Convening Bodies Residency in Dialogue with Near Dwellers as Indwellers

Convening Bodies is a relational and creative research residency that brings artists and practitioners from different disciplines to gather near water—lakes, rivers, seas, oceans. This residency focuses on expanding engagement with how we relate to bodies of water, the life they support, and one another. It explores how situated studies and new understandings can mediate an ecology of care and inform creative practice. 

Founded to support an alternative approach to relational politics in a time of climate and societal emergency, Convening Bodies aims to foster supportive discourse, deep listening, knowledge sharing, restoration, and making. 

Convening Bodies' first iteration took place from September 24 to October 2, 2025. It was a two-part, 10-day residency situated on Lummi Island in the Salish Sea, and Grayland, WA, along the Pacific Coast. Eleven residents participated, from Canada, the United States, Kenya, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Convening Bodies Residency in Dialogue with Near Dwellers as Indwellers is an exhibition and conversation at Bothkinds Project Space, showing ongoing work artists developed during their Convening Bodies residency this fall. The exhibition explores points of intersection between the two creative projects, with a focus on reimagining our relationship with built and natural environments.

Near Dwellers as Indwellers is an art-research project: an exhibition, an expanded workshop, an open forum, a set of thought experiments, and an invitation to reimagine our relationship with undomesticated animals in the city. We invite participants—artists, designers, scholars, students, members of the public—to join us in exploring the aesthetics and politics of who exactly is visible as an animal neighbour? What are their needs, and what does this entail for how we share space, care for, and take responsibility for the well-being of our fellow animal neighbours?

Bothkinds Project Space will host a roundtable discussion between Convening Bodies residents, Near Dwellers as Indwellers, and Earth science practitioners on November 21st, beginning at 11:00 am, exploring the role of creative research and how artists contribute to conservation efforts and connective knowledge. The conversation will focus on collaborative purpose and practice, as well as key insights gained during the Convening Bodies residency, with consideration to other beings with whom we cohabitate. The opening reception will take place on November 22nd, with an artist talk by Paige King, co-founder and resident of Convening Bodies.

“Trust that all water everywhere touches all water everywhere.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Artists: Obel Joseph, Jenny Hawkinson, Paige King, RA Layton, Lidiia Griaznova, Christen Mattix, Rose Musyoki, Al’Lyah King, Sus Cho, Ali Lohan, SaRa Kim