Join us for a poetry reading at Richard Saltoun Gallery with Matilde Cerruti Quara. Matilde's project 'POETRY NIGHT' is an ongoing series of poetry jam sessions featuring female & queer voices, taking place within an immersive environment.
Initiated in 2023 by multimedia artist, poet & performance-maker Matilde Cerruti Quara, POETRY NIGHT # is an ongoing series of public jam sessions of words & moving energies exploring the possibilities of contemporary poetry.
Each event is hosted by Matilde in collaboration with a public space, gallery or private home, and features her poems alongside the work of three other poets, writers or practitioners of the spoken word, whose research revolves around language and sound.
The intention was to get out of my studio, my head, my writing cave, my ego and be like “who else is out there? “ creating a safe space for women and queer poets to experiment and connect amidst each other and to gift myself a recurring appointment with other writers and audiences in a non-pretentious way. I’ve always loved the idea of jam sessions in music so why not having that for words and poetry ?
On the other hand I’m hoping for new audiences to come in and feel poetry belongs to them too, as poetry is an intrinsic part of lived life, it is storytelling and feeling, which we can all connect to. You shouldn't need to be particularly literate or part of a specific crowd to connect to poetry. Poetry is easy, it’s mundane words arranged to echo some sense of infinity and in my opinion it should be simple and immediate and emotional. Poetry is everywhere in the streets you just need to catch it !
Line-up:
Matilde Cerruti Quara - Italian-British multimedia artist, poet, performance-maker, actor and writer whose practice expands across experimental theatre, text-based artworks and immersive installations. Rooted in language and storytelling, their work investigates identity, archetypes, systems of belief, natural forces, spirituality & rituals, sexuality & power dynamics. Latest works or commissions include: Castello di Rivoli, Turin (IT); MUDAM - Museum of Contemporary Art, Luxembourg (LUX); Swiss Institute, New York (USA); CIRCA Art, London (UK). Matilde holds a MLitt in Modern Art Theory from the University of Glasgow as well as an Acting Diploma from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. They are a two-times recipient of Arts Council England’s DYCP Grant.
Annie Rockson — poet and writer of Ghanaian descent she has performed at venues such as The Mayor of London’s Office, The House of Commons and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Her poetry has further been published in the Voices that Shake Anthology and featured in the world’s first Instagram poetry exhibition at The National Poetry Library. Her poems are designed to empower and challenge perceptions. Understanding how it feels like not to have a voice she hopes her poems can empower audiences to speak out
and build a more positive community.
Sarah Shin — founder of New Suns, a curation and storytelling project from feminist perspectives and practices, which began as an literary festival at the Barbican Centre. She is also among the co-founders of Silver Press and, more recently Ignota Books, an “experiment in the techniques of awakening” which has recently published titles by the likes of Ursula K. Le Guin, Satoshi Nakamoto and Nisha Ramayya.
The event will take place within the framework of the exhibition 'Shelter', by Australian eco-feminist artist, Simryn Gill, whose work is also featured on the gallery's stand at Frieze London.
Booking is required, as capacity is limited.