When She’s at Home! Showcase Event

In April 2022, Arts & Homelessness International launched the Associates’ Leadership Programme which is a year-long professional development programme for artists who are, or who have been, homeless. It is the first of its kind in history and offers tailored practical and emotional support to each new associate developing their artistic practice. Over the last two years, we have worked with 16 exceptional leaders and artists who all have a diverse range of artistic practices, including photography, film directing, writing, producing, and more. 

WHEN SHE’S AT HOME is an evening of live music, film, poetry, disruptive performances, immersive exhibitions, workshops, and open discussions, all curated by our Arts & Homelessness International 2023 – 2024 Leadership Associates: Amerah Saleh, Bryony Attenburrow, Gemma Lees, Kate Betty Scott, Nailah Muhammad, Nell Hardy, Rianna Patterson and Sammy Al-Fihri. 

Join us on Friday 22nd March at the Old Diorama Arts Centre, 5 – 8 pm, and help us to celebrate this milestone event. 

Everyone is welcome. 

RSVP for free tickets here. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/when-shes-at-home-tickets-844768594607?aff=oddtdtcreator 

Huge thanks to ODAC for supporting this showcase and thanks to our Associates Leadership Programme funders: Linbury Trust, David Wise, and the Arts Council England.

You can view a PDF of the full event programme HERE!

 If you have any questions, please get in touch with samra@artshomelessint.com 

Biographies of the Associates and Programees

 SAMPIRA AL-FIHRI: TOO CLOSE TO HOME  

 Sampira Al-Fihri is a Nottingham born, Birmingham based producer, writer and curator working in the horror genre. She works across film, theatre and exhibitions and is a co-found of all female horror company, Terrifying Women. Her work interrogates horror, conspiracy theories and authority hierarchies. 

Sampira’s installation ‘Too Close To Home’ which explores the similarities between how horror uses the space of home to breed tension & suspense and the homeless experience of home always being uncertain. 

Trigger warning: Mental Health & Violence 

Location: Neighbourhood 

Sampira’s installation ‘Too Close To Home’ – 17:00 – 20:00 

In conversation with Sampira: 19:25 at the Foyer 

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NAILAH MUHAMMAD  

Nailah or Nai, is multifaceted- creative, based in South East London. She is working to become a social worker, thought leader and social entrepreneur in her community , to combat youth homelessness in the London Borough of Lewisham. She is developing Kreatives Talk CIC, to showcase untold stories of homelessness and report back to those who are supposed to solve social issues. Nailah is devoted to improving the lives of people affected by social inequalities and being a role model that she wished she had. 

She will be sharing a snippet of an episode of her docuseries “Pain to Purpose ”, a window into her mindset, her journey through homelessness and how she intends to change lives, by changing her own. 

Trigger warning: None 

Location: Studio 6  

17:40:Docuseries: Pain to Purpose by Nailah Muhammad 

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AMERAH SALEH  

Amerah Saleh is a spoken word artist born and bred from Birmingham. Her Muslim Yemeni roots give her space to get lost and found on multiple occasions between identities. She is the co-founder of Verve Poetry Press, Chair of Apples & Snake. Amerah has performed all around Europe and has released her first collection called ‘I Am Not From Here’ this year. Her work touches on identity, womanhood, religion and the obscure idea of belonging only to one place. 

Experience Amerah’s journey of home to Yemen. After almost 12 years, she has bought back new stories initially post war, but with the attacks on Yemen happening during her visit there – the stories are rife, expect poetry, music as well as her grandmothers voice. 

Trigger warning: War, Neglect, Trauma 

Location: Foyer Gallery 

17:00 – 20:00 : Amerah Saleh | No-one Knows Audio & Visual Experience 

18:00: Performance 

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KATE BETTY SCOTT

Kate Betty Scott is a songwriter, spoken word artist and facilitator. Their first publication showcases a compilation of songs and poems that are words given to them by family and friends and are written within an hour, therefore attempting to remove concepts of ego and perfectionism (the main killers of creativity) and instead, the beauty of free writing and collaboration. Going through the alphabet the themes are as diverse as ‘age’ to ‘creatures’ to ‘indecision’ to ‘funeral’ to ‘universe’ to ‘weapon’ to ‘zoo’ 

Trigger warning: None 

Location: Foyer  

Songs & Poems ‘ The A to Z of things my friends said’ by Kate Betty Scott 

Performance: 17:10 at the Foyer 

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GEMMA LEES  

Gemma Lees is a Romany Gypsy, disabled and neurodiverse fine art installationist, performance poet, actor, facilitator, journalist and theatre-maker from Bury, Lancashire. Her practise focusses on her intersectionality, lived experiences including of homelessness and mental health conditions and the contemporary female Romany experience. 

