Cornwall – Mark Leahy

participant in The Cornwall Workshop 2026

I have been selected to be part of the eighth interation of The Cornwall Workshop which will take place from 13 to 20 March 2026 and will be led by Norwegian artist Ane Hjort Guttu, who works in a variety of media but has in recent years mainly concentrated on film and video works, ranging from investigative documentary to poetic fiction.

This workshop aims to look into methodologies of learning and teaching within the arts, the current status of art education, and the processes involved in mentoring, whether of students or of fellow artists.

The Cornwall Workshop is a weeklong intensive residential workshop for artists, curators and writers, organised by CAST and hosted by Kestle Barton on the Lizard peninsula. It provides a space for discussion, debate and the sharing of ideas and encourages critical feedback and collaboration. The list of particpants and their biographies is here.

thriceness for The Convivial on 6th February

thriceness: Name, Voice, and Gesture – who it is we are and how we tell this

In a development of my work with Shelley Hodgson we will present a performative conversation as part of The Convivial series hosted by Sophie Craven in Penryn, Cornwall. For this iteration of Convivial, we will open out some questions around bodies, names, and communication. The conversation develops ideas and actions we presented in the performance work ‘twiceness’ (Plymouth, May and July 2024), as we pick up on threads and themes that emerged from our working together.

Acknowledging the people in the space, as we gather together to listen, to share, to exchange, the conversation will begin with names and naming. Then considering connections to voice and to identity we will raise questions around how we tell who we are, how we connect to others, how we bridge gaps between us, us humans, and the other-than-human. The discussion will attend to matters of value, of exclusion, and how we are variously valued, differently excluded. Mixing action, gesture, talking and recording, ‘thriceness’ will address who it is that we are and how we tell this.

Thriceness: Name, Voice, and Gesture – who it is we are and how we tell
The Convivial, Thursday 6th February 2025, 1800 to 2200hrs
Three of Cups, 20 Lower Market Street, Penryn High Street.
Tickets via Eventbrite

MarjonXRame Summer School

From July 28th to 30th I will be participating in a Summer School at Rame Head in Cornwall organised by Dr Natalie Raven of Marjons University. Along with seven other artists and performers I will spend two and a half days in workshops, discussion, eating and being together in the coastal landscape at Maker Heights and the Rame peninsula. The theme is ‘innovative approaches to actor training in nature’ and we will present a sharing of work in progress or findings or thoughts on Saturday 30th July between 1300 and 1500hrs. More information here: https://marjonxrame.blogspot.com/

Writing panel at Synesthesia II symposium on 30th June

On Thursday 30th June at 1000hrs, I will facilitate an online panel discussion with four artist-writers (Emma Bolland, Sara Bowler, J. R. Carpenter, Josie Cockram) considering art, writing and their overlaps and intersections. The panelists will each present a short provocation and further discussion will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The event will be online on zoom. More details can be found here: https://synesthesia.online/Writing-Panel-Discussion