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Trellis: knowledge exchange between researchers, artists and communities

Trellis is a programme that bring together artists, UCL researchers and east London communities to collaborate, create new knowledge, ideas and the potential for change or action.

What is Trellis?

Trellis is a multistage art commissioning programme that aims to bring together artists, UCL researchers and local east London communities to co-create work together.

The programme began in 2018, when the first cohort of artists and researchers came together at a matchmaking event. Since then, we worked with over a hundred artists and researchers, and many local community individuals and organisations through a process which has so far led to 21 commissions in four exhibitions. 

Trellis is part of a wider scheme of cultural and community engagement work happening around the new UCL East campus, which aims to build a culture of mutual benefit, collaboration and exchange between UCL staff and students and our local communities.

The next cohort of Trellis commissions, Trellis 5, has been annouced! Read the news story to find out more.

Trellis logo

How does it work? 

Trellis is a multistage programme to support UCL researcher and east London artists to collaborate and exchange knowledge. For each iteration of Trellis, the stages are:

 

  1. Supported mixer/matchmaking: we invite groups of artists and researchers to facilitated networking sessions, where they share their areas of interest and knowledge.
  2. Stage 1 - Initial funding of £1,500: 10 groups or partnerships who met at the networking are funded for around 2 months to support the artists time to develop the relationship and their ideas for a collaborative commission.
  3. Stage 2 - Commission of £15,000: five groups are funded for around 8 months to create an art commission. This must be a co-creation between at least one artist, at least one UCL researcher and an east London community.
  4. Exhibition of work: all commissions come together to exhibit their work, with accompanying activities and celebrations.
     

Abstract blue pipes in the foreground, in focus. Behind this are people mingling and smiling out of focus.

Past projects

So far 26 collaborations have been commissioned to be co-created as part of Trellis since 2018. 


Trellis 5 - A Place of Our Making 

The most recent iteration of Trellis saw five groups of artists, researchers and east London residents come together to explore how we could live easier, happier lives. 

From our changing neighbourhoods to navigating healthcare; accessible spaces, to how we say hello; the partnerships explored how collaborative thinking could improve lives in east London. 

"A Place of Our Making: A multisensory exhibition about east London" shared the findings of these innovative collaborations with a series of unexpected exhibits and events in March and April 2025. Visitors were invited to smell a bagel brick, shake the hand of a 7ft puppet, and join the conversation. 

"A Place of Our Making" was curated by Rachael Harlow, and held at our Marshgate Building on the UCL East Campus.

 

Banner image showing pink and grey patterned graphic and the words 'A place of our making: a multisensory exhibition about east London'
 

Rewilding Healthcare

People sat around a table participating in a drawing workshop at Cody Dock, surrounded by plants

Artist: Laura Copsey
Researcher: Sarah Yardley

It is Good to Meet You

Young school children wearing paper bags with various expressions drawn on them on their heads

Artist: Tony Mason
Researcher: Azadeh Shariati

East London Smells 

South asian sweet treats

Artist: Daisy James
Researcher: Ava Fatah gen Schieck

Acceptance of Difference (Here?)

Woman seated in front of tactile curtain, taken during 'Acceptance of Difference (Here?) workshop

Artists: Lottie McCarthy and Monika Gravagno
Researcher: Sara Adhitya
 

Priced Out: Life on the Edge of Regeneration
Collage of people in front of new and old urban buildings, with a tear down the middle showing blue sky and grass

Artist: Libby Liburd
Researcher: Jose Izcue Gana

Trellis 4 - Field Works

Between July 2023 and March 2024, six groups of artists, researchers and east London communities worked together to create art which resulted in the Field Works exhibition at Hoxton Hall.

Honest and uncomfortable, Field Works probed at the premise that the urban environment is a ready sphere for inequality. But what does this mean? Through their work together, the groups began to develop methodologies that work towards an ultimately optimistic reading of the city. They found humour and tenderness in human connection. 

Field Works was curated by Rosie Murdoch and we partnered with Hoxton Hall as host for the exhibition.

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://youtu.be/ycarT442STo?feature=shared

 

Unbuilt Environments

graphic image looking upwards at an angle at computer generated architecture. stairs start and end in mid air, light shines through windows. the colours are cold greys and bright whites.Unbuilt Environments is a digital installation that acts as an area for expression, protest, and prototyping by disabled people.

