Slow Notes 04

By Lucy Grubb, Ikon Youth Programme Co-ordinator

As part of Smethwick Imaginarium: Canalside Art School, we welcomed different communities, artists, and members of the public onto Slow Boat to make together, share conversations and think about the boat as an experimental site for learning, documentation and collective practice.

We began with a workshop led by Cathy Wade, where participants created a series of rules and propositions for Slow Boat. Some were practical, while others embraced ambiguity like ‘be bendy’, which became less of an instruction and more a way of thinking. These evolving ideas were shared through cloud-like diagrams, exploring how speculative thinking can open up new ways of working together. 

As the week unfolded, Exodus Crooks led a workshop exploring transness, gender and the relationship between the city, nature, and the body. Participants walked along the canal towpath, making pencil rubbings from different surfaces. These impressions became both documents and translations. Thinking about the traces of place, movement, and lived experience. 

Later in the week, Juneau Projects joined us for the final session of their collaboration with members of Brasshouse Community Centre. Together, participants reflected on a long-term making project that will launch in September 2026. The afternoon became a space for conversation, reflection and, of course, sharing cake together! 

Continuing with this line of enquiry, Laurie Ramsell led a workshop exploring archive practice through clay impressions, cyanotype printing, pencil rubbings and drawing. This session served as a direct account of occurrences on July 15 2026 – exploring the relationship between archives, evidence, memory and imagination.  

 Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora and the Gurdwara Art Club come to visit Slow Boat towards the end of its Smethwick mooring. The unexpected happened: Slow Boat‘s propeller became tangled with a discarded mattress hidden beneath the canal, cutting our journey short and returning us to Birmingham earlier than planned. Even this interruption became part of the week’s documentation, reminding us that movement, like making, rarely follows a straight line.

The week concluded with Reflections on Water at Brasshouse Community Centre, where Ikon Youth Programme joined artists, participants and local community members to reflect on the many conversations, workshops and encounters that emerged throughout Slow Boat’s time in Smethwick. Rather than an ending, this felt like another point on our navigation of the Birmingham and Black Country canals.

Join us on this reflective journey and stay connected for our next Slow Note, where Slow Boat will be moored in Birmingham City Centre for Ikon Youth Programme’s private and public workshops

Check out what’s upcoming on the What’s On page. 

About Smethwick Imaginarium 

Smethwick Imaginarium is a place-based arts programme celebrating the cultural diversity, canal heritage and community spirit of Smethwick. Six artists working across photography, performance, poetry, graphic design, sculpture and curation, collaborate with local residents and community organisations to co-create work that explores the role of the Galton Valley Canal. 

This programme forms part of Smethwick Imaginarium, a Canal & River Trust project funded by Arts Council England and through funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Delivered in partnership with North Smethwick Development Trust / Brasshouse Community Centre and Smethwick Interfaith Friends Group, Smethwick Library and Ikon Slow Boat. 

About Slow Boat
With the support of Freelands Foundation, over six years (2021-27) Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) navigates the waterways on board Slow Boat, a converted narrow boat. IYP are collaborating with creative thinkers and makers to reimagine Slow Boat as a local art school. 

About IYP  

Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) is a group of emerging artists, designers, writers, photographers, policy makers and earth scientists (16–21yrs). We co-lead programming, exhibitions and events, working with regional and national artists through workshops, shared resource and ongoing knowledge exchange. Ikon Youth Programme is funded by Freelands Foundation.