Dangerous or Otherwise
Director/Designer: Malaika Cunningham
Writer: Joseph Houlders
Sound Designer: Lee Affen
Lighting/Video Designer: Will Monks
Project Assistant: Natalie Hillman
Supported by and in collaboration with Newark Emmaus Trust and The National Trust
An audio-visual installation created in collaboration with Newark Emmaus Trust and the National Trust at The Southwell Workhouse, which asked how much our experiences of poverty and health have really changed since Victorian times.
Audiences were guided through the Workhouse and adjoining infirmary by voices, music and visual installations. A sensory and thought-provoking experience in which historical and contemporary accounts of poverty, health and homelessness speak together.
This piece was created as part of a 9 month residency at Southwell Workhouse, through numerous meetings with staff and volunteers, delving into the archive, and hosting a series of workshops with the residents of the Newark Emmaus Trust (a local independent charity providing accommodation, support and training to single homeless young people).
The project aimed to explore historical and contemporary accounts of poverty, and questions how much attitudes towards the poor have changed. From historical rhetoric of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’, to ‘scroungers’ and ‘strivers’, from ‘inmates’ to ‘service users’. Another central theme which arose from our residency and workshops was institutional identities and the ways in which we are categorized and labelled, often according to our afflictions, rather than our assets. This is particularly apparent in the archival records: at the Workhouse, often all there is left of a life story is a punishment log. The title of the piece, Dangerous or Otherwise is borrowed from a column in this log book. This project aims to question how we may find human beings behind the labels: then and now.
An audio-visual installation created in collaboration with Newark Emmaus Trust and the National Trust at The Southwell Workhouse, which asked how much our experiences of poverty and health have really changed since Victorian times.
Audiences were guided through the Workhouse and adjoining infirmary by voices, music and visual installations. A sensory and thought-provoking experience in which historical and contemporary accounts of poverty, health and homelessness speak together.
This piece was created as part of a 9 month residency at Southwell Workhouse, through numerous meetings with staff and volunteers, delving into the archive, and hosting a series of workshops with the residents of the Newark Emmaus Trust (a local independent charity providing accommodation, support and training to single homeless young people).
The project aimed to explore historical and contemporary accounts of poverty, and questions how much attitudes towards the poor have changed. From historical rhetoric of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’, to ‘scroungers’ and ‘strivers’, from ‘inmates’ to ‘service users’. Another central theme which arose from our residency and workshops was institutional identities and the ways in which we are categorized and labelled, often according to our afflictions, rather than our assets. This is particularly apparent in the archival records: at the Workhouse, often all there is left of a life story is a punishment log. The title of the piece, Dangerous or Otherwise is borrowed from a column in this log book. This project aims to question how we may find human beings behind the labels: then and now.
Director/Designer
Malaika Cunningham
Writer
Joseph Houlders
Sound Designer
Lee Affen
Lighting/Video Designer
Will Monks
Project Assistant
Natalie Hillman
Supported by and in collaboration with Newark Emmaus Trust and The National Trust
