Understanding Territoriality: Identity, Place and Possession was a two year partnership project co-founded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. It brought together four organisations working in the fields of visual arts and contemporary design.

The project sought to understand human territorial tendencies and the tensions these create, as well as look at the ways in which individuality and distinctiveness could build a wider sense of togetherness and cooperation, rather than fuel conflict.

At Fabrica, the programme contained of three exhibitions, smaller commisions, a series of conferences, artist residencies, and engagement activities.

The first exhibition was Dawn Chorus by Marcus Coates, which drew parallels between the territoriality of birds and the domestic spaces of people, and it provided a departure point for the project.

The second was Michelangelo Pistolleto's The Third Paradise which seeks to reconcile the conflict between the first and second paradises of nature and human artifice. The third paradise offers a solution, a resolution that will save the planet and humanity.

The last exhibition was Kick Over the Statues by photographer Ewen Spencer, and was part of the Brighton Photo Biennial 2016, containing images of the youth of Notting Hill, who communicate their identity and place in the world through the language of clothing and personal styling, drawing on a rich global and constantly evolving cultural history.

Fabrica worked in partnership with Photoworks during the Brighton Photo Biennial 2016 on an audience development programme for young people. The programme was structured as a series of sessions from summer to autumn 2016, during which a group of 10 young people worked with an arts facilitator, leading up to an event in the gallery, the State of Control which took place 22 October 2016, 2-5pm. The event was a giving-over of the gallery space to the young people’s group, allowing them to make it their territory for one afternoon.

For a smaller commission, Elly Clarke was selected who developed a series of live and online performances as part of her project Remote Intimacy. This investigated human to human contact and intimacy across geographical distance, as it is increasingly entangled and meditated by nonhuman others.

For more information about the programme of exhibitions, artist residencies and events from the other three partnering organizations Netwerk, Public Room and Cittadellarte please visit the Understanding Territoriality blog.