Doreen Massey Annual Event 2026: Thursday 3rd Sept, Metroland Studios, Kilburn

OpenSpace Doreen Massey Annual Event 2026
// Public exhibition and open roundtable  

Thursday 3rd September 2026
Metroland Studios
91 Kilburn Square, Kilburn, London, NW6 6PS

Voices of Places exhibition: 6pm
Open roundtable: 7pm
Food and drinks provided

Voices of Places exhibition
Voices of Places is an ongoing research collaboration that invites artists, residents and organisers to respond to the work of Doreen Massey in collaboration with The Open University. Working with selected educative and political resources, this exhibition reinterprets Massey’s ideas through visual culture to explore themes of displacement, resistance and belonging in London today (with support from Antipode Foundation).

Open discussion: Authoritarian neoliberalism, place and transnational solidarities
This roundtable event will discuss the rise of authoritarian neoliberalism and possibilities for forging transnational solidarities in the current political conjuncture. It builds on Doreen Massey’s engagements with Kilburn as a place situated within wider sets of uneven relations and connections in dialogue with the Voices of Places exhibition. The conversation will be opened up by Dave Featherstone (University of Glasgow) who will briefly discuss the relevance of Massey’s geographical thinking for a political moment defined by entrenched forms of authoritarian neoliberalism—which has created the conditions for the growth of the far-right and is constituted by intense repression of protest, notably through the banning of Palestine Action. Looking out from Kilburn, we will discuss:

• How can starting conversations from different places open up distinctive ways of thinking and responding to political conjunctures?
• What emerging solidarities and alliances are being articulated in the current political moment? 
• What is the relevance of Massey’s open conceptualisation of space and place for understanding for the formation of transnational solidarities today? 

Venue information
Metroland Studios is a fully accessible public events space located behind the markets on the Kilburn High Road. Metroland Cultures are an arts-based organisation that works collectively with others to produce art and research responding to the lived realities, imaginations, and organising histories of the neighbourhood. They host a gallery, a social space, and community-led activities led and shaped by our studio holders, including a printing press, zine library, film school, cinema, and radio station.

About us
OpenSpace Research Centre was established in 2009 at the Open University. The Stories-so-far: Doreen Massey archive project is led by a collective from Geography & Environmental Studies at the Open University including Colin Lorne, Carry van Lieshout, Ben Newman and Colin Fuchs.

Any questions, please get in touch with Colin Lorne ([email protected])