – 3pm: Workshop Part 2
3 – 3.15pm: Break
3.15 – 4.15pm: Workshop Part 3
4.15 – 4.30pm: Goodbyes
Access
How to get to Forgan Arts Centre
Forgan Arts Centre is in the village of Newport-on-Tay in North East fife.
If arriving at Dundee Railway Station get the M77 at Yeaman Shore carpark stop. The bus journey is approximately 12minutes, then a 6 minute walk up a hill to the centre.
The 99 to St Andrews and X54 to Edinburgh travel from Dundee bus station (Seagate) to Forgan Roundabout. The bus journey is approximately 6 minutes. The walk from Forgan Roundabout to the centre is 19 minutes.
WhatThreeWords: ///sardine.forgives.remake
Venue Access
There are 7 stone steps to the front door followed by two internal steps. There is also level access into the building via a ramped entrance through a glass corridor.
From Kirk Road, the walk to the building is a steep short walk up a hill. If you can’t manage the walk, there is Blue Badge parking on site as well as some parking spaces for those with access needs which we encourage you to use. There is also space for drop off/pick up if you’re arriving by taxi or lift share.
See here for more details on how to get there and venue access information.
What to expect
- An informal, supportive environment
- Regular breaks
- Refreshments
- Learning in a group context with other artists
- Captions for film works
- LUX Scotland staff will be hosting/facilitating the workshop
This event will not be live captioned.
Part of the workshop will involve being outdoors but there is no expectation to participate in all of the exercises.
Access Fund
A limited access fund is available to support participants’ attendance, which can be used for transport (for access or safety reasons) or the cost of childcare, carers or support workers. This fund will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis, so please get in touch as soon as you can. For further information about access please email our team at LUX Scotland if there is anything you would like to discuss to support your participation, email hidden; JavaScript is required
About Jess Holdengarde
Jess Holdengarde (b. 1991) is a South African lens-based artist living on the Isle of Lewis, with a studio based in Glasgow. Their practice examines photography’s role in responding to environmental, social, and economic crises, exploring how image-making can inspire critical reflection and hopeful action within the polycrisis.
Working across photography, writing, sound, and moving image, Holdengarde brings together experimental darkroom processes, site-specific methodologies, and embodied forms of inquiry, weaving queer methodologies and eco-conscious approaches into their practice. Their projects frequently emerge through collaborative and collective processes, cultivating spaces for shared knowledge, experimentation, and dialogue.
Holdengarde has exhibited internationally across Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK. In 2024, they were awarded the Verzasca Foto Artist-in-Residence programme in Switzerland and presented their first major solo exhibition at Stills: Centre for Photography in Edinburgh. For 2025 – 26, they are the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Stirling and are supported by the innovation and policy project FORTH2O to develop a new moving image commission, with mentorship and support from LUX Scotland and Hydro Nation.
Image descriptions:
1. A black-and-white image shows a hand reaching toward a probe microphone embedded in a bed of sphagnum moss. Dense vegetation fills the frame with low-light exposure and pronounced film grain.
2. A colour image captures sunlight reflecting across the surface of still water, producing glimmers of light. Branches and reeds extend across the frame, with a hydrophone entering the body of water to the right of the film frame.
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