Sheila is currently in residence at Arc in Romanmoitier in Switzerland. This is the second time she has visited the space. Previously she showed Covet Me Care For Me in Maison des Moins at the Arc Opening Party... This time whilst there Sheila is aiming to finish a first complete draft of the text for Sulphur... She will also give a talk on Thursday evening 13th Oct (7pm-11pm) with Nina Willimann and Mayumi Arai (also currently in residence).
View from the train on the way to Arc
In October Ramble 1 cine-poem On Considering the (English) Hedge is part of Now! Now! In more than one place:
Preview: Thursday 6 October, 2pm-6pm
Open: 7-15 October 2016 (closed Sunday, 9 October)
Cookhouse and Triangle Space (opening hours 10am-6pm)
Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
16 John Islip Street
London SW1P 4JU
Now! Now! In more than one place, is a display that accompanies the London conference Now & Then… Here & There: Black Artists & Modernism at Chelsea College of Arts and Tate Britain. This major conference (6-8 October 2016) will address the understated connections and points of contention between Black-British artists’ practice and their work’s relationship to modernist histories.
An urge to re-assess the legacies of Black-British artistic practice within a wider discourse of critical themes since the twentieth century, bridges both the conference and the display.
As the title might suggest, Now! Now! In more than one place takes up contradictory positions: as a refrain – in a musical sense, as well as to limit (set a boundary) and scold; or, as an insistence on immediacy and presence.
A combination of works, including painting, photography, drawing, print, video installation, sculpture and publications are brought together spanning the second half of the twentieth century to the present. Spatial and temporal relationships unfold with themes that address a sense of place, or invite us to re-think representations of the body and identities beyond the binaries often cited in relation to race, sexuality and gender. The works also ask us to sustain our attention across several, sometimes fractured, somatic/perambulatory states.
The Now! Now! In more than one place display has been supported by the UAL Chair in Black Art & Design project fund. The accompanying publication has been produced in association with Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts).
Filming hedges with straybird in 2013
Sheila is sharing new work, speaking on a panel and leading a workshop in Brussels 21 -24 September as part of Signal #5 - Art Facing Terror
TALK - WED 21.09 - 10:00 > 13:00 Violence
How do we think about violence, which is now part of our daily lives, but which is also exercised against the Stranger at the borders of Europe (sometimes in the head of the citizens themselves), "to protect us"? What does this violence change in our perception, in the essence of the city - especially about its anonymity? What is our responsibility as artistes or cultural operators in this situation?
Enlightener: Laurent Licata (B)
Speakers : Tom Sellar (US), Sheila Ghelani (UK)
WORKSHOP - WED 21.09.16 - 14.00 > 17.30 Taking Care, Holding others, with the Red Cross
The concept of “care” manifests a lot in Sheila Ghelani’s practice, sometimes leading her towards working alongside the caring professions in hospitals and day centres. For this workshop, Sheila invites Belgian Red Cross workers to discuss how they think about and use the word “care” within their organisation and how they “hold” others. There will be some practical exercises on holding/taking the weight of one another and some discussion about these. The Red Cross will also share some First Aid for emergency situations.
MOBILE PERFORMANCE - SAT 24.09.16 Around Dansaert, Molenbeek, Canal, Sainte-Catherine.
We picked you up, carried you like a feather, like a shell - Helen Troy, retired nurse
Within her work Sheila Ghelani is very interested in the practice of medicine and care. In Brussels she was drawn towards the Red Cross, learning that it was some of its workers who took care of victims after the recent attacks on the city. On considering the different kinds of support such organisations and people provide in times of need (physical, psychological and social), and inspired by the book on nursing "Tenderly, lift me" by Jeanne Bryner, Sheila imagined walks or moments in which passers-by are invited to be carried or carry others on a chair, palanquin or stretcher in the city… a chance to physically experience taking the weight of another, or sense the feeling of being held aloft, a symbolic act of care, made visible in public. The performance also gently nods towards the complex history of the Palanquin and Sedan Chair, which takes in the battlefield, colonialism, royalty and tourism.
Image Credit: Wellcome Library, London
In July Sheila spent a week in residency at the newly kitted out Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts (at the University of Sussex). Whilst there she worked on her new show SULPHUR with Lighting Designer Marty Langthorne, Videographer John Hunter (aka RULER), Artist Sue Palmer and her Producer Sally Rose. It was a really rich week in which the team worked out the key 'palette' for the piece.
Watch this space for more news as the work unfolds... The next stop for SULPHUR's development will be ARC in Switzerland where Sheila will be finalising the text / script.
Experimenting with lights at ACCA
The Ramble 1 cine-poems made with straybird in 2013 are being screened as part of Walking Women this week, 11th - 17th July at Somerset House (curated by Amy Sharrocks and Clare Qualmann in collaboration with Dee Heddon).
The full programme is available HERE
All events are free, though some require booking.
