Channel is Somerset House’s new curated online space for art, ideas and the artistic process.
Thursday 12 November
- Somerset House Studios celebrates 4 years of its expanding dynamic artistic community with the first online edition of annual building takeover series AGM
- Premiere of newly commissioned works from a specially selected line-up of artists, writers and musicians including Aida Amoako, DeForrest Brown, Jr., Josiane M.H Pozi, Rian Treanor and Tyreis Holder
- Showcase of works from Somerset House Studios’ wider community of residents, including Anna Mikkola, Malik Nashad Sharpe and Sam Williams
- Artist-led programme devised in collaboration with Studios artists and alumni Beatrice Dillon, Jesse Darling, Klein and Larry Achiampong
Somerset House Studios – Somerset House’s experimental workspace for artists, makers and thinkers - celebrates its past four years with AGM 2020, a special night of live-streamed premieres, collaborations, performances, and experimental DJ sets from an expanding community of artists.
Featuring performances broadcast live from Somerset House, as well as remotely from across the UK and beyond, AGM 2020 premieres five new commissions from a specially curated line-up of artists, writers and musicians pushing boundaries within their practice, including Aida Amoako, DeForrest Brown, Jr., Josiane M.H Pozi, Rian Treanor, Tyreis Holder, plus a special performance from Sarra Wild.
The artists taking part in this year’s line-up have been specially selected by a panel of Studios artists and alumni - Beatrice Dillon, Jesse Darling, Klein and Larry Achiampong – who were asked to propose artists who they are most excited by at the moment. All artists have been offered access to space and support from the Studios’ artistic community to develop and showcase their new works for AGM. The evening’s programme will also highlight works from Somerset House Studios’ wider resident community and alumni, including Anna Mikkola, Malik Nashad Sharpe and Sam Williams.
Home to a unique community of over 300 artists, makers and thinkers since 2016, Somerset House Studios celebrates the importance of generosity and collaboration in a time of increased separation for its 2020 edition of AGM, highlighting the value of bringing people together and sharing resources for powerful artistic collaborations.
All works will remain available to view online for one month following their premiere at AGM 2020.
LINE-UP HIGHLIGHTS:
Streamed live from his home city of New York, techno artist and theorist DeForrest Brown, Jr. (aka Speaker Music) premieres an exclusive AV performance drawing upon the themes explored in his 2020 album Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry, created in response to recent events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement.
London-based filmmaker and visual artist Josiane M.H Pozi showcases a new video work exploring the importance of elevation, friendship, and allyship in collaboration with Somerset House Studios artist alumni Klein. Following its premiere at AGM 2020, Pozi’s work will be available to view as part of the third season of Somerset House Studios’ permanent exhibition space, Gallery 31 in 2021.
Rotherham-based artist and producer Rian Treanor presents a new collaborative performance, developed through a series of workshops with five Visual Art & Design students from the BRIT School, using specially developed software to create a remote networked performance.
Artist, poet and visual storyteller Tyreis Holder shares a new poetry performance as part of the evening’s line-up. Placing herself within an installation, Holder’s performance centres around ideas of self, identity and lived-in experience. Exploring the position of a young Black woman navigating the everchanging states of 2020, Holder’s new work addresses themes of uncertainty, mental health, society, class, culture and issues pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Writer and critic Aida Amoako showcases a new piece of visual storytelling for AGM 2020. To Explain is to Exorcise sees Amoako explore the limitations of language and the anxiety of being misunderstood.
Glaswegian DJ and OH141 collective co-founder Sarra Wild performs an experimental DJ set of unapologetic, exciting, bold sounds.
AGM 2020 is kindly supported by The Adonyeva Foundation.
FOR PRESS ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT: press@somersethouse.org.uk/0207 845 4624
MORE FROM SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS:
AMPLIFY 2020
24 - 27 November 2020 | Online
Somerset House Studios partners with MUTEK and the British Council to host a residency for female identifying artists and electronic producers working across the digital arts in Canada, Argentina and the UK.
This online edition of Amplify at Somerset House Studios includes a series of digital training sessions and workshops offering participants the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in presenting their online presence and portfolio, pitching, understanding intellectual property and legal advice for musicians and artists. Workshops include coaching on confidence building, production, online shows and how to use your intuition in uncertain times.
The residency provides an opportunity to share work with Somerset House Studios artists and network within this community of talented professionals, and participants will also engage with performances, discussions, artist presentations, digital installations and films as part of our online public programme.
In Partnership with British Council and MUTEK
Canadian Amplify artists are supported by the British Council and the Canada Council for the Arts
NOTES TO EDITORS
Aida Amoako | Tyreis Holder | DeForrest Brown, Jr. | Anna Mikkola | Josie M.H. Pozi with music from Klein | Malik Nashad Sharpe | Rian Treanor | Sarra Wild
All artists’ works are available to watch live and will remain available to watch online for one month following the event.
Visit somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/agm-2020 for more information.
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE
London’s working arts centre
Somerset House is London’s working arts centre and home to the UK’s largest creative community. Built on historic foundations, we are situated in the very heart of the capital.
Dedicated to backing progress, championing openness, nurturing creativity and empowering ideas, our cultural programme is ambitious in scope. We insist on relevance, but aren’t afraid of irreverence, and are as keen on entertainment as enrichment. We embrace the biggest issues of our times and are committed to oxygenating new work by emerging artists. Where else can you spend an hour ice-skating while listening to a specially commissioned sound piece by a cutting edge artist?
It is this creative tension – the way we harness our heritage, put the too-often overlooked on our central stage and use our neo-classical backdrop to showcase ground-breaking contemporary culture – that inspires our programme. Old and new, history and disruption, art and entertainment, high-tech and homemade, combined with the fact that we are home to a constantly shape-shifting working creative community: this is our point of difference. It is what we are proud of. And it is what makes the experience of visiting or working in Somerset House inspiring and energizing, urgent and exciting. somersethouse.org.uk