Curated by Cairo Clarke, and developed by artists Lotte Andersen, Harriet Middleton-Baker, Diana Chire, Hannah Perry, and Suzannah Pettigrew and Nikola Vasakova of Girls in Film, Touch Sensitive is an all girl arts programme that looks at the representation of the female form through the concept of touch. The series of events will run over three evenings and a weekend, in which each artist will invite the public to a specially conceived dance performance, screening, workshop or immersive installation that explores the social and sexual politics surrounding the female body, as a network of relations without stop or centre.
“The first space we occupy is our body,” Cairo explains, “a space of which we should be able to claim agency. Through the project I’m interested in the meaning we attach to it. How does it function socially, politically, sexually, IRL and online? I think sometimes an all-female show can in itself be tokenising or fetishising. However, in the case of Touch Sensitive, it made sense to invite female artists because the project is about exploring female bodies. However, I’m really glad we have collaborated with men in parts of the project. Particularly Suzannah Pettigrew’s performance, in which the soundscape has been created by CKtrl and dancer Simon Donnellon performs in the piece.”
Touch Sensitive kicks off tonight with Hannah Perry’s adult dance performance and visual installation, and will culminate on 26 Sunday with a series of screenings curated by Girls in Film.
Credits
Text Tish Weinstock