Amy Gowen

  • Europe

Living in Rotterdam

Amy Gowen

Since 2023, Amy has been part of the leadership team at the School of Commons, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK), overseeing the Publishing and Public Program. In 2024, she was appointed Deputy Director.

Amy Gowen is a writer, editor, and researcher, originally from Hereford, UK, now based in Rotterdam, NL.

Her work, which takes shape and form through various forms of publishing, including: writing, radio, editing, and curating, uses the frameworks of commoning, self-organised practices, and alternative ways of working at its core.

As part of her role at SoC she tends to the ‘Making Public’ programme trajectory, translating the processes and practices of the SoC programme into public outputs and publishing instances. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the annual publication ISSUES, and is the programme lead for the annual SoC Assembly which places the practices and processes of SoC into a wider context in collaboration with leading practitioners and thinkers across the fields of alternative education, self-organised practices, commoning, and beyond.

Outside of SoC, Amy is co-founder of the commons-based publishing project HumDrumPress (Rotterdam). She hosts the monthly radio show, Off Margin, on Worm Radio about text that moves off the page, and is part of the core programming team for the International Community Arts Festival (ICAF), Rotterdam.

Open Call: IdeaSquare & School of Commons

05.12.2024 — 12.12.2024

The deadline to reserve a place is e.o.d, 01 November 2024. Find out more

A Manifesto for Publishing the HumDrum Way

The (Un)Learner

The Digital Search Engine for Art Education

13.11.2023

The Digital Search Engine for Art Education brought together institutions and participants from the independent scene involved in art education and archiving. Find out more

SoC Assembly

School of Commons Assembly, 2025

Save the Date: ‘How to Assemble’ - School of Commons Assembly, 2025 Find out more

Launch: PODPAST Futures of Arts Education

26.10.2023

School of Commons FAST45 - Launch: PODPAST Futures of Arts Education

Tune in to access time-space zones from both near and far and hear the hottest takes on the presents, pasts, and futures of arts education… Find out more

SoC Gathering, 2024

27.06.2024 — 30.06.2024

School of Commons Gathering 2024, Zurich

Reflecting on the SoC Gathering this past week at Zurich University of the Arts. Find out more

FOOTNOTES 2045

FOOTNOTES 2045: Annotating the Futures of Arts Education

Annotating the Futures of Arts Education: A summer school that imagines, rethinks and shapes the futures of arts education. Find out more

IF IT IS A GARDEN THAT HAS BECOME A WILDERNESS

26.12.2022 — 06.12.2022, 26.11.22, 19:00 – 06.12.22, 18:00

School of Commons - On alternative environments for learning

On alternative environments for learning Exhibition, Workshops, Performances and Podium Unveiling the works in progress of the hybrid, multidisciplinary research of SoC’s 2022 fellows and beyond Find out more

Books are Bridges: a workshop with backbonebooks

During the month of April, HumDrum Press had the pleasure of being invited to join a workshop led by backbonebooks as part of PrintRoom Rotterdam's Growing the Archive series.

During the month of April, HumDrum Press had the pleasure of being invited to join a workshop led by backbonebooks as part of PrintRoom Rotterdam's Growing the Archive series. Read more

Fostering Learning Environments for the Future

Composing infrastructures for peer learning and commoning practices within School of Commons

Composing infrastructures for peer learning and commoning practices within School of Commons Read more

Book: Researching the Researcher, Noticing why it wanders

Book: Researching the Researcher, Noticing why it wanders

A collective publication by the 5 READ labs that were part of the School of Commons in 2021. Read more

SoC Cohort End of Year, 2023

03.02.2024 — 04.02.2024, 03.02.24, 10:00 – 04.02.24, 23:00

"What Could Possibly Go Right?" Exhibition, Performances, and Workshops by the School of Commons 2023 Cohort

Exhibition, Performances, and Workshops by the School of Commons 2023 Cohort *All workshops and events are free of charge and open to everyone Find out more

"On Mutual Support" ISSUES Launch, 2023

02.02.2024, 04.02.24, 20:30 – 04.02.24, 23:00

“On Mutual Support”: ISSUES 2023 Launch Event @ Toni-Areal, Viaduktraum 2.A05, Ebene 2 (street entrance), Pfingstweidstrasse 96, Zürich

Contributions to the publication encapsulate, through text, audio, film, meme, or other alternative publishing means, the processes, outcomes, questions, and challenges each project has encountered during their time within the SoC programme. Find out more

💙 A Manifesto for Publishing the HumDrum Way 💙

HumDrum Press 💙 A Manifesto for Publishing the HumDrum Way 💙

We understand the manifesto as active, growing, lived in and through, alive. Read more

IdeaSquare x SoC

IdeaSquare and School of Commons are collaborating on a series of workshops exploring 'The Future of Collaboration'. Find out more

NEB Talks: On the future(s) of design and maker education

13.07.2023, 13.07.23, 15:00 – 17:00

NEB Talks: On the future(s) of design and maker education

This event, organized by the Distributed Design Platform, aims to foster the development of the emerging sector of Distributed Design in the European and International discourse while supporting the environment in which emerging talent thrives. Find out more