Update: Weft Studio 2023-2024
The selected artists for this year's Weft Studio - Debora Adachi, Matthew Sharpe, Clodagh Boyce, Georgie Lynch, Karen Aguiar, Mai Ishikawa, Daranijoh Sanni (E The Artist) and Shauna Harris - are currently taking part in a series of Masterclasses presented by international practitioners in the fields of theatre, literature, photography and interdisciplinary practices; Hannah Khalil, Benji Reid, Julie McNamara and Mele Broomes. The Masterclasses are taking place from October - November 2023.
Weft Studio focuses on development and network building for emerging and early career Black artists and artists of the global majority. The programme aims to provide support, guidance, and project development opportunities for these artists to create their own work on their own terms. Led by the acclaimed writer and creative producer Shannon Yee, with interventions from international mentors, the Weft Studio programme runs from August 2023 to February 2024.
Hannah Khalil
In her Masterclass, award-winning Irish-Palestinian playwright, Hannah Khalil will share the highs and lows of her writing career and how she has now made a successful life in the arts, writing for the stage, radio and screen. She will discuss the intersections of her identity and her writing, with a valuable Q&A.
https://hannahkhalil.com/
Benji Reid
Manchester-based interdisciplinary artist Benji Reid is heralded as a ‘pioneer of hip-hop theatre, turned award-winning photographer, who mixes Afro-futurist imagery with hard-hitting tales from his life’.
In his Masterclass, Benji will share his unique artistic journey of realizing his specific interdisciplinary work that blends photography, choreography and theatre and his creative process.
https://www.benjireid.com/
Julie McNamara
Julie McNamara is a trailblazing theatre director, playwright, producer, actor, activist and poet. She describes her work as ‘a passionate appeal for social justice which places untold stories centre stage, shedding light on unheard voices from the margins of our communities’. Julie’s Masterclass will take us through case studies of her recent work, including how to integrate different artistic mediums in live and online performance, and her ‘accessibility aesthetic’ – how to ensure access for Deaf & disabled people is aesthetically integrated within performance from the start of the creative process.
https://juliemc.com/
Mele Broomes
Award-winning choreographer and performer, Mele Broomes, is visiting Weft from Scotland. Mele’s work embodies ‘stories from the collective voice, creating visceral and sensory collaborations through her ancestral heritage.’ Mele has been actioning artistic platforms for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) through the mediums of dance, performance, visual art. research, music production, writing, poetry, video, graphic design and illustration. During her masterclass, Mele will guide the Weft participants to create work through exploring movement. There will also be a Q&A for participants to ask Mele about her individual artistic journey and experiences as a co-founder and co-director of Project X Dance (an organisation that champions dance and performance within the African and Caribbean Diaspora in Scotland), V/DA (a multi-disciplinary collective), and Body Remedy (a [forming] ecology that centres on physical practice for self-recovery for black people and people of colour (BPOC).
https://www.melebroomes.com/
Weft Studio is funded by Arts Council of Ireland/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and supported by the British Council Ireland and Community Foundation Ireland.
Benji Reid, born in 1966, is a British photographer, visual theatre maker, and educator renowned for his compelling exploration of race, nationhood, and the Black British experience. With a keen focus on Black masculinity and mental health, Reid's work pushes the boundaries of artistic expression. He coined the term "choreo-photolist" to describe his unique practice, which seamlessly merges theater and choreography into his photography.
In 2020, Benji Reid received widespread recognition when his photograph 'Holding on to Daddy' secured the Wellcome Photography Prize in the Mental Health category. His innovative approach to art and storytelling has led to exhibitions worldwide, and his recent work, such as 'Find Your Eyes' in 2023, continues to captivate audiences, combining dance, theatre and photography to shed light on important social issues and celebrate the complexity of Black masculinity and fatherhood.
Hannah Khalil was the 2022 Resident Writer at Shakespeare’s Globe and her work there includes Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, Henry VIII and The Fir Tree (2021 and 2022). Hannah’s other stage plays include A Museum in Baghdad (Royal Shakespeare Company) which marked the first play by a woman of Arab heritage on a main stage at the RSC, Interference (National Theatre of Scotland) and the critically acclaimed Scenes from 68* Years - shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award (Arcola Theatre, London, 2016). Scenes has also been mounted in San Francisco, New York, France and in Tunisia in a British Council supported production called Trouf. Hannah has written radio plays for BBC Radio 4 and TV work includes multiple episodes of the Channel 4 drama Hollyoaks. Her first short film The Record took the Tommy Vine screenplay prize and was a semi-finalist in the Sweden Film Awards, it was also screened at the London Palestine film festival and Louth International Festival, while Suited (directed by Caroline Byrne) was a finalist in the Kerry International Film Festival and screened at London Irish Film Festival and Zebra Film Fest Berlin. Hannah held the Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University and the Samuel Beckett Creative Fellowship. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Mele Broomes’ work embodies stories from the collective voice, creating visceral and sensory collaborations. Her work GRIN was presented at Battersea Art Centre, London, alongside the film production which was also screened at Theatre Centre Canada and part of Cultura Inglesa Festival in Brazil. In 2021 Mele was commissioned by Scottish Dance Theatre, where she created Amethyst, a theatre production and digital publication. Mele is co-founder of Project X Dance and was co-director (2017-2021), an organisation that champions dance and performance within the African and Caribbean Diaspora in Scotland. Mele is the director and founder of Body Remedy, a [forming] ecology that centres on physical practice for self-recovery for black people and people of colour (BPOC).
Julie McNamara is a national/international artist and activist in Disability Arts, award winning playwright, screenwriter and published poet. She/ they co-founded the London Disability Film Festival with Caglar Kimyoncu at the BFI 1998-2008 and the Disability-led touring theatre, Vital Xposure, founded in 2011 with Isobel Hawson. Current works include Whisper Me Happy Ever After (2012), presenting stories from children surviving violence in the home; Ready, Steady, Retreat for Dolly Sen’s Queer writers series Birdsong From Unobservable Worlds; Burst my Bubble, Jonah's Wail and The Swagger for Funny Ha Ha! Comedy series published by Little Cog & ARC Stockton. Previous works include Let Me Stay, A love letter to their mother living with Alzheimer’s; the award winning documentary, Voices from the Knitting Circle, featuring the testimonies of survivors of the long care system, achieving Best of the Fest, Picture This...Film Festival Canada, 2018; and Miegunyah award, Melbourne University, Australia, 2019.