We invite artists, cultural workers, and creatives to join a new working group at LUX, led by Aliaskar Abarkas, exploring the material and emotional conditions of artistic labour today.
Taking the landmark film ‘Nightcleaners’ (1975) — fifty years on from its release — we will celebrate its legacy by revisiting it as a point of departure and catalyst to reflect on questions of collective action, systemic malfunction, and the politics of visibility shaping artists’ lives today. The working group forms part of Abarkas’s Collection Engagement Residency at LUX (November 2025–May 2026).
Together we will explore:
- What pressures and possibilities shape our practice?
- How can we voice our concerns and create shared responses?
- How might we find alternative models of working together, treating institutions as a common ground rather than isolated sites?
- What stories, rumours, and fragments circulate through our artistic lives, and what do they reveal?
- What are the challenges of authorship and agency when we work collectively?
The conversations during these sessions will be transformed into a collective script and a moving image work.
Individual voices will become part of a shared textual fabric — fragments, interruptions, and stories woven together silently. This script will form the foundation for a final public sharing at LUX in Spring 2026.
You can watch ‘Nightcleaners (Part 1)’ online between 3–17 November 2025 – a special online exhibition marking the film’s 50th anniversary.
Who is this for
- Artists, cultural workers, and creatives based in London.
- Who are interested in collective discussion and creation, rather than individual presentation.
What to expect
- Take part in 6 closed gatherings between December 2025 and May 2026 at LUX. (See the meeting dates below)
- Watch and discuss films from the LUX collection.
- Join screenings, workshops and activities with Aliaskar Abarkas and invited guests including but not limited to readings, sound-making, writing, performance scores.
- Contribute to a collective script that will form the basis of a final public sharing at LUX.
- Small travel bursary per session for each attended session.
- Access to films in the LUX collection.
How to join
- Please send a short expression of interest via the form below.
- Deadline: Monday 17 November 2025
- The invitation will be sent out by Tuesday 2 December 2025
Meeting dates
Sundays from 2 – 5pm at LUX on the following dates:
14 December / 11 January / 1 February / 22 February / 15 March / 29 March or 5 April
Public Sharing (TBC)
Artist biography
Aliaskar Abarkas is an Iranian artist based in London.
Rooted in alternative and communal art education, his practice stages choreographic encounters that move from individual elements into collective expression. Often in dialogue with historical sources, Abarkas builds collaborative frameworks that invite participants to interpret and activate inherited scores through music, exhibition, and performance making.
He is currently an associate artist at Sadler’s Wells / Rose Choreographic School (London, 2024–26) and the Lead Artist at Autograph Gallery (Acts of Solidarity, in partnership with All Changes, London, 2025–28). He holds a BA in Visual Cultures from the University of Tehran and an MA in the Theory of Contemporary Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London. Previous residencies include Cubitt Gallery and the Swiss Church (London). Abarkas has also been an associate artist with Rupert (Lithuania), the Institute of Postnatural Studies (Madrid), Castro (Rome), Open School East, and Syllabus V (UK), among others.
His interventions and collaborations have been supported by institutions including the Barbican Centre, ICA, The Mosaic Rooms, TACO!, Pushkin House (London), CAPC (Bordeaux), LOCALES (Rome), and CIRCA. Upcoming projects include commissions and collaborations with Scuola Piccola Zattere (Venice), Arts Catalyst (Sheffield), the Singapore Art Museum, and LUX (London).
