producing & curating

Feminist Killjoys Reading Group

rajni — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 06:36:32 +0000

Feminist Killjoys Reading Group

2017

2019

rajni Sun, 30 Dec 2018, 7:36am

producing & curating

research

other collaborations

Feminist Killjoys Reading Group (FKRG) is a project that Rajni began in collaboration with the Western Sydney based theatre company Urban Theatre Projects following an invitation from (then Artistic Director of UTP) Rosie Dennis. FKRG began on Darug land in Blacktown in October 2017 as a drop-in conversational group based around Sara Ahmed’s blog www.feministkilljoys.com. Over 2018-2019 the group grew under Rajni's mentorship, with support from Sasanki Tennakoon. It is an ongoing project that Rajni is very proud to have started.

To find out more please visit:

https://www.instagram.com/feministkilljoysrg/
https://www.facebook.com/FeministKilljoysRG/
https://feministkilljoysrg.tumblr.com/

Core members of FKRG have included: Anneka Shankar, Cynthia Florek, Ellen O’Brien, Nujhat Ahmed, Rhayne Fountain, Saba Shah, Tabitha Prado-Richardson, and Xiaoran Shi.

Feminist Killjoys Reading Group (application deadline)

rajni — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 05:11:39 +0000

Feminist Killjoys Reading Group (application deadline) rajni Thu, 14 Dec 2017, 6:11am

One Final Act

rajni — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 02:33:43 +0000

One Final Act

2017

rajni Mon, 6 Feb 2017, 3:33am

producing & curating

research

other collaborations

One Final Act

In January 2017, Rajni Shah Projects shared its remaining company funds equally between 19 individuals, who had responded to a call for proposals. This was the final act of the company, which will formally close on March 31, 2017.

There were 37 people who expressed an interest in One Final Act. With the limited funds available, we were only able to offer a small amount of seed money to just over half of those who applied. We prioritised those who had a long relationship with the company and those for whom we felt a small financial boost might enable a creative leap into the unknown.

We have decided that rather than documenting the financial aspect of the project, we would rather document the incredible potential of all the people and projects who gathered around the idea and took the time to write something about how they imagined being involved. The following list therefore documents all of those people who expressed an interest in being part of the project, excluding only those who did not wish to be listed.

We hope that this list will inspire you to share resources and support one another in making and sustaining a creative field that is defined by diversity, possibility, and nurture.

- Rajni Shah and Tracey Low, [4th February, 2017]

One Final Act, in all its possibilities, was:

Amie Taylor developing a performance called ‘Home’

Collin Clay Chace & Juha creating a music video for ‘The Carcass On Your Plate’

Dora Jejey finding a mentor

Ellie Harrison creating an installation for a domestic caravan (Grief Series Part 6)

Elspeth Owen making her own coffin

French & Mottershead furthering development of an app for ‘Afterlife’

Genevieve Maxwell researching liminality and inter somatic experience

Gillie Kleiman creating ‘Recreation’

Hamish MacPherson investigating the relationship between care ethics and choreography

Ilana Mitchell & Rachael Wiseman exploring reverse fundraising initiatives

Instant Dissidence taking ‘Dancing With Strangers: From Calais to England’ to parliament

JEMAGWGA & The Charleston Rhizome Collective recording a conversation about housing

Julia Wilson developing creative spaces for orientation, listening and response

Julie Brixey-Williams, Libby Worth & Bucy McDonald editing Unfold,draw-in

Karen Christopher taking the first step in the next phase

Leo Burtin & Suzie Shrubb taking time to recognise the shifts in their practices and lives since Glorious

Lucille Acevedo-Jones collaborating on a new short film with Abi McLoughlin & Rachel Flowerday

Maddy Costa trying an idea for the first time

Martyn Duffy & Shelley Silas beginning a project about memory, illness, stigma & music

Mary Price O'Connor developing a feminist dance theatre performance practice

Michelle Outram undermining structural inequality using performance-making processes

