Autobiology

Autobiology
Autobiology

Creative workshop

Autobiology is an intensive week-long programme for artists focusing on the generation of performance material by exploring the connections between biology and biography, taking the notion of ‘gut feelings’ and the impulse and association of the autonomic nervous system, aka ‘the second brain’, as a starting place. Autobiology has achieved significant impact, with many participating artists going on to develop full length professional pieces using the method.

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Autobiology was developed with funding from the Wellcome Trust and support from Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology, Queen Mary, University of London. Curious taught Autobiology as part of their Interdisciplinary artist residency at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, where they curated The Inside Story Festival & Symposium: Performance, Biography & Biology. Autobiology has also been taught as part of Glasgow’s Winter School, in London and in Bristol’s Arnolfini supported by Arts Council England and also in Taipei, Taiwan as part of the International Festival of Women’s Theatre and as an MA class at the Université Grenoble Alpes, France.

“The Autobiology workshops are THE most influential and significant performance based workshops in the UK for the last decade. In recent UK festivals, the number of artists who have participated in Autobiology workshops has been extraordinary – the impact of these workshops has been simply awesome.”

Lois Keidan, Director Live Art Development Agency, London

“The workshop was as rich and creatively satisfying as I hoped it would be – which is saying a lot! Leslie and Helen took such detailed care of us all and I felt throughout the week that I was able to dive deep into explorations of the body-mind connections in their many manifestations.”

Rajni Shah

“I thought the workshop was extremely well built up all through the week. Incredibly organised with exercises, feedback and a good balance between solo and collective works. It felt challenging deep, developing, hard-working, beautiful and rewarding.”

Chloe Dechery

“An incredibly enriching week. So much information was shared, there was a lot of generosity around and a great group feeling. I felt like I went through a real journey. I’m also really pleased we did yoga every day. This everyday practice, combined with being gently pushed to realise any ideas we had into pieces/glimpses of work, were really where the meat of the workshop lay for me.”

Shelia Ghelani

“Not only I could dig into my own creativity and stimulate the dialogue between my bodily experience and my thoughts but it also gave me the chance to explore new tools that I can further use to enhance my creative process, to devise further art works as well as pass them onto others in my teaching.”

Julie Therond

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