AIM
The Provocation is an attempt at repair despite it being an impossible task, as the harm that has been done is enormous, ingrained and traumatic (Kedhar, 2020, p.18). This Provocation hopes to contribute to reducing the harm that is present and yet to come (Wente, 2020). The focus of F-ing Good Provocation is indeed race and racism in Britain’s landscape of movement, dance and body practices, however it is as important to honour our protected characteristics and embodied intersectionalities with gender, abilities, sexual orientations, class and other social categories as we are incredibly complex and unique and our human experiences are worthy of acknowledging in all its layered complexities.
F-ing Good Provocation holds space; a space that actively listens with empathy, is forward looking, non-judgemental and aims to respectfully honour the lived experiences of the artists involved. It hopes by centring the selected twenty artists, their actual voices, verbalising their lived experiences, that F-ing Good Provocation honours them, their practices and their contributions to the rich, vibrant landscape and ecology of movement, dance and body practices in contemporary Britain. It is also an invitation to centre and embed care and accountability for ourselves in everything we do so that it is sustainable for our wellbeing.
F-ing Good Provocation will disseminate the project’s findings to an invited audience, collectively curated by the artists involved, as apprehension regarding the possible repercussions of lived experiences shared have been expressed. The Provocation acknowledges the precarities, risks and labour for all involved, yet these precarity, risks and labour are in fact the very ways in which certain philosophies of being and power asymmetries continue to be perpetuated in our everyday life.
F-ing Good Provocation acknowledges and has been inspired by the work that has been done before and alongside us. Particularly for informing and inspiring my work and practice are the works of artists, broadcaster, journalists, social entrepreneurs, writers alike and some of them are: Afua Hirsch, Akala, Amina Khayyam, Angela Hui, Audre Lorde, Derek Owusu, Jemma Desai, JJ Bola, Maryam Lee, Nikesh Shukla, Ocean Vuong, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Roxane Gay to name a few.
We stand on the shoulders of giants who have been working hard to offer tools and language that enable us to speak about such matters and begin to heal. Moreover, the continued work that has been done to foster and encourage our existence, representation, right to take up space, voice be heard in Britain and beyond.