Ana Mendieta & Us - Exploring Past and Future Performance
Lunchtime Talks
Please note: This event took place in Dec 2020
For our last Lunchtime Talk of the year and the fourth in a series exploring Future Themes of the Studio, Resident Ellie Chadwick of Sleight of Hand will be discussing the future of theatre and performance and how it is changing.
Before the pandemic, Sleight of Hand had plans to research and develop a new piece of experimental theatre at Warwick Arts Centre on the life and works of Ana Mendieta: the brilliant 1970s Cuban-American artist who created provocative work drawing on nature and the elements - utilising her own body, natural materials, as well as photography and film as an integral part of her practice.
Her work simultaneously spoke to the past whilst being pioneering, and confronting ideas about violence, the female body, exile, primality, and ritual. Ana's creation of art outside traditional venues and her use of film/photography now seem extra relevant in regards to current dilemmas around how to continue to create meaningful collective artistic experiences without physical access to traditional theatre or arts venues: and with Future Themes funding the company are now researching via interdisciplinary labs - and through the repurposing of this project - what the future of theatre could emerge as in the wake of the pandemic.
In this talk, members of the project team consider worries about the future of theatre and performance, centring discussion around the value of breaking down genres and artistic boundaries in pursuing new ways of making work, and the value of technologies and of live bodily experiences in real space. They will ask not only what is possible to make in the near future but also how the situation might reveal exciting new ways of working.
Future Themes:
This talk is part of a series exploring Future Themes of the Studio. The Future Themes series is made possible by the ongoing and longstanding collaboration between the Watershed, UWE Bristol and University of Bristol, the fund was set up as an open call to all Pervasive Media Studio residents to spend time exploring ideas at the intersection of technology and culture. Read more about the recipients of our Future Themes funding here.