M A X I S 2 0 2 7 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: MAXIS2027 Symposium, performance, and residency Dates: 15th – 19th July 2027

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: MAXIS2027

Symposium, performance, and residency

Dates: 15th – 19th July 2027

Location: The Well Road Centre, Moffat, Scottish Borders, UK

Application Deadline: 21st December 2026

Following a 24-year hiatus, MAXIS (Music Alternative & Cross-disciplinary Approaches in Sound)announces its historic return.

Originally established at Sheffield Hallam University in 2002 and 2003 as a premier European staging ground for spatial audio, ambisonics, and real-time electronic manipulation - notably featuring showcases of Pauline Oliveros’s Expanded Instrument System and avant-garde pioneers like Kim Cascone - the project is being completely reimagined for 2027.

Uprooted from its industrial urban origins, MAXIS2027 transitions to rural Scotland as an intimate, 40-capacity residential gathering and collaborative research sanctuary in the Scottish Borders.

The symposium operates as a non-profit, peer-to-peer ecosystem where all selected participants are active contributors, presenters, and peer reviewers.

We invite submissions for written papers, live electronic or acoustic performances, workshops, spatial audio presentations, and site-specific installations responding to the following core curatorial axes:

• Ritual, belief, and the somatic experience of sound
• Ancestral, artificial, or alternative intelligences
• Biocentric frameworks, creative eco-somatic practices, and vernacular technologies
   

Submission & Fee Structure:

Abstracts: Written abstracts (200 words max) or portfolio links must be submitted by 21st December 2026.

Subsidised fee: The complete contribution from accepted participants is £250.

This heavily subsidised fee includes 4 nights of accommodation at the Well Road Centre, complete venue access, a presentation/performance slot, and a hard copy of the newly published ISBN conference proceedings.

Final Papers: Final texts for the peer-reviewed proceedings are due by 1st May 2027.
 
MAXIS2027 marks a vital geographic and ontological shift in the UK sound art landscape - moving from human-centric, high-tech electronic manipulation toward deeply situated investigations into site-specific environments and ecological intelligence.

We highly encourage applications from postgraduate researchers, independent sound materialists, and creative practitioners.

Additional information:

Please bring your own food and toiletries, a bed sheet, duvet cover and pillowcase or a sleeping bag.

Exclusive use of the whole house, including the great hall, kitchen, work and chill-out spaces and garden.

Limited technical support will be provided, a slot(s) in the programme and a hard copy of the published ISBN conference proceedings as appropriate.

This is a non-profit, peer-to-peer project, where the participants become the players!

Our aim is to share, nurture and inform creative practice, providing an opportunity for personal development; underlying, the desire to demonstrate intelligence-in-action through discourse, critical reflection and peer review.