Sheffield, Berlin, Barcelona, Linz and on-line
Alpaca conference will feature 35 speakers and workshop leaders exploring algorithmic patterns in the creative arts, showcasing pattern-based work across music, textiles, dance and more.
Patterns are a kind of heritage algorithm, and so we will showcase both heritage and digital arts and crafts together. Despite the inclusion of contemporary digital arts, our focus will be fully on hands-on, human creativity and not artificial intelligence.
The event will showcase work across disciplines, e.g. weaving, braiding, juggling, live/creative coding, algorithmic music, and algorithmic choreography. It will feature talks, workshops, and performances, all exploring how we can explore beyond our imaginations through pattern-making.
The conference will take place over two weekends. You will be able to join all talks online.
The first weekend will focus on talks hosted in Sheffield UK, as part of the Alpaca Festival programme based there.
The second weekend will focus on on-line talks, with ‘watch parties’ in Berlin, Barcelona, Linz and Sheffield.
The conference will be free to attend, with free tickets available now:
Friday 12th September 2025
Below times are in UK time (GMT+1)
10am-4:30pm BST
Talks hosted as part of the Sheffield-based Alpaca Festival programme, streamed online.
Draft schedule – subject to change
Saturday 13th September 2025
Below times are in UK time (GMT+1)
1pm-4pm BST
Talks hosted as part of the Sheffield-based Alpaca Festival programme, streamed online. Workshops shown are only available to in-person festival attendees in Sheffield, and tickets for those must be booked in advance.
Draft schedule – subject to change
Wednesday 17th September 2025
WORKSHOP – on-line
Revisiting Locus: Choreographing patterns through points in space – Kate Sicchio
Time and date (click to see in your local timezone)
Separate, free workshop ticket required
This online workshop, lead by choreographer Kate Sicchio, offers a practical exploration of Locus (1975), a seminal work by postmodern choreographer Trisha Brown. Participants will engage with the conceptual and spatial systems Brown used to generate movement, particularly her use of an imaginary cube and alphabet-based structure to map movement in space. Through this system, Brown created a framework where movement is driven by by an algorithm for spatial orientation. As participants work within this structure, they will begin to uncover the subtle and often surprising patterns that emerge—patterns of repetition, symmetry, and variation that arise organically from the constraints of the system.
Thursday 18th September 2025
WORKSHOP – on-line
Introduction to the qiudanz technique: computational transformation of minimalist movement sequences – sejo vega and mel*
Time and date (click to see in your local timezone)
Separate, free workshop ticket required
The qiudanz technique is a movement practice based on the computational transformation of movement sequences. Its purpose is to create and share dances based on abstract computational machines. The technique is part of a commitment to playfully disseminate and preserve computer science beyond electronic devices and industrial civilization.
The workshop consists of a guided movement and play session in which we will (re)connect with our bodies and re-appropriate computational concepts for the sake of creating nerdy dances and having a fun time. In the workshop, we will introduce and explore the minimalist movement vocabulary of the technique, learn how these movements are combined into sequences, and practice queue-based computational operations to transform these sequences while dancing them. We will engage in several one-to-many and one-to-one activities and games based on the technique. The experience will combine cognitive abilities such as memory and logic thinking with movement coordination and somatic expression.
To participate in the workshop, we welcome people concerned about the environmental and social impacts of digital technologies, as well as people curious about embodying computational thinking. Previous experience with movement practices or computational thinking is not needed. All the activities are designed to be adapted to different ranges of mobility. The workshop engages with human-scale computing and provides a possible answer to the question: what would happen if computers were dances instead of closed electronic devices?
Friday 19th September 2025
Talks hosted online, with ‘watch parties’ in UdK Berlin, Pattern Club Sheffield, Axolot Barcelona and Servus in Linz.
Saturday 20th September 2025
Talks hosted online, with ‘watch parties’ in UdK Berlin, Pattern Club Sheffield, Axolot Barcelona and Servus in Linz.
Saturday 4th October 2025
The following workshop takes place two weeks after the conference, to give time to post materials to remote participants.
WORKSHOP – on-line
Flip, Rotate, Repeat: Remixing weave drafts through pattern play – Etta Sandry
Time and date (click to see in your local timezone)
Separate, workshop ticket required (£15, or free if you can source your own materials)
Please sign up as soon as possible, to give time to prepare and/or receive workshop materials.
In this workshop, we will explore the logic and pattern play of weaving through hand-drawn drafts and paper weaving. The first half of the workshop will focus on learning the fundamentals of the woven construction of our every-day textiles. Participants will get an overview of woven structure design and practice hand drafting basic weave structures including tabby, twill, and their variations. In the second half of the workshop, we will play with these structures by stamping our own gridded patterns and weaving them in paper, using custom-designed stamps and a drafting zine booklet. These mini-zine pattern books can then be shared, revisited, and kept as artifacts of our pattern play.
Participation will require prepared materials – a rubber stamp, ink pad, strips of paper and booklet. There are three ways to participate:
- On-line, receiving materials by post
- On-line, preparing materials yourself – requires access to laser cutter and craft materials, we’ll send instructions for this
- Joining an in-person ‘watch party’ where a local organiser prepares the materials – currently planned in Sheffield UK (please get in touch if you’d like to host one!)