Some Things from Somewhere: creating opportunities for disabled artists

British Council Spain is lending its support to Some Things from Somewhere, a project led by the Naves Matadero Centro Internacional de Artes Vivas arts venue, the association Debajo del Sombrero and the Welsh choreographer Cai Tomos.

The project is based on the use of movement to explore and broaden the creative universe of the artists with learning disabilities belonging to the association through the development of alternative languages and styles, both individually and as a group.

The project will take place over the next twelve months and will consist of two parts:

Part I: learning, dialogue, reflection

Each month Cai and the artists from Debajo del Sombrero will work together for a week to create a common space open to questions, research and dialogue.

Each week’s work is followed by a period of reflection in order to develop the themes that may provide the future basis for their new artistic output.

Part II: expansion and expression

For the second stage of the project, Cai will invite other artists who will help the artists from Debajo del Sombrero to enlarge on the dialogue and thoughts that originated from the initial sessions with the idea of incorporating them into their artistic creations.

The outcome of this second stage is unknown as befits the philosophy of Some Things from Some Where, whose principal aim is to provide a space in which art and creativity converge and can be shared between artists with varied capacities and sensibilities.

We’d like to invite you to follow this unique process. Every month we’ll publish photos and videos taken by Cai during the sessions at Matadero and his written reflections and thoughts following the end of each week’s work. We hope you’ll join us!

About Cai Tomos

As he himself says, he began to dance because “even if sometimes I couldn’t find the words I was always able to find a movement that could express what I wanted to say”.

Over the years this Welsh dancer and choreographer realized that the movement in our lives guides us around the world and that our experiences also manifest themselves in the way in which we communicate and relate to our surroundings.

“Body language defines us: for this reason we can consider dance to be anything that generates movement and serves is an instrument to express sensations and emotions”.

About Debajo del Sombrero

Debajo del Sombrero began running its workshops in 2007 in a space run by Intermediae at the Matadero, Madrid. It began with 17 participants, most of whom had difficulties with verbal language and therefore centred its first actions on communication. The aim that it formulated at the time could be defined as “the creation of a sufficiently flexible atmosphere that enables any kind of communication however small”.

Taking care to listen and being aware of any indication that reveals the natural inclinations of the participants in the workshops became the basis of the work that takes place in Debajo del Sombrero, which has expanded a great deal since then to include new programmes at the Casa Encendida and at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University. The addition of new participants has helped to consolidate this art project.

The workshops at Debajo del Sombrero are live spaces, stripped of artifice where very different rhythms and interests live together. Each participant’s “truth” enters into action and step by step these processes sometimes lead towards artistic languages or works.

About Naves Matadero Centro Internacional de Artes Vivas

The primary goal of Naves Matadero. Centro Internacional de Artes Viva, is to provide a space for contemporary creation and debate in which special attention is made to new performance languages in the context of transversality, therefore creating a catalyst between creators and the public. A space in which performing arts, visual arts, literature, philosophy, film, music and transmedia activities relate to each other through an interdisciplinary programme.

A natural curiosity towards theatre, dance, new circus forms, music, visual arts, performance as well as un-identified hybrid forms is what defines Naves Matadero. Centro Internacional de Artes Viva as a space in constant evolution reaching out to the city with the aim of transforming itself into an exceptional space capable of undertaking national and international projects through innovation, research and working together with artists, collectives, curators and independent artistic agents.

British Council Spain