Wednesday night saw the opening of our ROSL International Residency exhibition ‘A Laboratory for Survival‘ at the Art House in Wakefield. The opening night featured a discussion with the artists Dimple B. Shah and Cole Ndelu, led by our visual Art Curator Eilidh McCormick. 

During the evening Dimple B. Shah presented a performance and interaction alongside speeches from project curator Sunil Shah and The Art House CEO/Artistic Director Sydney Thornbury, which gave context to the art on display and thanks to all those involved. The exhibition is open in Wakefield until 21 December, is free to visit and ROSL members are invited to get in touch if they would like a special tour of the show.

Read the exhibition text:

The current social and political conditions have the ability to undermine our resolve and break our spirit. In the gallery, a makeshift laboratory is presented as a site for self-reflection and care. Artists Cole Ndelu and Dimple B. Shah arrive in Wakefield as artistic explorers from afar, they bring with them experimental approaches and metaphysical ideas that may help us.

Ndelu addresses intimacy and close personal relations through photography. She works with layers of materiality and extends the photographic plane beyond its two dimensions. Her work suggests a re(disc)overy of the self in light of disembodiment brought about by our social and online personas.

Shah offers techniques and rituals through nature, materials and alchemy. Processes of healing and self-care can be meditated upon through her responses to Wakefield’s surroundings and through processes carried out in The Art House’s printmaking workshop. Her work is finally realised in the lab, and during performances where she takes shamanistic form offering public consultations on self-preservation.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for queries and tour requests.

Image credit: Nick Singleton

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