Who is she? Who are we? 我们是谁？她是谁？

The MA module Performance and Collaborative Enterprise (PACE) has brought together young women from China and the UK with diverse backgrounds, from international finance to performance design, translation to management. They have collaborated with The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery to create text, films and images designed to attract a new audience to the gallery, especially people who have never visited it...

The challenges they have faced along the way have been tremendous. This is what they were asked to do, imagined as a recipe.

The PACE recipe

• Divide yourselves into 3 collaborative groups of 6.
• Take one room of early 20th century paintings from the Michael Sadler collection in The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery.
• Blend these paintings into your own lives.
• Add a consideration of art for individual and social change.
• Mix in ways of attracting new visitors to the gallery.
• Prepare performances, events, films and exhibitions in response to the paintings.
• Then add large spoonfuls of lockdown.
• Remix everything for a digital platform even though you are now living thousands of miles apart.
• Leave to simmer virtually for 6 weeks.
• Stir regularly using email and Microsoft Teams.
• Serve the fully cooked results on the Digital Performance platform at stage@leeds.
• Share with your friends and their friends.

 This is what the PACE students have 'cooked up' –

Heaven to Hell: Peeping is everywhere, be the master of your will

Heaven to Hell - A series of short films inspired by Malcolm Drummond's artwork "Chelsea Public Library" exploring the concept of 'peeping'.  This project  explores how the nature of peeping is determined by people’s intentions and behaviours.

Who is she?

Who is She? - With Roger Fry's "Portrait of Nina Hamnett" as the basis, this project explores feminist progress in the arts. The culmination of this is a web-page where the audience can read, watch and interact with images and artwork around the theme.

Rebirth

Rebirth - Using two paintings with a 'Mother and Child' theme, by Bernard Meninsky and Thérèse Lessore,  young and prospective parents have been interviewed and inspired by this a series of collage posters have been designed to convey the emotions inspired by the paintings, communicating the healing power of art.

Dr Adam Strickson (Module leader), Teaching Fellow in Theatre and Writing, working in collaboration with the gallery staff and the School of PCI technicians. With special thanks to Layla Bloom, Laura Wilson and Steve Ansell.