16.06.15
Meet the Mentees
As part of START, the professional development programme we have commissioned Invisible Flock to deliver between now and March 2016, we put out a region-wide call for artists who felt they would benefit from a one to one menteeship.
Each selected artist has been paired with a member of the Invisible Flock team for a year of support, guidance and advocacy. The final group was handpicked from a pool of applications from artists, makers and producers who felt a confidant would aid their career progression.
This mentorship takes place as part of START Invisible Flock's professional development scheme with Compass Live Art.
We're delighted to introduce the artists being mentored as part of START:
Malaika Cunningham
I am an aspiring theatre director and researcher in Art and Politics. I am interested in creating socially engaged work and exploring new ways of approaching interactive art. I am the Artistic Director of The Bare Project, a Sheffield-based immersive theatre company. With whom I most recently directed Time Passes. Listen, an immersive theatre piece based on over 1000 local people’s stories and performed across four floors of a derelict Woolworths. I recently completed the Clore Emerging Leaders Course. I am currently Assistant Directing Daniel Evans on The Effect (Sheffield Theatres) and completing an MA in Political Theory.
Ben Carlin
My work explores both political and sociological issues by using immersive theatre techniques and digital technologies. After graduating with a BA First Class (Hons) in Drama from Kingston University (2014) I have been interested in the fading boundaries between the virtual/digital and the physical world capitalising on virtual reality technologies. This has resulted in me experimenting with and producing hybrid gaming/theatre performances. I have also collaborated with artists and companies across multiple platforms including: theatre, film, music, programing and installations. I am currently working in collaboration with Age UK on an intergenerational community based project in Sheffield with funding and support from O2 Think Big
Joss Sessions
Having grown up just outside Leeds, Joss has always had an interest in theatre, technology and music. Starting at 4 years old, he performed in the local village pantomimes to spending the last five years working around the world as a video designer. To date his largest show included working with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus pro Musica where he designed over 100 video clips and VJ's live to recreate Haydn's; The Creation. Joss is now home, and is in the process of setting up his own theatre company based in Leeds that what theatre is in the digital age.
Rommi Smith
Rommi Smith is a poet and playwright. She has held numerous prestigious international residencies for organisations ranging from the British Council, to the BBC, The Florence Nightingale Museum to Parliament. Rommi was appointed Parliamentary Writer in Residence - the first such appointment in British and Parliamentary history. Rommi was inaugural Poet in Residence at Keats’ House, London, former home, now museum, celebrating the life of Romantic poet, John Keats.
Awarded a prestigious Hedgebrook Fellowship in the United States, Rommi is a recipient of the Elizabeth George Award. She was recently awarded The John Barnard Scholarship. In October 2015, she will begin a PhD by practice, in celebration of the lives of Jazz and Blues women.
W: www.rommi-smith.co.uk (this is currently being updated, so will lead to a holding page)
T: @rommismith