The Old Waterworks

The Old Waterworks The Old Waterworks (TOW) is an artist-led charity in Southend-on-Sea that provides studios, faciliti

Future Ruins and New Worlds (FRNW) is a new free, intensive, postgraduate-level course for artists in Essex and the East...
06/03/2026

Future Ruins and New Worlds (FRNW) is a new free, intensive, postgraduate-level course for artists in Essex and the East of England. If you’re planning on applying, here’s what we need. 

• 150 words: why you’re applying
• 200 words: artist statement
• 200 words: bio
• CV (1 page)
• 5 images or 2-min showreel

Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed.

We’re looking for clarity, curiosity and suitability.

Deadline: Monday 16 March, 11:59pm, see link in bio

Applications to Future Ruins and New Worlds programme will be reviewed by an independent panel of artists, writers and c...
04/03/2026

Applications to Future Ruins and New Worlds programme will be reviewed by an independent panel of artists, writers and cultural leaders:

Claire Gallagher (Co-Chair)
James Ravinet (Co-Chair)
Mick Ekers (Treasurer)
Natasha Carter
Sophie Sage
Ellen Mara De Wachter
Rehan Wazir

Together they bring experience across contemporary art, curating, writing, publishing, funding and artist development.

We’re looking for a cohort that is:
intellectually curious
generous in discussion
committed to research
open to collaboration
ready for sustained engagement

The process is rigorous, transparent and supportive, designed to assemble a group who will challenge and support one another in equal measure.

Deadline: Monday 16 March, 11:59pm. For more information on the programme and to apply, see link in bio.

Meet the Future Ruins and New Worlds course leaders. Dr Ruth Jones and Dr David Watkins, artist-researchers with extensi...
17/02/2026

Meet the Future Ruins and New Worlds course leaders. 

Dr Ruth Jones and Dr David Watkins, artist-researchers with extensive experience across higher education, exhibition-making and collaborative research.

They’ve designed FRNW as a space for:

• critical generosity
• speculative thinking
• collective care
• serious intellectual work
• alternative knowledge systems

Leadership with warmth.
Rigour without gatekeeping.

Applications close 16 March, for more information and to apply, see link in bio

SCREENING and TALKWE ARE MAKING A FILM ABOUT MARK FISHERIn collaboration with  and  , The Old Waterworks is hosting a se...
10/01/2026

SCREENING and TALK
WE ARE MAKING A FILM ABOUT MARK FISHER

In collaboration with and , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of events about ideas and people who are shaping the world around us.

We are making a film about Mark Fisher will be screened at The Old Waterworks and will be followed by a talk by Simon Poulter from Close and Remote.

Saturday 14 February 2026. 2 – 4pm

Ticket link in bio

We charge a minimal fee as we have found people book spaces but don’t attend. Please email if you need a free place and they are all taken.

The film was made with no budget, no studio backing and no institutional permissions. We started on a park bench in Rochford, Essex. A conversation between and Simon Poulter.

Sophie Mellor and Simon Poulter, working as Close and Remote, developed the film between 2024-2025. Through instagram, they enlisted the support of 70 people to make the film.

The film explores solidarity, shared labour and digital connectivity. It enacts what Fisher insisted was still possible – decapitalised cultural production, collective agency among the ruins of neoliberal atomisation. A reminder that DIY doesn’t mean private – it means working together.

Theory ClubMutant EcologiesIn collaboration with  and  , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading groups aimed ...
10/01/2026

Theory Club
Mutant Ecologies

In collaboration with and , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading groups aimed at artists and creatives who want to support their practice with up to date ideas about the world around us and how they influence our work.

Theory Club concludes with new Pluto publication; Mutant Ecologies by Erica Borg and Amedeo Policante, led by

Sunday 26 April 12 – 3pm

Ticket link in bio

Tea and Coffee and vegan, vegetarian and GF snacks provided

We have dyslexia friendly colour overlays available

Whilst we have ramp access to our building we regret that we do not offer fully disabled accessible toilets due to limitations with our building and lease.

We charge a minimal fee as we have found people book spaces but don’t attend. Please email if you need a free place and they are all taken.
In this session, Dr. Ruth Jones will guide the group through an overview of the chapters of the book and welcome attendees to discuss the ideas in the text and share their insights. The day will round up with group discussion about ways the book might be used to support attendees creative practice.

Attendees will each receive a copy of the text in advance. No prior reading is necessary, but any advance reading will help make for a more in depth conversation.

Once you have booked your place you will receive an email with information about collecting your free copy of the book.

Discussion of the content of this book may cause difficult and differing opinions to arise. Please be resepctful of other attendees as we navigate possibly contentious topics.

Dr. Ruth Jones is an artist, independent curator and director of The Old Waterworks. Her practice and research operate at the intersection of feminism and world-building to offer audiences opportunities to image the world otherwise. She works across installation, sound, drawing and sculpture and ASMR to engage audiences. Her current research, Teratoma/Terror Incognita, has provoked a series of different proposals, works and texts exploring embodied glitches and ruptures as sites for agency and possibility.

Theory ClubRadical Abundance In collaboration with  and  , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading groups aime...
10/01/2026

Theory Club
Radical Abundance

In collaboration with and , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading groups aimed at artists and creatives who want to support their practice with up to date ideas about the world around us and how they influence our work.

Theory Club continues with new Pluto publication; Radical Abundance by Kai Heron, Kier Milburn and Bertie Russell led by

Sunday 8 March 12 – 3pm

Ticket link in bio

Tea and Coffee and vegan, vegetarian and GF snacks provided

We have dyslexia friendly colour overlays available

Whilst we have ramp access to our building we regret that we do not offer fully disabled accessible toilets due to limitations with our building and lease.