Gemma will run her incredible ‘Chopped Out and Smashed Up!’ a workshop remixing her raw poetry on her struggles with homelessness, racism and mental health into collages followed by a performance of the original poems before she takes a cathartic and literal hammer to crockery and cutlery bearing her painful and poetic memories. 

Trigger warning: Swearing and mentions of drugs, mental illness, body image, violence, racism 

Location: Foyer & Studio 8 

17:30 Poetry Performance by Gemma Lees at the Foyer  

17:40 Chopped Out & Smashed Up’ Workshop  

18:20 Second Schedule) ‘Chopped Out & Smashed Up’ Workshop  

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NELL HARDY 

Nell Hardy is an actor, writer, theatre director and facilitator, and the founder of Response Ability Theatre (RAT). Based in London, the company seeks to represent and support people whose lives have been derailed by trauma. Nell believes that theatre is a vital biological process that can help us, in an ever more divisive and isolating world, to find out how to be with each other. She tries in her work to create spaces in which people can question themselves and listen to others in ways that usually feel too challenging, but are crucial to developing the empathy and humility that we need to be part of healthy societies. 

“Nell Hardy performs a monologue from her most recent production I, Lord, exploring spiritual abuse, interfaith relations and the role of spirituality in modern life; then outlines the trauma-conscious, survivor-led process of making the show. From first R&D to survivor design workshops, survivor community cast involvement and even a parallel children’s show, find out how her company Response Ability Theatre ticks and what they want to do with the project next.” 

Workshop:
“Nell Hardy gives us a teaser task from her Inside Out workshop – designed to offer tools to trauma survivors, for recognition and exploration of aspects of our inner lives that in the everyday can feel inaccessible. Come and get an insight into how triggers can be overcome through metaphor, imagination, gentle movement and play, to help us express our perspectives and needs without fear or shame.” 

Trigger warning: Trauma 

Location: Studio 7 

17:40     Inside Out Workshop  

19:00     I, Lord: Performance  

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BRYONY ATTENBOROUGH  

Bryony Attenburrow is a cartoonist and comic book artist based in the UK. Her comic strips largely focus on themes of transformation, change and metamorphosis, taking inspiration from the natural world, as well as her own experience of chronic illness and disability. Understanding the role of mythology in both ancient and contemporary narratives is another key part of her practice. Bryony initially draws all her comic strips by hand, using pencil, then transfers the pages onto a computer to colour and ink using a digital drawing tablet. Owing to the limitations of her own body, due to chronic illness, Bryony is increasingly exploring how technology can assist her in making art and telling stories. 

Bryony will share two of her Homelessness Comic Strips. ‘Stone Town’ explores leaving the city you were born and raised and depicts a common experience for those pushed out by gentrification of beloved urban areas. ‘The Price of Freedom’ is based on her experience of accidentally becoming trapped in her own tiny boiler room. This experience confronts the impact of isolation and conveys how the legacy of homelessness can remain hidden, even from oneself.

Trigger warning: None 

Location: Foyer Gallery 

17:00 – 20:00 Bryony Attenburrow’s Homelessness Comics: Stone Town & The Price of Freedom at the Foyer Gallery 

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RIANNA PATTERSON  

Rianna Patterson is a filmmaker, photographer and digital illustrator based in London. Her artistic practice is centred on amplifying meaningful stories centred on culture, community work/advocacy and wellness. She is the director of a documentary on dementia in the Caribbean, to tackle ageism in the media. 

Dementia: The Island Journey, film by Rianna that focuses on dementia, culture, and her personal journey in creating an impact in the lives of older people in Dominica. 

After the passing of her grandfather with dementia in Dominica. Living well in a cultural context is something the film highlights. Creating a realistic as well as a positive approach to older people in the media. Rianna explores holistic treatments for dementia and engages in traditional experiences in a quest to understand the recipe for the meaning of quality of life. 

DEMENTIA: THE ISLAND JOURNEY 

 Trigger warning: None 

18:20 Dementia: The Island Journey at Studio 6  

18:40 Second Schedule: Dementia: The Island Journey at Studio 6 

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