The Hack Theatre, as part of Arts Council England's Emergency Response Fund, teamed up with six artists to create Unmute. Unmute challenges the lack of inclusivity in the arts through a series of short films. Each film discusses the work that needs to be done in the fight for inclusivity, and the hurdles that those unrepresented must overcome. Afshan D'Souza-Lodhi is one of the artists from Unmute who discusses the purpose of the project and talks to us through her art and creative career.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your creative career?
My name is Afshan D'Souza-Lodhi. I'm a poet and playwright based in Manchester. I was recently commissioned to write and direct a short film for Channel 4 (An Act of Terror) and a radio play for BBC Sounds (Chop Chop). I also have an essay featured in Picador's collection by Muslim women called Its Not About The Burqa. Last month my debut poetry collection 're: desire' (Burning Eye Books) came out. The collection seeks to investigate the yearning to love, be loved and belong from desi (South Asian) perspectives.
Unmute was born out of being in lockdown, and it's an important piece of the conversation. Can you tell us how you got involved and what you hoped to achieve with this project?
During lockdown, it felt like there were two groups of people. The first group were people who felt they could finally use this time to do all the things they had wanted to, start new hobbies, work on themselves, sit in their garden and spend time with family. The second group were out here trying to survive, stuck indoors with no access to a garden and struggling to pay bills and even see family. A lot of artists, a lot of people of colour fall into that second category. With Unmute, I felt I could begin those conversations about privilege. I wanted to speak to artists who felt pressure to use this time to create but were also battling with the real world and the consequences of their freelance work being cancelled. I hoped that artists could find inspiration from the project and felt like they were heard.
You cover a lot of important issues in your Unmute interview, have you seen any improvement regarding those issues since lockdown has begun to ease?
I think there is still a lot of confusion about the lockdown laws. And it has somewhat exacerbated the issues. We saw recently that Greater Manchester had gone back into lockdown just hours before Eid. To announce a lockdown of this level, where fines are being given out for breaches, so close to a huge religious holiday seems rather unjust. We already know BAME people were most likely to get fined for breach of COVID related laws and this situation has just made it worse. I think the issues I talked about are institutional and require a big change. They require consistent, prolonged work from everyone so that we don't return to the same normal we were in before lockdowns.
In your interview, you discussed screen exhaustion. What advice would you give to young creatives who are having to exist predominantly online?
Being online has connected so many of us. But it's also made us all seem available all the time. This is what is adding to the exhaustion. I've started putting boundaries in place, e.g. work on emails only, WhatsApp is for friends/memes, and TikTok is for when I want to waste a lot of time! Keeping 'office hours' for when I'm 'working' and having time that is carved out for 'me time' has helped me stop answering emails at 2 am! I've also been creating things with my hands; drawing, sewing and craft making while I watch tv or am on Netflix. It keeps me in touch with the physical world, and I end up cultivating a skill by the end.
There's a lot of pressure to perform right now as we're on video during zoom calls – sometimes I find that keeping the video off helps.
'Are We', your adaption of Dean Atta's poem 'I Come From' took on a relatable concept and it was very well performed. Why did you choose to pull inspiration from 'I Come From'? What is it about Atta's work that speaks to you?
Dean Atta is a phenomenal poet, and his poem 'I Come From' encompasses the many different identities that I sit in. During lockdown, I kept having conversations with friends who were trying hard to reconnect with their cultures, either through cooking foods, they ate as kids or by taking the time to learn to wear their traditional dress (TikTok trends helped with the last one). I felt adapting Dean's poem would be the perfect response to my journey during lockdown.
"We are and will be, it's just a matter of how" is the closing line of 'Are We'. What are some of the things you have done to make sure that you're coping as well as creating?
I've been creating a lot, and not in ways that are linked to my main outlets (writing and performing). I've made some weird art pieces to hang on my wall made from broken mugs and empty asthma inhalers. Hanging new pieces of art on the wall helps break the monotony of being in the same room for days on end.
To watch Unmute, click on the link below:
https://www.hacktheatre.co.uk/unmute
We recently reviewed Afshan’s New Creative short Chop Chop, so go and check that out! We also spoke to her about her inspiration behind the piece, so if you’d like find out what motivated her to make an audio piece about an all-female halal butchers, definitely go check that out!
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