(2017) performance installation.
The Deceptive Gift was developed whilst working with five women from the Black Country who have in some way broken expectations to pursue their careers within male dominated industries. The piece celebrated female empowerment by incorporating dance, spoken word, cooking and dhol drumming as a form of storytelling. The motif of the vase appeared through all elements of the work as a symbol of a woman as viewed from a patriarchal perspective. The work actively challenged the motif as a way to break or reclaim the symbol as a form of empowerment.
Traces of the women that inspired the work are found within the performance, they include; Parv Kaur the first female dhol drummer in the UK, Nitisha Patel an award winning chef, Laura Howell the first female illustrator for the Beano, Lauren Johnson the first women to earn a wage from boxing in the Black Country, Hanifa McQueen Hudson the UK’s first B-girl.
The comic was made in collaboration with Cat Sims and is available upon request.
Performed by: Shelley Eva Haden, Jasmine Gardosi, Parv Kaur, Nitisha Patel
