Syllabus is a national, collaboratively-produced alternative learning programme which supports ten artists over ten months.

Launched in 2015, this annual programme is delivered in collaboration with Studio Voltaire; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), London; and Spike Island, Bristol, alongside participating artists, and two artistic advisors.

The ten selected artists for Syllabus VII in partnership with Eastside Projects, New Art Exchange, PS2, Spike Island, Wysing Arts Centre and TACO! are Omid Asadi, Maggie Campbell, Katrina Cobain, Sophie Gresswell, Sahjan Kooner, Yoojin Lee, Natasha MacVoy, Michael., Alexis Parinas, and Moira Salt.

Together the artists will co-produce the Syllabus programme in collaboration with artist advisor Uma Breakdown and the partner organisations. Over ten months, they will undertake workshops, critical conversations and mentoring, whilst connecting with arts organisations and communities across the UK.

The ten selected artists for Syllabus VI were: James Clarkson, Lauren Craig, Ufuoma Essi, Bettina Furnée, Olga Grotova, Helen Hamilton, Elsa James, Freya Johnson Ross, Daniel Trivedy and Sam Williams.

The artistic advisors for Syllabus VI were Amanprit Sandhu and Jade Montserrat.

The Syllabus VI artists work across a range of practices, from sound, filmmaking, choreography, sculpture and work in the public realm. Their work researches diverse topics such as archiving, the body, multi-species entanglement, race and representation, materiality, language and interfaces. The ten selected artists live and work across the UK, including Yorkshire, West Wales, the East of England and Greater London.

Syllabus VI was markedly different from previous iterations of the programme. Programme partners decided to make Syllabus free to access and to reframe much of the programme activity around contributions from the participating artists. Syllabus has also shifted to a hybrid online/offline model to contend with the challenges of Covid-19, with the programme consisting of multiple online meetings and shorter in-person gatherings at partner venues.

Syllabus V aimed to reach artists with a range of practices and artistic approaches and bring together individuals from across the UK. Syllabus V selected artists were: Sophie Blagden, Juliet Davis-Dufayard, Yuxin Jiang, Hwa Young Jung, Sarai Kirshner, Jack Lewdjaw, Sarah Maple, Duncan Poulton and Aliaskar Abarkas.

Collaborators included Ruth Claxton, Eastside Projects; Tavian Hunter, Melanie Keen and Simina Neagu, Iniva; Niomi Fairweather, Rebecca Huggan and Daniel Russell, The NewBridge Project; Laura Clarke, S1 Artspace; Elisa Kay, Spike Island; John Eng Kiet Bloomfield, and Wysing Arts Centre. For Syllabus V, The NewBridge Project joined as a guest partner. Barby Asante and Louise Shelley were the two Artistic Advisors for Syllabus V.

The ten selected artists for Syllabus IV were: Scott Caruth, Libita Clayton, Jessica Coleman, Bettina Fung, Laura Hindmarsh, Beth Kettel, David Lisser, Alicja Rogalska, Kirsty Russell and Abigail Sidebotham. Syllabus IV was developed collaboratively with the participating artists, the partner institutions and the artistic advisors Sonya Dyer and Helen Nisbet.

At Studio Voltaire, the Syllabus IV retreat explored the role of ‘the voice’ through vocal, physical and written workshops. The programme tested tools for collaborative artistic production, experimentation and reflection with political performance, collective listening and role-play design strategies.

Artist Jenny Moore hosted a full-day session exploring the collective voice through political performance and protest, followed by an introduction to live-action role-play with Jamie Harper, a theatre director and game designer who specialises in Nordic-larp. The final day comprised artist presentations and a writing workshop with artist and writer Morgan Quaintance.

Ten artists were selected for Syllabus III. Beginning at Wysing in September 2017, the artists came together to share their work and co-develop the year’s syllabus alongside the participating artists, partner institutions and lead artists Jesse Darling and Harold Offeh.

The selected artists were: Frederica Agbah, Chris Alton, Conor Baird, Ilker Cinarel, Phoebe Davies, Freya Dooley, Rose Gibbs, Jill McKnight, Ben Sanderson and Karis Upton. The Syllabus III artists were from many areas of practice including photography, painting, sculpture, installation, writing, performance, poetry, and interdisciplinary and collaborative work that defies a genre. They lived and worked across the UK, including Cardiff, Folkestone, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Norwich and St. Ives.

Ten artists were selected for Syllabus II, a national programme delivered by Studio Voltaire, Wysing Arts Centre, Eastside Projects, New Contemporaries, S1 Artspace and Spike Island.

The selected artists were: Mira Calix, Faye Claridge, Mike Harvey, E. Jackson, Tyler Mallison, Nika Neelova, Tom Smith, Dylan Spencer–Davidson, Thomas Whittle and Laura Wilson. The artists are based across the UK – Sussex, Essex, Edinburgh, Warwickshire and London – and represent a wide range of ages and experiences. Syllabus II was led by curator George Vasey, alongside artist Milly Thompson.

Starting at Wysing in September 2016, the artists came together every two months to share their work and co-develop the year’s Syllabus alongside partners. At Studio Voltaire, workshops and talks centred around the idea of ‘care’. Contributors included: Phoebe James, Curator at Artangel; Mary Cork, Director Pilar Corrias; Dr Zoe Whitley, Tate Modern; and artists Marvin Gaye-Chetwynd, Andy Holden, Anthea Hamilton and Gerasimos Floratos.

The inaugural Syllabus took place from September 2015 to June 2016 and was delivered by Studio Voltaire, Wysing Arts Centre, Eastside Projects, New Contemporaries, S1 Artspace and Spike Island.

The artists selected for the first year were: Simon Bayliss, Noel Clueit, Susie Green, Mathew Parkin, Rory Pilgrim, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Tom Salt, Lucy Steggals, Tom Varley and Rafal Zajko. Alongside the partner organisations, artist Andy Holden led the programme.

In April 2016 Studio Voltaire held a weekend-long residency. The retreat, entitled ‘On Group Work’, was led by artist Rehana Zaman and considered ‘how we work with others’, reflecting on questions of presence and notions of relation. A curated series of visits and workshops focussed on practice-led development, with contributions from Sharon Hayes, Mason Leaver Yap and Gareth Bell Jones, and off-site activities at IMT Gallery, Focal Point Gallery and LUX.