Image by Paul Gilbey, of Charlotte Gosling performing as part of Awate’s About Us: Scratch Showcase event, Southbank Centre, Refugee Week 2023
Get a glimpse behind the curtain of creativity as six artists take to the floor to share new works in progress in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Audiences are invited to give feedback and ask questions in a safe, communal space to help lift up artists. The performances are interwoven with poetry and hosted by curator and Lead Scratch Artist Awate.
All artists chosen for this Scratch Showcase are women or non-binary people, and two special guest artists perform as part of our futuretense gig series supporting emerging artists.
This event is open to all audiences wanting to experience work in its initial stages of development, and applications to present work were open to artists aged over 18 from a global majority background (or tackling the subjects of diaspora and migration), whether you’re a writer, musician, dancer, filmmaker, designer or anything in between.
Artists presenting works-in-progress are Oishi Dutta, Chakira Alin, Shivani Sen, Natsuko Yonezawa, Alex Bertulis-Fernandes, Torera Sotinwa.
This Scratch is hosted by Awate and Ornella Mutoni, Filmmaker and Counterpoints’ PopChange Producer.
In the past we have had films inspired by Greek mythology, stylists presenting their original textile designs, stand up comedy, powerful rap music, innovative piano performances and short plays reflecting on the trans experience.
After presenting at our Scratch event, artists have gone on to embark on their first UK music tours, had their short films presented at the BFI London Film Festival, secured options from high-profile TV production companies, started their own regular comedy nights and found lasting connections with other artists in the audience or presenting alongside them.
This Scratch Showcase is a collaboration between Awate, Counterpoints Arts and the Southbank Centre. Book your tickets here.
About artists:
Oishi Roy Dutta (b. 2000) is a multi-medium artist and art-director based between London and New Delhi. Oishi‘s work explores the complexities of human experience in an evolving technological landscape, examining ocular politics, ethnicity, modern myths, and contemporary “human artifacts.” A Fine Arts graduate from Delhi University’s College of Art (2022), she has worked with The Nourishment Project’s opera NIRAKAR, luxury jeweler Sunita Shekhawat, and India Art Fair, apart from various other creative projects with emerging musicians and fashion houses. Blending visual storytelling with conceptual depth, she investigates multi-dimensional existence in an exceedingly complicated socio-political landscape. Oishi is currently pursuing an MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art.
Chakira Alin (she/her) is a writer, actor and filmmaker from the East End of London, making work with her production company Quite the Cowboy. Chakira recently completed her latest short film, THE PILGRIMAGE, and is currently in pre-production for the SUNNY SIDE UP film adaptation. She is a triple Capricorn.
Born and raised in New Delhi, India, Shivani is a multi-disciplinary artist, singer-songwriter, author and composer whose work weaves together genres, cultural identities, and emotions. Her work aims to break tradition-based boundaries and is inspired by a blend of storytelling, aesthetics, and spirituality. Shivani has trained in Hindustani Classical music for twenty years and performs regularly in India and London. With her debut release, Shivani has merged the Indian classical world with indie pop, and has featured on NTS Radio and on BBC Introducing Asian Network as their Artist of the Week. Shivani is also a poet with her debut poetry book To the Homes that We Are sold internationally and read at festivals and exhibitions and shared in universities in the UK. Today, she is accompanied by Vishnu Vijayan on the tabla and Theo Archer on the bass. Following their recent performance at the Indian High Commission and at the SOAS concert series, Shivani Vishnu and Theo are bringing a contemporary rendition of Indian classical music, with storytelling and poetry enhancing the creative practice.
Natsuko is a Japanese-Australian live performance director and digital scenographer currently pursuing a Masters in Design for Performance and Interaction at UCL. Natsuko‘s work draws on psychological and sociological research, along with a deep interest in biomimetic architecture, to create immersive experiences. Integrating emerging technologies with dance, physical theatre, sound, lighting design, and architecture, they craft multi sensory environments that push the boundaries of live performance. Natsuko is fundamentally interested in the complexity of human beings and why we behave the way we do as we all navigate the world in fascinatingly distinct ways.
Alex Bertulis-Fernandes is a stand-up and writer. Alex won the British Comedy Guide Pro Award for Performance. Alex was a Channel 4 Sean Lock Comedy Award Finalist, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Finalist, and BBC New Comedy Awards Nominee. Her jokes have featured in The Guardian and The Telegraph. Alex wrote material for ITV’s Piglets, BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, The Now Show and The News Quiz, and for several upcoming films. Alex went viral for her response to being told to “dial down the feminism.” She’s working with Clapperboard Studios on a sitcom set in a psychiatric ward.
By day, Torera is a lawyer—but when the sun sets, she transforms into a dynamic dancer, poet, and writer. Torera believes in the healing power of artistic expression and is on a mission to make creativity accessible to everyone – from seasoned artists to buttoned-up lawyers in corporate offices. Because art belongs to us all. With a passion for storytelling through movement and words, Torera has choreographed and produced a short dance film, performed on world-renowned stages like the Bloomsbury Theatre, and is now curating her own Artists’ Showcase on March 15th. Her work blends movement, poetry, and sound to create an immersive experience that pulls you deep into her world. In her upcoming performance, she will explore how romantic relationships serve as mirrors, forcing us to confront the hardest truths about ourselves.
