Upgrade Yourself Monthly: Mapping Memory Through Space
Join us for our February Upgrade Yourself Monthly for a behind-the-scenes exploration of spatial and site-specific artmaking with artist and designer Aziza Kadyri.
For 18-30 year olds
| Dates | Weds 4 Feb 2026 |
| Times | 6pm–9pm |
| Space | The Exchange New Wing |
| Price | Free |
Please note this event is for 18–30-year-olds.
Join Aziza Kadyri for an interactive session unpacking how spatial and site-specific installations are conceived, designed, and experienced. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background in fashion design, theatre, and immersive technologies, Aziza will explore how these disciplines inform a contemporary artistic practice rooted in body, space, and narrative.
Through real project examples, the session will break down how artists shape an audience’s emotional and physical journey through space. Aziza will introduce practical approaches to designing movement, pacing, materiality, sound, and atmosphere, and how traditional visual methods can be combined with digital tools and immersive technologies as part of a cohesive creative language.
The session will then move into a hands-on workshop, where participants step into the role of artist, curator, or spatial designer. Using the Exchange as the site, you’ll work individually or in small groups to develop a site-specific response that explores memory, movement, and storytelling within a shared space.
Together, the session offers insight into how spatial thinking can deepen narrative, create meaningful audience experiences, and open up new ways of working across disciplines.
This workshop is ideal for aspiring artists, curators, performance makers, exhibition designers, and anyone interested in creating immersive, narrative-driven environments. No prior technical knowledge is required.
As always, free drinks and food provided by Butch Salads will be available throughout the evening.
If you’re interested in Aziza Kadyri’s practice and would like to explore it in more depth, you can visit her exhibition Play Nice for free at Somerset House.
✨ And here’s the bonus:
All attendees will receive tickets to Collect 2026, (presented by Crafts Council), the only annual art fair on the UK and international circuit dedicated to museum-quality contemporary craft and design. Collect 2026 will take place 27th Feb – 1st March 2026 at Somerset House.
To get involved in the session, please sign up below:
Sign up will close 10am Tuesday 20th January, successful participants will be notified by Wednesday 21st January.
Spaces are limited, and participants will be selected at random. If you're chosen, you'll need to confirm your attendance - otherwise, your spot may be offered to someone else. Please check your spam folder!
By signing up for the session, you will automatically be added to the waitlist if the session is full
About Aziza Kadyri
Aziza Kadyri is a London-based Uzbek multidisciplinary artist working across textiles, sculpture, creative technologies, and performance practices. Her artistic approach is characterised by a fusion of collaboration and interdisciplinary methodologies that drive the creation of both physical and digital immersive experiences. Central to her practice is a deep-seated interest in participatory practices within local communities. This interest has led her to co-found Qizlar, a self-organised grassroots collective firmly grounded in principles of interdisciplinarity and intersectionality, as well as enacting social change.
with thanks to The Linbury Trust