Naomi Westerman creating a semi-verbatim play about experiences with the benefits system

Natacha Omikemi Bryan birthing a series of rituals to create performance poems

Necia Walker-Lewis making a storybook for children based on Caribbean folk tales

Nohar Lazarovich & Jonathan Rogerson developing the show ‘At One Point’

Rose Biggin & Keir Cooper taking time and space for performance training and development

Sheila Ghelani, Sue Palmer & Sally Rose developing the live talk ‘Common Salt’

Stephen Grew leading a workshop on free improvisation using the voice

Steve Varden developing a series of sculptures called ‘Does he still take SUGAR?’

Wajid Hussain exploring design and layout skills to support an all-women boxing gym in Newcastle

Lying Fallow

rajni — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 17:53:49 +0000

Lying Fallow

2014

2015

rajni Sun, 10 Aug 2014, 7:53pm

producing & curating

research

other collaborations

Lying Fallow : an invitation (archived)

v
Please note - the deadline for expressions of interest for Lying Fallow has now passed.
This page remains for information only.

This is an invitation from Mary Paterson, Rajni Shah, Susan Sheddan and Tiffany Charrington to join a group of thirty people for a series of conversations called Lying Fallow.

We are sharing this invitation with a range of people from different backgrounds, specialisms, and interests. You may have come across it in a number of different ways. If you are drawn to the project, please read on to find out more about how you might become involved. If you know someone else who you think would be interested, please pass this invitation on.

Lying Fallow will take place over seven months, and will involve a series of three gatherings in different London locations, which will each respond to the following questions:

•    How might alert quietude, not knowing, and listening be seen as spaces of change, rigour, and possibility?
v
•    Where and how might the idea of 'lying fallow' be actualised and given value within contemporary society?
v
•    What becomes possible in those times when it may seem to the outside world as if we are doing or producing nothing?

At each gathering we will return to these same questions within a different frame. This means that while the location, the season, and the light in the room will change, our conversations will become acts of returning. As hosts, Mary, Rajni, Susan, and Tiffany will ensure that the events are carefully and generously held, but the conversations that emerge will be shaped by the people who attend and the ways in which each person wishes to participate.

The dates of the gatherings are:

Saturday 15th November 2014, 12-5pm
Sunday 15th February 2015, 9am-9pm*
Friday 15th May 2015, 5-10pm

*We realise that people who live outside London may need to leave early on this day due to Sunday train schedules, and will be able to accommodate this.

To apply to be a part of Lying Fallow you need to commit to all of these dates. The exact timings and locations of each gathering will be confirmed once the group is formed, though they will all take place in London. We aim to meet any access or financial needs that may otherwise prevent you from attending.

> For further information about the gatherings, or if you have any questions, please click here.
v
> To submit an expression of interest in being a part of Lying Fallow please click here.

Please submit your expression of interest by Sunday 14th September 2014 at nightfall.
We will respond to all submissions by the end of September at the latest.

with kind wishes from,

Mary Paterson, Rajni Shah, Susan Sheddan and Tiffany Charrington
(Lying Fallow organisers, and artistic associates with Rajni Shah Projects, 2014-2015)

Beyond Glorious - the radical in engaged practices

rajni — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 15:04:38 +0000

Beyond Glorious - the radical in engaged practices

2013

rajni Wed, 23 Oct 2013, 5:04pm

Glorious

producing & curating

research

Beyond Glorious: the radical in engaged practices

Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June 2013, Birkbeck College and Artsadmin, London

What is the place of art in acts of social re-imagination and repair?
What languages can be found to articulate such practices?
Is it possible to break new ground within the realm of engaged artistic practices?

