Speakeasy Scratch Night: The Inaugural Futurological Congress

A person in business attire sitting behind a desk.

Curated and hosted by Bloomshed

Welcome to the Inaugural Futurological Congress. Proceedings may be imperfect, ideas will be tested, and policy outcomes are not guaranteed. That’s the Congress Promise!

The Inaugural Futurological Congress is a scratch night of sorts, hosted by Bloomshed as part of their residency at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre. Conceived as a messy hybrid of conference, think tank, Model UN and town hall meeting, the evening invites independent artists to pitch early-stage ideas in response to the social, civic and political questions shaping our time.

Each contributing artist presents their work to the Congress not as a finished product, but as a proposition, a demand, or a speculative intervention. Satire sits comfortably alongside sincerity, and experimentation is actively encouraged.

Audience members are not passive observers, but active participants, invited to respond creatively through poetic, impractical or provocative messages. These collective responses will be gathered and transformed into Memos for a Future, a co-authored document published after each night.

Featuring performances by: Nikki Viveca, Madeleine Martin, Diana Quarshie, Lexie May Smith and Narii Hamill Salmon,Hayley Edwards, Hot Lunch, Sarah Walker, Barking Spider Visual Theatre

Content Warnings

This is a night of works in progress. The length of the event is approximate, and the content may include coarse language and adult themes.

What is a Scratch Night?

Speakeasy Scratch Nights are a new monthly sharing platform for artists to test out new works-in-development on a live and generous audience of likeminded artists. This is an open access, inclusive, messy, supportive and celebratory space for artists to take risks and connect across the community.

The Speakeasy Scratch Nights are hosted and curated by our Companies in Residence and other guest artists, with different themes and curatorial approaches each time.

Come along to experience live performance experiments and be part of our community of practice, or follow us on Instagram to find out how to get involved.

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