Slow Boat: Experiments with Place and Practice

Programmed by MA Contemporary Arts Practice (CAP) students at De Montfort University, who have transformed Slow Boat into a temporary research residency. Join them on-board to explore how artistic work responds to a specific place through live experiments, workshops and collective discussions.

In this workshop, CAP students will test methods of observing, documenting, moving, writing, and interacting in response to Slow Boat. Making the space an active site for artistic research and experimental learning.

This workshop has been influenced by the Fluxus movement and the current exhibition ‘Residue, What Remains’ at Leicester Gallery.

Aimed at 16–25-year-olds, and families

About the Artists

Stephanie Ball is an artist preoccupied with typical sculptural concerns of form, material properties and the engagement of space. Her approach to making work is viewed through a lens that questions object status or value and the display and positioning of sculpture.

Sam Greenlees is an artist who harnesses the medium of printmaking and installation to assess questions surrounding masculinity, martyrdom, and the media.

Emma Truter’s work focus on individual perception variation, the nuanced nature of human emotion and how it manifests itself. Through the creation of obscure sets she uses photography to document these alternate versions of reality that question social norms and the absurdist nature of life.

Samira Boumecid is a textile artist who specialises in tufting. Some of her most recent works have been made using traditional craft methods such as weaving and spinning with natural wool. All of her works are made from 100% wool. Her work is inspired by nature and her British-Algerian heritage.

Amelia W. Ryska’s work captures mundane everyday moments that are seen through her eyes as she goes through her daily routine, using the repetition inherent in printmaking.

Naomi Hewson’s work investigates the nature of memory, absence and secrets through the physical residue of life.

Samatha Doyle is a photographer of unnoticed observations.

Paul Mazzitelli’s practice explores the relationship between sound, technology, history, and systems arts. Working with obsolete media, electronic instruments, archives, and DIY methods, he investigates how machines shape memory, culture, and human experience.

Neeta Naker is a multi-disciplinary artist exploring themes of reaction, change, cause and effect, serendipity versus control combining different materials and processes. She draws strong influence from natural forms and organic processes.

About Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) & Slow Boat 

Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) is a group of emerging artists, designers, writers, photographers and policy makers (16–21yrs).

With the support of Freelands Foundation, over six years (2021-27), Ikon Youth Programme  (IYP) navigates the waterways on board by producing a programme of workshops, exhibitions and live events on Slow Boat, a heritage canal boat that tours the West Midlands. We collaborate with national and regional artists by sharing resources and regularly exchanging ideas and knowledge.

Image Credits: Courtesy of Ikon Gallery 2026