Founded by Olga Koroleva, The Political Animal began its life as a monthly reading group in February 2016 at The Showroom, London with the generous support from then-director Emily Pethick. It has since developed into an international community for artists, writers, curators, and scientists supporting cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural examination of inter-species relationships. Two satellite groups are based in Dublin and Edinburgh led by Jessica Conway and Tom Jeffreys respectively. In September 2017 the inaugural Political Animal day-long event and symposium took place at The Showroom. Collaborative readings have been held with Afterall / Rose Thompson at Arts Catalyst, Thomas Kuckle at Kunstraum, WaterBodies at Whitstable Biennale Satellite Programme, Oana Damir's project at Chisenhale Studios, with Nella Aarne under the umbrella of Irruptive Chora (Agata Kik and Ania Mokrzycka) at the RCA, and Evening Class for Art Licks Weekend and Guest Projects as part of Edge Effects screening and discussion series co-organised with Rowan Lear of the feminist reading group wrkwrkwrk. Most recently, TPA became project collaborators of Ocean Archive contributing to the online platform. An exciting new event is due to take place in summer 2022 at Cafe OTO curated by Helen Frosi of SoundFjord.

The Political Animal is a group that recognises difference. We are an open space where your thoughts and questions are welcome without judgement. No prior knowledge or experience in the field of animal is necessary - anyone can join!

All members take an active part in setting further reading. You can find links to previous readings in this document.

Find us on TPA facebook (most active) | TPA instagram (gathering updates / news) | TPA twitter (event feed).

TPA London / world (online) begins again in September 2021 - email / message Olga to join! Our Edinburgh group have been meeting online regularly. Catch Tom Jeffreys if you'd like to take part.