Blog
Why we are closing
2 Oct 2023
Maintain—in its current form—is closing. Endings are never easy… but neither is maintenance. We hope this post will explain where Maintain came from, where it got to, and the people who helped us along the way.
Why is maintenance so difficult to talk about?
13 Aug 2020
We don’t have the right words or metaphors yet.
Virtual Event: The Gig Economy, A Precarious Form of Maintenance
20 May 2020
Presented by: Festival of Maintenance & The Maintainers
London Design Festival: Debating maintenance and de-growth at the Non-Pavilion
17 Sep 2019
Can’t make it to Liverpool on September 28th? Or just want a preview? We will be at the London Design Festival this weekend!
Alternate History – Could the web have been easier to maintain?
14 Jul 2019
Recently, I recorded an interesting conversation with Adrian McEwen. Adrian is co-founder of DoES Liverpool. Back in 1996, Adrian joined STNC and worked on early mobile browser technology. This was the HitchHiker framework which appears at the top of this timeline of web browsers. STNC was eventually acquired by Microsoft.
Maintenance – The Tip of the Iceberg
18 Jun 2019
ike most words, maintenance has several meanings. In this context maintenance is the process of keeping something in an existing state (of repair, efficiency, or validity).
How do you maintain a football club? Oliver Holtaway on the community takeover of Bath City FC
5 Apr 2019
In the lead-up to the 2019 Festival of Maintenance, we are catching up with some of our speakers from 2018 to reflect on the value of maintenance in our work and everyday lives.
Alex Mecklenburg on maintenance and why we need better stories
19 Mar 2019
The 2018 Festival of Maintenance brought together a variety of fantastic speakers. Leading up to the 2019 Festival, we are catching up with some of our speakers from 2018 to reflect on the value of maintenance in our work and everyday lives.
The Economist piece on the Festival of Maintenance
19 Oct 2018
Maintenance is often dismissed as mere drudgery. But in fact repairing things is often trickier than making them.
BBC report from the Festival of Maintenance
17 Oct 2018
BBC World Service researcher, Hannah Fisher, reports from the London Festival of Maintenance and interviews Laura James, Daria Cybulska and Janet Gunter.
Laura James reflects on the first Festival of Maintenance
7 Oct 2018
Read Laura’s reflections on Medium. The article includes a summary of the day, audience feedback, and details of where Festival funds came from and what they were spent on.
Full Circle Leadership by Alanna Irving
22 Sep 2018
Originally recorded for the Festival of Maintenance, Alanna Irving presents Full Circle Leadership.
What was the inspiration behind the Festival of Maintenance?
3 Dec 2017
We were inspired by discussions at Maker Assembly, where we discussed the sustainability of making, maker communities and maker spaces, and the way that innovation and new things are championed, whereas maintenance is often less visible, less valued – and yet essential.