We charge a minimal fee as we have found people book spaces but don’t attend. Please email if you need a free place and they are all taken.

In this session, Dr. David Watkins will guide the group through an overview of the chapters of the book and welcome attendees to discuss the ideas in the text and share their insights. The day will round up with group discussion about ways the book might be used to support attendees creative practice.

Attendees will each receive a copy of the text in advance. No prior reading is necessary, but any advance reading will help make for a more in depth conversation.

Once you have booked your place you will receive an email with information about collecting your free copy of the book.

Discussion of the content of this book may cause difficult and differing opinions to arise. Please be resepctful of other attendees as we navigate possibly contentious topics.

Dr. David Watkins is a visual artist working predominantly in painting and installation. He is a trustee of The Old Waterworks. Watkins investigates networks and connections from global supply chain infrastructure to the Wood Wide Web.

Theory ClubFeminism. Art. CapitalismIn collaboration with  and , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading group...
10/01/2026

Theory Club
Feminism. Art. Capitalism

In collaboration with  and , The Old Waterworks is hosting a series of reading groups aimed at artists and creatives who want to support their practice with up to date ideas about the world around us and how they influence our work.

Theory Club starts with new Pluto publication; Feminism. Art. Capitalism by Angela Dimitrakaki.

Sunday 8 February 12 – 3pm

Ticket link in bio

Tea and Coffee and vegan, vegetarian and GF snacks provided

We have dyslexia friendly colour overlays available

Whilst we have ramp access to our building we regret that we do not offer fully disabled accessible toilets due to limitations with our building and lease.

We charge a minimal fee as we have found people book spaces but don’t attend. Please email if you need a free place and they are all taken.

In this session, will guide the group through an overview of the chapters of the book and welcome attendees to discuss the ideas in the text and share their insights. The day will round up with group discussion about ways the book might be used to support attendees creative practice.

Attendees will each receive a copy of the text in advance. No prior reading is necessary, but any advance reading will help make for a more in depth conversation.

Shop small, shop independent, shop unique and support your local creatives this Sunday.The Old Waterworks artists are ba...
26/11/2025

Shop small, shop independent, shop unique and support your local creatives this Sunday.

The Old Waterworks artists are back for the 4th annual Winter Market.

Sunday 30 November
12-4pm

The Old Waterworks
North Road | SS0 7AB

Free Parking!

• risograph editions
• zines
• artist publications
• photographs
• prints
• drawings
• lbd
• riso wrapping
• t-shirts
• cards
• local soil chromatographs
• original artworks
• mulled wine
• book signings
• mince pies
• fridge magnets
• and more!

This Sunday!!Join us for our annual Winter Market and pick up some completely unique gifts for your friends and family. ...
25/11/2025

This Sunday!!

Join us for our annual Winter Market and pick up some completely unique gifts for your friends and family. Or for you. You deserve it.

Sunday 30 November
12-4pm

The Old Waterworks
North Road | SS0 7AB

Free parking!

Share far and wide and support independent businesses and creatives for this festive season. Grab something that truly isn’t on the high street or Amazon.

Join us for our annual Winter Market!Sunday 30th November 12-4pmThe Old WaterworksNorth Road | SS0 7ABFree parking!Uniqu...
04/11/2025

Join us for our annual Winter Market!

Sunday 30th November
12-4pm

The Old Waterworks
North Road | SS0 7AB

Free parking!

Unique Artist Editions
Handmade Gifts
Artist Publications
Live Portraits
Vegan Candles
Music Merch
Zines
Botanicals
Risographed Wrapping Paper
And More!

Share with everyone! Your friends, your enemies, your neighbour, your cat! And come and support some local creatives and makers!

📈Data Club with Peter Collette📉Join us for a series of reading groups delivered in collaboration between  and The Old Wa...
15/10/2025

📈Data Club with Peter Collette📉

Join us for a series of reading groups delivered in collaboration between and The Old Waterworks and supported by and The Reading Room.

✨ no prior reading necessary ✨

These sessions are open to all, no technical knowledge is necessary. Everyone who is interested in talking about, thinking about, and critiquing data and digital technologies is welcome.

Session 1 Data: Classify, Calculate, Control
Saturday 25 October 12-3pm

Session 2 Data: Earth, labour and business models of the “digital”
Saturday 6 December 12-3pm

Session 3 Data: Future visions for digital technologies and society
Saturday 17 January 12-3pm

Taking place at The Old Waterworks | North Road | Westcliff on Sea | SS0 7AB

These sessions are prompted by two Pluto Press publications📚

Data Power: Radical Geographies of Control and Resistance by Jim E. Thatcher and Craig M. Dalton📚

and

Digital Degrowth: Technology in the Age of Survival by Michael Kwet 📚

Upon booking you will receive an email with details about the reading and about collection of your copies of the books. No prior reading is necessary.

🎟️You can get your ticket via the link in our bio, our website and our eventbrite page.

🎟️Two tiers of tickets are available, if no more supported places are available, send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll book your place.

🚙Free parking | 🔞Open to over 18s | ☕️Tea and coffee provided | 🍿Vegan snacks provided | 🦽Access ramp and dyslexia friendly reading aides available | Enlarger available

📍Directions to The Old Waterworks are available on our website including best train, bus and walking routes.

🚾Unfortunately our toilets are not fully accessible - we are working on addressing this issue with our landlord.

Address

The Old Waterworks, North Road
Southend-on-Sea
SS07AB

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