a navigation
phoebe davies

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DKUK is pleased to present A Navigation, a new film work devised and directed by Phoebe Davies and dance artist Nandi Bhebhe.

A Navigation investigates personal journeys and perceptions of age, sexual identity, anxiety and desire, exploring the role and place of intimacy in all its manifestations; non physical, social, intellectual and emotional. The themes of the film are reflected in its presentation at DKUK. In the hairdressing salon where social rules around proximity are suspended, the film will be shown on two screens that separate two clients sitting face to face.

Davies has worked collaboratively with groups of female performers to explore how women’s bodies can negotiate multiple histories, disrupt power structures and form relationships of solidarity. The film is shaped by its performers’ reflections on ageist assumptions; through movements that consider the evolution of how one occupies space in society, the power of the individual’s presence and how they can deconstruct or shift perceptions.

In collaboration with vocal artist Randolph Matthews, the soundtrack, co-designed by Joseph Bond, takes as its point of departure the belief that primal human sounds are synonymous with the emotional self.

A Navigation builds upon Davies’ collaborative practice with Nandi Bhebhe and their work with Bedfellows, a sex re-education research project with artists Jenny Moore and Chloe Cooper.

The realisation of the work would not have been possible without the support of Artsadmin, Thrds Studio, Amy Gawtkin and Rachael Harlow.

Phoebe Davies is an artist and producer. Her practice is defined by its location and context, investigating and exploring how people perceive their social framework. Recent projects have led her to work in schools, care homes and farming communities, as well as in institutions including Tate Modern, Whitechapel Gallery, South London Gallery, Somerset House, Arnolfini, Fierce Festival, Steirischer Herbst (Graz, Austria), Bergen Assembly (Bergen, Norway), and Assembly (Portland, USA). In 2015 Davies was the Social Practice Fellow on the British Council’s International Cultural Exchange USA Programme.