Women Walk East

abstract birdseye view of a beige landscape. Overlaid are three rectangular photographic images of landscapes, in green.Women Walk East is an enquiry into women’s orientation in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and considers how and where they map their own place(s) and routes in this distinctive, regenerated urban terrain.

Along the Lane

close up image of scattered seeds and petals. Pinks, greens and beige colours. Along the Lane builds a sensory experience out of the flow of memory, culture and social histories within the East End of London. 

Public Powers

abstract shapes Public Powers is an audio installation that considers the spaces we move through, unearthing who they are made for and the ways we can shape their future.

Fortuna

photo of four people stretching arms and clapping. The are smiling and looking at each other.Fortuna is a devised verbatim performance, directed by Maxi Himpe and performed by young people in Hoxton Hall.

Social Making

painted image, blue background, gradient colour like water. in front are natural shapes that looks like seed pods floating in the water.This project explores how we mark the ryhthm of nature's cycles, layering historical, ecological and horticultural knowledge from mediaeval times to today.


Trellis 3: embedding our methodology

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL1CUo0EInA&list=PLmR-JZVheI8ra8aHR6VMsu...

 
 
 

Six collaborative projects worked together in 2021-22. While the initial matchmaking took place online due to the ongoing pandemic, the teams were able to work collaboratively together in person for much of the time.

The six projects involved a wide range of different subjects and also community groups. Trellis 3 allowed us to explore and confirm our methodology for the programme.

The artists, researchers and communities involved in these projects exhibited their work at the Art Pavilion in Mile End in April 2022. More information can be found on the Trellis 3 exhibition website.

Tailor-Made - Kassandra Lauren Gordon and Ayse Akarca

Material Design Meets AI - Ella Bulley and Amy Widdicombe

Patterns of Connection - Marysa Dowling and Catherine Perrodin and Liam Browne

Another Provision - Johann Arens and Hanna Baumann

Bubble Worlds - Duncan Paterson (brother_Sjur) and Azadeh Shariati and Helge Wurdemann

Material Conversations - Caroline Wright and Tim Adlam, Maryam Bandukda, Youngjun Cho and Ben Oldfrey


 

Trellis 2: facing global challenges

Photo of a hand touching a mulberry tree leaf.

Trellis 2 brought together 80+ artists and researchers, and expanded on Trellis 1 by involving research from all disciplines and placing a greater emphasis on involving communities in the co-create of artwork.

Although heavily affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the five projects that were commissioned went above and beyond to achieve great results in collaboration with their community partners.

The online exhibition in March 2021 was a new format for the Trellis team, but worked well to showcase the projects.

Visit the Trellis 2 Festival website to find out more about the five collaborations. 

Flow Unlocked – artists Jon Adams and Briony Campbell with Georgia Pavlopoulou

Xenia Citizen Science Project – artist Sarah Carne with Charnett Chau and Danielle Purkiss

Mulberry: The Tree of Plenty – artists Sara Heywood and Jane Watt with David Chau

H Is For Hostile Environment – artist Edwin Mingard with Keren Weitzberg

Light-Wave – artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq with Bencie Woll


Trellis 1: the beginnings

two abstract golden shapes sit in the foreground and background with two people taking pictures on phones.

Trellis 1 began in December 2018 when UCL invited a group of artists and researchers from disciplines linked to EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) priority areas to a matchmaking event. You can read more about this event on our Public Engagement blog. 

In this first year, we focused on the relationships between artists and researchers, and community involvement was lower.
The final four commissions were exhibited at the Last Drop Café at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

You can find out more information about the commissioned project on this page.

    Artemis of the Lea - artists Amanda Lwin with Tse-Hui Teh with Lena Ciric 

    Beyond Sight Within Grasp (Red, Yellow and Blue) - artist David Rickard with Prof. Tony Kenyon in collaboration with Beyond Sight Loss

    Point Patterns - artist Alison Turnbull with Elsa Arcaute with Hugo Glendinning

    No Smell, No Dirt, No Trouble* - artist Lucy Harrison with Efstathia Kostopoulou

     

     

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