Workshop
Somerset House Studios

Grounding Practice: Raquel Meseguer Zafe

Wed 19 Apr 2023
18.45-20.30
Pay What You Can
Lancaster Rooms
New Wing

Led by disabled artist Raquel Meseguer Zafe of Unchartered Collective, this Grounding Practice session will explore rest and horizontality as artistic methods and as more equitable ways to gather in public.

Meseguer Zafe sees the potential in rest and horizontality for a different kind of spectatorship; rest proposes alternative ways to be in conversation with one another as well as in making and engaging with art. For Grounding Practice, participants will explore the artistic potential of these different modes through a guided rest and invitation to have a horizontal or restful conversation, in the most comfortable way possible.

Raquel’s workshop stems from her immersive performance piece A Crash Course in Cloudspotting, an intimate audio journey telling some of the 300+ stories about attempts to rest in public gathered from people with disabilities and chronic illness. In this work, audiences are invited to explore the subversive act of lying down and the depths of human connection inherent in these stories.

This Grounding Practice workshop has been programmed in conjunction with Hyper Functional, Ultra Healthy, a dynamic series that considers individual and collective health and wellbeing through a programme of newly commissioned artworks, films, workshops, and conversations. The 2023 programme focuses on disability justice and artists who engage with the space of health and care.

About Raquel Meseguer Zafe

Raquel Meseguer Zafe’s work straddles theatre, dance, installation, performative conversations and photo-documentary.

She founded Unchartered Collective in 2016 to create theatrical encounters that explore the lived experience of an invisible disability like chronic pain. Her project A Crash Course in Cloudspotting is an installation & performance, an app, a community and a digital archive for many stories gathered about people’s attempts to rest in public. The work is supported by ACE, Unlimited, Coventry UK City of Culture, Mousonturm, Fabrica, PMStudio and MAYK. An early iteration of the piece toured Mexico in 2019 with British Council support.

Raquel also co-founded Lost Dog dance and was Associate Artist on the award winning productions Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me), and Juliet + Romeo. Raquel was also dramaturg on A Tale of Two Cities and Ruination and is the company's access lead, writing their creative audio description.

Accessibility

Wheelchair Accessibility 
The venue is located on the ground floor of Somerset House and there is a ramp to access the main event space. There is also a fully accessible toilet. 

British Sign Language 
The event will be BSL interpreted on request of participants. Please contact visitor@somersethouse.org.uk by Friday 14 April to inform us of your request.

Self-describing  
The lead workshop artist will self-describe. 

Seating  
There will be a variety of seating made available in the venue. These include mats and cushions on the floor, bean bags, foldable chairs without armrests and padded seats. 

Lateral Flow Testing
The artist asks that all participants take a lateral flow test ahead of the workshop. Please only attend if your test shows negative.

If you have any other access requirements, please let us know by emailing visitor@somersethouse.org.uk and we will do our best to accommodate them.