Shona Projects BLOG

Taking place on an uninhabited island called Eilean Shona in North West Scotland, Shona Projects creates a microcosm of society in which to consider selected themes and critically engage with the situation we are in. Artists, writers, cultural theorists, academics and scientists are invited to contribute to each programme, to ensure a variation of backgrounds, disciplines and interests which will in turn generate a live resource of ideas. Through talks, discussions, workshops, interventions and performance, selected participants will collectively learn about diverse, creative and non-arts specific topics that have the potential to inform future work/practice. E: [email protected]

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Shona Projects 2017

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Alberto Toscano’s recent essay (briefly) discussed in Hannah Proctor’s workshop on the final day

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East London Big Flame

East London Big Flame materials - discussed in the Red Therapy workshop

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THREE DAYS TO GO! Our final contributor, Madison Moore is an artist, cultural critic, DJ and performance-maker based in London.

His work touches pop culture, queer studies, nightlife, sound, media, visual culture and contemporary art, and blurs the lines between scholarship and artistic practice. Madison holds a PhD in American Studies from Yale University and is currently an ERC funded researcher in 'Modern Moves' in the Department of English at King's College London.

Madison's research focuses broadly on (queer) aesthetic practices and experiences. At the center of this work is a commitment to articulating a politics of pleasure, particularly queer pleasure and black joy. Drawing from queer theorists including José Muñoz and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Madison zeroes in on music, fashion, performance, art, and nightlife -- the realm of the aesthetic -- to highlight how people use pleasure every day to stage small acts of resistance.

Further info here >>> http://www.madisonmooreonline.com/

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Raju Rage

SIX DAYS until Shona Projects 2017 begins!

During the week, contributor Raju Rage will be exploring the format of a ‘kitchen table conversation’ as a space/place for informal discussion, listening and conversation.

Raju Rage is an interdisciplinary artist who is proactive about using art, education and activism to forge creative survival. They primarily use their non-conforming body as a vehicle of embodied knowledge; to bridge the gap between dis/connected bodies, theory and practice, text and the body and aesthetics and the political substance. They work in performance, sculpture, soundscapes and moving image, focusing on techniques of resistance and utilising everyday objects and everyday life experiences in communicating narratives around gender, race and culture. They investigate history, memory and trauma, with an emphasis on colonial legacy, its continuation and impact on the body and contemporary diasporan identity. They are an organiser and member of Collective Creativity: critical reflections into QTIPOC creative practice arts collective.

Further about on Raju Rage's practice can be found here >>> http://www.rajurage.com/

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Under the Moon

Distant galaxies, cyborg lovers, re-written histories, genetically engineered babies, glass communes, intergalactic journeys. Homes without parents, planets without gender, cities without trees. UNDER the MOON began as a discussion/reading/screening group interested in exploring worlds - both real and imagined, utopian and dystopian - that differ radically from our own.

Over the week on Eilean Shona the three founding members of Under the Moon, Amy Tobin, Hannah Proctor and Sophie Jones, will collectively present and then individually expand upon their specialist research.

*** DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 27th April 00:00***

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Dr Sarah Rugheimer will be joining us on Eilean Shona to discuss her research around life on other planets.

"Currently we are finding planets that are Earth-sized and temperate for the first time in history. These questions of our origins and the distribution of life in the Universe are the main driving inspiration for my day to day work".

To take part in the one-week residency in May, submit your application by 23:00 on 27/04/17 https://www.shonaprojects.com/apply/

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✨Contributor Information - Tai Shani✨

Artist Tai Shani will be working with the actress Maya Lubinsky to develop a new film on Eilean Shona​.

The unique context of the island will be used as a film set for a feminist horror film, a fleshy Promethean myth told in space but not in time.

During the residency, Tai Shani will also present about her on-going project Dark Continent Productions, an experimental and expanded adaptation of Christine de Pizan's 1405 pioneering feminist book, 'The Book of the City of Ladies', within which Pizan builds an allegorical city for women, drawn from a medieval conception of history, where fact, fiction and myth are blurred.

https://www.taishani.com/

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** FINAL CONTRIBUTORS ANNOUNCED **

The two final contributors to Shona Projects in May are Raju Rage and Cathy Wilcock. Full information about the contributors and details about how to apply can be found on the website. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 27th APRIL

https://www.shonaprojects.com/

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APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR SHONA PROJECTS RESIDENCY Eilean Shona, Scotland 11-18 May 2017

In response to current socio-political unrest, this forthcoming one-week residency will utilise the remote environment of Eilean Shona to explore the charged idea of ‘safe space’.

The week long programme is intended - not as a comprehensive examination of what we consider to be 'safe space' - but rather as a series of provocations from selected contributors who will consider the term within different specialisms, experiences, environments and communities.

Contributors include Under the Moon, Sarah Rugheimer, Madison Moore and Tai Shani, with further contributions TBC.

Twelve participants will be selected to take part in this residency from an open call.

Click here for more information about the programme and here for details on how to apply.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

27th April at 23:00

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Delighted to announce that Shona Projects will return in May 2017 with a week long residency programme.

More information soon........!!

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Eilean Shona 2

“Fly without wings; Dream with open eyes; See in darkness.” Dejan Stojanovic A film made during an artist's' residency on Eilean…

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Eilean Shona 1

“I am the shore and the ocean, awaiting myself on both sides.” Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape A film made during an artist's' residency on…

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Summit 2 Fay Stevens www.cargocollective.com/FayStevens

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Summit 1 Fay Stevens www.cargocollective.com/FayStevens

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'visible and moveable, my body is a thing among things. It's caught in the fabric of the world' Maurice Merleau-Ponty Fay Stevens www.cargocollective.com/FayStevens