Beyond Glorious: the radical in engaged practices was a symposium that marked the end of Rajni Shah Projects' Glorious. It brought together people from different spheres of life to discuss and experience the meanings, methods and effects of art in relation to engaged and radical practices. Using Glorious as a starting point, events explored the potential of engaged artistic practices, not in terms of a reductive understanding of the ‘efficacy’ of art in the world, but as a complicating, delicate, nuanced, uneasy journey towards new ways of thinking.

Film

Watch some of the films that were shown during the symposium and read about them on the Contemporary Theatre Review website here.

Writings

Diana Damian, Exeunt magazine:

Glorious might have touched or at least interfered with people’s lives and communities; Beyond Glorious sought to extract something equally valuable by moving outside of the project, and attempting to think collectively- it is a gently radical event. There is something very candid about a symposium that in its structure and ambition, might be able to communicate symbolically. If it emerges as anything, Beyond Glorious seems to be a form of occupation... [more]

Mark Trezona, Performance Marks:

I remember the repeated joy of surprise encounters. Sometimes these came from extended conversations with the people I was working alongside to make the backroom support. Sometimes this was a stranger asking me to join them for lunch and drawing me lightly into their conversation. Sometimes it was the joyful ‘aha’ of hearing the wisdom of another’s experience or the sharp brightness of their questioning inside the sessions. What made these encounters so exceptional was their unusualness – I seldom have this same experience at other events – and their frequency... [more]

Theron Schmidt (+ collected responses), Contemporary Theatre Review:

The experiences and reflections of the artists, participants, and observers gathered in the company’s publication, Dear Stranger, I love you (2013), make it clear that this place in-between conceptual frameworks was a difficult place to be, but also a rewarding one. The symposium Beyond Glorious was conceived as a way of continuing to inhabit this in-between place, seeking to bring together perspectives from related but often disconnected disciplines – artists working in social practice, participatory film, and ensemble music; scholars tracing histories of radical movements,engaging with political philosophy, or pursuing an emancipatory pedagogy; and the many of us who move in-between roles, sometimes producing arts projects and other times working as carers, or teachers, or bartenders. [more]

You can download a PDF of the full Beyond Glorious schedule and list of participants at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to order a copy of the publication Dear Stranger, I love you, which was launched at Beyond Glorious, please click here.

Credits
Symposium organisers: Elizabeth Lynch, Louise Owen, Mary Paterson and Rajni Shah
With support from: Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of East London, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England (for Glorious)
The symposium was free of charge including all lunches

Not Knowing workshop

rajni — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:31:24 +0000

Not Knowing workshop

2009

rajni Wed, 26 Aug 2009, 7:31pm

Glorious

producing & curating

research

Rajni led this workshop as part of the DIY series of workshops in 2009. Please read on for a copy of the call for proposals and a link to the final report as a PDF.

DIY 6: 2009 - Rajni Shah
Not Knowing
A 3-day workshop about the act of not knowing, and about the value in not having the answers; a choreographed series of encounters and spaces for reflection in the city of London.

Dates, times and location(s):
Various locations within London (zones 1-2), Wed-Fri August 26-28 2009 (full days, plus evening of 26th - exact timings tbc)

Project summary:
For two days participants will wander collectively, undertaking a series of gentle and surprising activities as a group; on the third and final day, each participant will undertake a randomly selected solo activity or encounter in a public space, followed by a shared meal prepared by Rajni. Participants will come in knowing nothing about the journey they are about to undertake except that it will throw them into a space of not knowing, of journeying, and finding a new way of looking at the world. All three days will be led by Rajni with interventions from other professionals.

"This is a sideways approach to becoming closer to the political and personal crises we find ourselves in at this moment in time, and it explores an artistic topic that is close to my heart at the moment: manifestations of the state of in-betweenness. However, each participant will bring his/her own reasons for wanting to wander at this moment, and it's important that this is the case. The workshop will provide a space for sharing and exploring together without any fixed outcome. It will provide a way to be in the world whilst being on retreat - to witness, to share and to listen." Rajni Shah

Application procedure:
Please write an email explaining why you would like to take this opportunity to leap into the unknown and what you feel you would gain from the experience at this particular moment in time. Please include a biography, CV, or link to your website.