Details of the Walking Artists' Films are as follows:
Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 July 2016, 13.00-14.00
Screening Room, Free, drop-in
Invisible Flock have invited Sheila and 3 other artists to prepare dishes live from recipes based on personal stories in a Ready, Steady, Cook style set up with Terry O’Connor as master of ceremonies, during two hours of eating and sharing at Hillsfest in Sheffield.
The event intends to open up a dialogue around how much of ourselves we put into our practice, when this tips the work/life balance and around care for ourselves in the industry. The event will result in sharing the prepared dishes with the audience.
The event is not suitable for children under 12 years old
Free but booking is essential due to limited availability. Please Book Here
Free but booking is essential due to limited availability. Please Book Here
The time has finally come, to say goodbye to our spaces at Old Tidemill School. Boo hoo. Help us say farewell by coming along to our final BYE BUY Sale. There will be ART and ODD EPHEMERA aplenty...
After a few months of researching and hiding in libraries Sheila has a few public events lined up in May:
A RESTORATIVE: Sheila was recently part of Buzzcut Side Burns in Glasgow where she shared 'A Restorative'. At Side Burns some members of Residence in Bristol were also present and reflecting on similar ideas. Because of this they invited Sheila to share her text again on May 13 during Mayfest as part of their event: I’m Still Standing: How To Keep Surviving As An Artist with Residence.
SLOW STORY SLIDE SHOW: Sheila will present Slow Story Slide Show at Conventions of Proximity in Art, Theatre and Performance hosted by Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre between 2.30-4.00pm on Friday 6 May. A full schedule of the symposium can be found HERE.
ELEMENTAL: CARAVAN SHOWCASE PITCH: Sheila will present a pitch about her project Elemental at the Caravan Showcase during Brighton Festival and Fringe on Monday 16 May, amongst a whole host of artists and companies taking part in Caravan and the wider Brighton Festival and Fringe.
RAJNI SHAH - SONG: Song by Rajni Shah will be performed by Natacha Bryan, Collin Clay-Chase, Emma Frankland, Kazuko Hohki and Sheila as part of Independent Dance's What Remains Festival festival at Siobhan Davies Dance. Sat, 21 May 2016, 2:00pm - Sun, 22 May 2016, 6:00pm
Unused backdrop found in Sheila's studio - part of 'A Restorative'
Sheila has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Bursary to undertake research into her next project and body of work Elemental.
The bursary will support Sheila between January and June 2016 and will culminate in a sharing of new ideas and writing.
Based in amongst Wellcome's library books and archives Sheila will be thinking about the elements in relation to the weather, the periodic table, alchemy, the body and so on...
Watch this space for further news as the research unfolds.
Photo Credit Sheila Ghelani - Glass experiments with Louis Thompson for Bank
Sheila has been invited by Axisweb to be part of this event at Heart of Glass in St Helen's:
Heart of Glass and Axisweb are delighted to present an exciting professional development and networking opportunity for artists, producers and creatives interested in the field of social and collaborative arts practice.
When: Friday 4th December 9:30 am — 6:00 pm
Where: St.Helens Town Hall, Victoria Square, St.Helens, Merseyside
Price: £3.00 – £5.00
Further details and booking information can be found HERE
The event WITH FOR ABOUT: Conversations About Collaboration will include opportunities to network, as well as critical conversations led by leading practitioners in this field exploring themes including Public Art + Publics, Validation Beyond the Gallery, Working in Context and Approaches to Professional Development.
This is a sharing event and critical reflection day for artists, producers and curators from across art form working within or interested in the field of social arts practice.
Photo Credit Sheila Ghelani (from You & Me)
Sheila will be leading an evening of mindful foraging around Cambridge on December 1st. Participants will be invited to undertake an urban 'ramble with nature' with her and gather twigs, feathers, berries and leaves to create a Christmas wreath. The group will also explore ways in which a simple wreath can become symbolic and head home with a gift or decoration for their door.
Date: Tue 01 Dec
Time: 6-9pm
Venue: Out and about. (meet at Cambridge Junction foyer)
Age range: 14+
FREE (ticketed). To book a place click HERE
Please prepare for adverse weather conditions. Umbrellas will be provided.
Rambles with Nature (Ramble 3) Photo Credit: John Hunter
Sheila has a two page spread in Performance Research On Repetition!
On Repetition is online, and also available in beautiful hard-copy HERE.
*****
PERFORMANCE RESEARCH VOLUME 20 ISSUE 5
‘The love of repetition is in truth the only happy love,’ wrote Søren Kierkegaard in 1843 in the guise of Constantin Constantius, describing his attempt to relive a love affair that was always-already lost. But to love repetition is to love impossibility and paradox, and a number of these contrary impulses are foregrounded in On Repetition: between originality and repeatability, between boredom and excitement, and between the now of performance and the longed-for not yet or never again. Explored in relation to ritual, protest, gender, and trauma, as well as dance, theatre, and performance, this issue combines perspectives from artists and scholars; and, as to attend to repetition is to attend to the form of writing itself, it encourages textual interventions that blur the lines between the two.
Frame 18 from 24 Frames in Commemoration of You (Made for On Repetition)
