Date: 16 May 2025
Location: The Firs Environmental Research Station
Session 1: Examining Mosses
Abi Bleach, Giles Johnson, and Oliver Hughes
The morning session will begin with a brief overview of the moss-related materials in the University of Manchester’s botanical archives; we will work together to “decode” some of these materials, using our shared scientific, historical, and artistic knowledge. Then, we will take two different approaches to looking at how mosses function. Firstly, we will use microscopy to look closely at the structures of some of the moss species that grow at the Firs, using both low-resolution dissecting microscopes to look at the overall structure and then, with high-powered microscopes, examining the more detailed cellular structures. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to look in even more detail at the “insides” of some mosses, extracting pigments and examining them using spectroscopy.
Session 2: Becoming Moss
Sophy King and Antony Hall
Our workshop invites participants to think with and as moss, to become moss — a quiet, persistent life form that challenges human-centred ways of knowing. Drawing on ideas from animism, protest art, and radical bryology, we will begin with reflective discussion and employ diffractive methodologies. We will engage in a guided moss-watching exercises to attune our senses, then collaboratively create a “Moss Manifesto” which will be installed as a temporary installation. The workshop blends theory, creative practice, and sensory engagement to explore new ways of relating to the more-than-human world.
MossWorlds 