Other notes:
The workshop is open to artists and arts professionals at any stage in their career who feel that this workshop would be of benefit to them.
Any access or dietary requirements should be mentioned in the application as the activities will be tailored to suit the group's needs.
There will be a maximum of 10 participants.
This workshop is free of charge and each participant will be provided with a modest budget for travel within London during the three days.

This project forms part of DIY 6, a Live Art Development Agency initiative developed in collaboration with Artsadmin, New Work Network, The Basement, Colchester Arts Centre, Nuffield Theatre & LANWest, and PLATFORM.

NotKnowing-final_report.pdf

José Torres Tama - UK talks, workshops and performances

rajni — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:21:34 +0000

José Torres Tama - UK talks, workshops and performances

2009

rajni Wed, 29 Apr 2009, 8:21pm

producing & curating

José Torres Tama is an interdisciplinary artist fusing multiple genres in his exploration of the effects of media on race relations, the “American Dream” mythology, and the Latino immigrant experience. Based in New Orleans, he has toured nationally and internationally and is presented here as part of a series of public events being supported by the Bluecoat, Artsadmin, the Live Art Development Agency, the CRUCIBLE Centre and the Department of Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at Roehampton University. Events curated and co-produced by Rajni Shah alongside a residency at Roehampton University.

Friday 8th May, 7pm
The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans after Katrina at Roehampton University
In this moving, visually engaging and politically provocative work, José Torres Tama recounts his escape on a stolen school bus from the flooded city of New Orleans, where has lived since 1984. This live art multimedia performance ritual, combining personal stories, visual tableau and film projections, presents a first-hand account of the devastation and abandonment of a city and its people.
Further details: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Wednesday 13th May, 7pm (free)
José Torres Tama in conversation with Rajni Shah at the Arts Café and Bar, Toynbee Studios
In September 2006, a year after Hurricane Katrina hit, Torres Tama performed a series of improvised rituals as a personal act of mourning in the devastated neighbourhood of the Lower 9th, invoking a character informed by Yoruba religious practices to channel the pain and suffering of this terrain. The photographic documentation of this performance, Lower 9th Ritual of Mourning, will serve as a starting-point for a discussion around performing identity and the politics of race in the Obama era.
www.artsadmin.co.uk

Friday 15th May, 8pm (free)
The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans after Katrina at the Bluecoat, Liverpool
In this moving, visually engaging and politically provocative work, José Torres Tama recounts his escape on a stolen school bus from the flooded city of New Orleans, where has lived since 1984. This live art multimedia performance ritual, combining personal stories, visual tableau and film projections, presents a first-hand account of the devastation and abandonment of a city and its people.

Followed by responses from Rajni Shah and Joshua Abrams and a discussion with the artist chaired by Rachel Rogers.

Saturday 16th May, 12noon-2pm (£5/3)
Masterclass at the Bluecoat, Liverpool
José Torres Tama leads participants in an exploration of the creative strategies used in his visually dynamic and politically charged work, including bilingual texts, movement, ritual and exaggerated personae.

Box office: 0151 702 5324
www.thebluecoat.org.uk

Supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.

Online residency for Engaged Art Network

rajni — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:30:01 +0000

Online residency for Engaged Art Network

2008

2009

rajni Thu, 1 Jan 2009, 10:30am

producing & curating

Having met through the Art of Engagement website (now at facebook.com/artandsurvival), Rajni and Canadian artist Caffyn Kelley together decided that they would like to initiate a simple online residency program that would allow artists and activists from different parts of the world to share experiences and conversations in a little more depth. This program is designed to allow artists with some experience and/or interest in using online technology to spend a month playing with what might be possible using the simple technology supplied.

