Workshop Reflecting on Family Archives Beverley Bennett

As part of Shifting the Centre – Anticolonial Ways of Seeing‘s Public Programme, artist Beverley Bennett, supported by therapist Stephen Rudder, is inviting men of all ages and backgrounds to come together and reflect on history through their family’s archives.

Why is this call out only for men?

Beverley has dedicated several years to working with women, notably through her project Simon Says/Dadda—a series of films exploring women’s relationships with their fathers. This experience has led her to broaden her focus to include men, exploring their relationships with themselves and others. The decision to exclusively invite men, including a male therapist, is driven by the goal of establishing a secure and supportive environment. This space aims to encourage men to challenge colonial notions of masculinity and foster stronger connections with one another.

The artist invites participants to bring a letter or text message of significance, fostering a space for reflection and connection.

The session will consist of meditation, creative writing exercises, and group discussions led by the artist, and an exhibition tour will be led by the curators.

The session is completely free, but booking is essential. As part of the booking process, we will ask you to share your intention in signing up for this session. Your answer will help us to shape the session.

Refreshments will be served. Please get in touch if you have any allergies.

We can also accommodate accessibility needs when informed in advance. Please contact iniva’s Curator Beatriz Lobo if you have any requests beatriz@iniva.org

About the artist

Beverley Bennett is an artist-filmmaker whose work revolves around the possibilities of drawing, performance and collaboration. Her practice is connected multiple ways of making. The first of these is a concern with the importance of ‘gatherings’ to denote a methodology that differs from the more hierarchical model of the workshop; one person leading and sharing information with participants taking part in the activities. Instead ‘gatherings’ are cyclical, whereby everyone learns from each other and often formulate in myriad ways, from reading together to gathering at a party. This has created a ‘tapestry of voices’, an interweaving of communalities and differences that provide a broader view, an important part of amplifying intergenerational relationships. The second is an investigation of the idea of The Archive (often beginning projects by creating / adding to her own extensive personal archives of interviews, using them for preliminary research and experimentation) and the third is collaboration. This is frequently through socially political work with other creatives, fine artists, community members, young children and their families. Her practice provides spaces for participants to become collaborators and provides a point of focus from where to unpick ideas around what constitutes an art practice and for whom art is generated.

Bennett’s work has been shown nationally and internationally; venues include the British Film Institute (BFI), London (2023); Birmingham 2022 Festival (2022); CinemaAfrica Film Festival, Stockholm (2018); Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol (2017); Wysing Art Centre, Cambridgeshire (2017); Spike Island, Bristol (2017); New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2016); National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston (2016); Bluecoat, Liverpool (2010).