The Bluecoat welcomes acclaimed dance artist, teacher and choreographer, Seke Chimutengwende, for a week-long residency in July as part of his research for an upcoming group choreography piece.
As part of the residency, the Bluecoat will host an online conversation with Seke to discuss his work on Wednesday 14 July at 6pm. Book onto the Zoom event via Eventbrite.
His latest work explores the theme of hauntings, researching tales of ghosts and haunted houses which serve as metaphors for the legacies of slavery and colonialism and how they continuously haunt the present.
Chimutengwende’s residency at the Bluecoat is particularly poignant because of the building’s colonial roots and links to the slave trade. The Bluecoat is Liverpool’s oldest city centre building, founded in 1716 as an orphanage and charity school by merchant Bryan Blundell. Blundell profited from the transatlantic slave trade and goods that it enabled, such as cotton, sugar and tobacco.
These histories have been interrogated by artists over the decades including Keith Piper and Elaine Mitchener. The Bluecoat remains committed to making research into the origins of the building and its colonial past public, exploring stories about slavery, migration, diaspora, independence, race and identity.
Chimutengwende has been making choreographies since 2011, including The Time Travel Piece, a semi-finalist for The Place Prize 2012, and Black Holes, a collaboration with Alexandrina Hemsley, which was selected for The British Council’s Edinburgh Showcase 2019.