Online residencies between June 2008 and June 2009:

Rajni Shah, a trial residency, using a blog to explore various ideas around engaged practice
Jean-Marie Mauclet and Gwylene Gallimard, who have worked for thirty years on large-scale public projects around the world
Tim Jeeves, whose work includes interventions, writings and the artistic athleticism of the Grunts for the Arts arts collective
Doran George, whose experimental dance and live art practice focuses on the physical, emotional, interpersonal, and cultural body in recovery
Glas(s) Performance, artists Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore - UK performance artists who work with young people and communities
John Jordan, whose Paths Through Utopias takes us on a 6 month journey through Europe in search of ways of living despite capitalism
Bobby Baker, whose humorous work wickedly interrogates the intersections of intolerable cultural assumptions with everyday life

Blog entries from Rajni's residency, June 2008

(since this online space is now closed, please download PDFs below to read the blog posts)

1st_june_2008-_a_letter_within_a_letter_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

27th_june-_what_remains_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

26th_june-_quick_in_a_slow_time_or_slow_in_a_quick_time_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

25th_june-_towards_destabilisation_and_welcome_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

21st_june-_a_leap_into_another_culture_about_to_leave_for_fribourg_switzerland_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

17th_june-_fragments_-_for_birthday_girls_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

11th_june_2008-_for_theron_reprise_on_being_invisible_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

9th_june_2008-_observations_of_a_man_on_the_street_who_says_hello_and_smiles_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

7th_june_2008-_where_we_are_allowed_to_tread_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

6th_june_2008-_letter_for_an_invisible_woman_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

5th_june_2008-_the_bridges_and_tiredness_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

30th_june_2008-_the_end_-_the_art_of_engagement_copy.pdf

Restock, Rethink, Reflect

rajni — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:39:25 +0000

Restock, Rethink, Reflect

2008

rajni Tue, 5 Feb 2008, 10:39am

producing & curating

Rajni worked as Project Director for the Live Art Development Agency on a series of projects during 2006-8 under the umbrella title Restock, Rethink, Reflect. This programme included a series of artistic and professional development initiatives for artists whose practices explore and question notions of cultural identity, and who are working, or interested in working, in Live Art and related performance based practices. Projects included Lore and Other Convergences, a workshop and series of talks with New York based artist Janine Antoni, the Open Nights discussion and events series co-curated with artist Barby Asante, and Documenting Live, a unique DVD and print resource featuring artists Barby Asante, Ansuman Biswas, Malika Booker, Sonia Boyce, George Chakravarthi, Robin Deacon, Yara El-Sherbini, Harminder Singh Judge, Keith Khan, David Medalla, Harold Offeh, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Ali Zaidi and curated by David A Bailey. The Restock, Rethink, Reflect series is planned to continue in 2009 with a focus on artists working with Live Art and disability.

To find out more about the projects visit the Live Art Development Agency's website at www.thisisLiveArt.co.uk

To purchase copies of the groundbreaking DVD and print resource Documenting Live visit the online bookshop www.thisisUnbound.co.uk

To read a review of Documenting Live visit www.culturewars.org.uk

What's Missing: eating, talking, sharing challenge

rajni — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:36:48 +0000

What's Missing: eating, talking, sharing challenge

2007

rajni Wed, 24 Jan 2007, 5:36pm

producing & curating

research

What’s missing – eating, talking, sharing challenge: regaining autonomy in performance training

This workshop was developed out of a desire for community, challenge and peer to peer support specifically amongst mid career solo and independent performance artists. Its aims were to facilitate training for a small group of artists who might come together and create spaces within which to explore different questions around working with the body in performance. The process began with a private blog for four artists - a virtual space in which to share thoughts, questions, images and experiences. After six months of blogging, three of the artists came together in London and each led a day's workshop concluding in a dinner.

Rajni worked with artists Sheila Ghelani, Sally Marie and Kira O'Reilly for this project.

To read the DIY4 report, including extracts from the private blog for this project, and for more information about the DIY artist training scheme, please click here.