On Sunday 17th July 2022, Cleo, Kabbo, Latisha, Penny and Precious delivered the first public performance of the memorial folk dance developed through our workshop series. This was especially poignant as this year was the 50th Bristol Harbour Festival. The dance was performed on the Trinity Centre takeover dance stage, Millennium Square and featured an introduction to the project and forthcoming augmented reality app from Kwesi Johnson, and Cleo Lake also led an explanation of some of the key dance moves and their meaning and a tutorial for the crowd. Thank you so much everyone who came and supported us, and especially everyone who joined in! Watch this space for further tutorials so you can learn the dance for a mass participation event in August…
NEWS: Bristol Harbour Festival performance!
Join us at this year’s Bristol Harbour Festival to see the memorial dance created as part of the Decolonising Memory project performed live! We’ll be at the Dance Stage at Millennium Square on Sunday 17th July @ 12.35pm
This will be the first live public performance of the dance which has been developed from research and movement material developed through our 7 workshops held monthly since November. On the day (Sunday 17th July) you will also be able to get a preview of the project app development by going to our Instagram page on your smartphone – @decolonisingmemory_bristol – opening the filter and pointing your camera at the Edward Colston statue plaque where you will be able to see something new!
Performance listing: https://www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk/artists/2022/7/16/decolonising-memory-digital-bodies
Full Programme for the Bristol Harbour Festival can be found here: https://www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk/
BLOG: Dance, history and movement as co-produced research
Reflections on the workshop series. By Jessica Moody (Senior Lecturer in Public History, University of Bristol)
Alas, we have come to the end of our workshop series for the Decolonising Memory: Digital Bodies in Movement project! As this marks the end of the first phase of our project, I thought I’d share some personal reflections on the workshops we held over the last 7 months. We first advertised for participants in October 2021 through this website, social media, press releases, local publications, local radio and word of mouth and held an online information event. Our first workshop was November 6th 2021 and these ran every first Saturday of the month thereafter until May 7th. We held these workshops hybrid (both online and offline) – at the Malcolm X Centre in St Paul’s, and online via zoom for those who couldn’t join in person (with all participants being able to hear and see each other). We also held monthly online ‘mid-point’ meetings on zoom where we carried on the conversations from the workshops and undertook other exercises and activities to develop ideas.
Continue reading “BLOG: Dance, history and movement as co-produced research”Vlog: What is a ‘site of memory’?
Dr Jessica Moody discusses what a ‘site of memory’ is, and how the Decolonising Memory project seeks to counter, challenge and create new memorial interventions. Filmed at the Malcolm X Centre, itself a site of memory, memorialising Black History through its name and mission.
Vlog: Cleo Lake invites you to join the project!
Register to join the project!
If you’ve read around this website and our social media and are keen to join us on this journey, you can register via this form: https://forms.office.com/r/7BWLDeet8r
A word document version of this form is available on request, please email decolonisingmemory@gmail.com for a copy and for any other questions.
Information Event
Join us on Monday 25th October at 7:30pm for an online information event
Register here:
https://bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pdO6gpjsoG9auvKpu_OsonKmkuesTPWvT
Information Event: Monday 25th October 7:30pm online
Want to find out more about the project and ask the team questions in an informal setting? Join us on Zoom at 7:30pm Monday 25th October for a chat. Register using the link below!
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pdO6gpjsoG9auvKpu_OsonKmkuesTPWvT
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Join the Project!
Get involved and be part of the Decolonising Memory project, researching and countering Bristol’s memory of enslavement through historical research, creative methods and dance. Join us in creating new dance-based memorials for the city.
