DIT 2026: Tom Marshman – We Showgirls Are Offline

Year: 2026
Partners: Duckie x Metal
Deadline for applications: Monday 23 February 2026
Apply: Application Form
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A queer double act for the digital age

What

Are you a digital slut, a Grindr whore, or a Hinge princess? Do you need to unplug?

Tom Marshman is looking for eight queer artists/creatives of different ages to join him in Southend for a shared intergenerational enquiry into digital identities and intimacies.

Co-produced with Duckie and hosted at Metal, this playful three-day offline lab creates space to slow down, log off and reconnect – with ourselves and each other.

Across lazy brunches and tea parties, we will share stories of desire, shame, hedonism, sexuality, vanity, visibility, and disappearance. We will explore how queer lives move between online and offline worlds, and how our digital selves perform alongside our live bodies.

Artists will arrive on Friday night and spend a cosy time together in the lovely Metal lodge house, eating and talking. On Sunday morning, artists will pair up into duos and create and present short (up to 5 minutes) live responses inspired by these conversations.

These double acts might explore themes of: performer and avatar; memory and screen; presence and absence.

This lab is interested in exploring these questions:

What does it mean to perform offline when queer visibility is so tied to the internet?
What kinds of intimacy and community can live art create beyond the feed?
How do different generations of queer artists experience visibility, connection and care?

We Showgirls Are Offline fits in with the themes Tom is currently researching and exploring for his new work. He is interested in generating and collecting stories from a variety of queer folks about online connections and experiences.

Where

Activities will take place in person in Chalkwell Hall in Southend-on-Sea, a lovely Georgian house sitting within the grounds of Chalkwell Park, overlooking the Thames Estuary.

When

Friday 31 July – Sunday 2 August 2026. Timings to be confirmed.

Who

This DIT project seeks eight queer artists/practitioners interested in exploring digital identity, ageing, performance and intergenerational exchange.

We are particularly keen to hear from queers local to Southend, and so will ask for your postcode within the open call. Practitioners based outside of Southend are still welcome to apply.

What to expect

There will be a seated tea party involving verbal conversations indoors.
We will share personal stories.
We will present short performances to each other.

Access

A small access budget has been reserved to support the group. Artists’ access needs will be requested after selection, and the budget will be used to adjust activity to fit with the needs of the group where possible. We may not be able to cover each individual’s access requirements, this will depend on the final group and costs. If you would like to discuss this before applying, please email [email protected].

Travel & Accommodation

The proposal is that there will be a mixed group with some artists/practitioners staying over in accommodation, and other artists/practitioners travelling in.

Participating artists/practitioners based outside of Southend will be responsible for their own travel.

About the Artist

Tom Marshman has been a practicing artist for 25 years and has produced over 60 projects across many mediums, including museum audio-tours, theatre and cabaret. He actively encourages dialogue with participants through socially engaged processes such as ‘tea parties’, and creates a safe space to share thoughts and experiences, allowing him evocative and authentic glimpses into everyday life and letting him tell engaging, poetic and unpretentious stories. An overarching theme of Tom’s work is that of the outsider and their story, particularly regarding the LGBTQ+ experience: stories that have been omitted through archival silence.

A studio portrait of a person with long, straight light-brown/blonde hair parted in the middle, wearing a dark jacket. They are shown from the chest up against a black background, lit from one side, with a serious, contemplative expression and their gaze directed slightly off-camera.

Tom Marsham. Image Paul Blakemore

How to apply

Application Form: Each DIT has a different online application form, depending on the needs of the project. You can find the link to the online Application Form, Word and audio versions at the top of this page.
Alternative formats: We accept written, video, and audio applications. For video or audio applications, please answer the questions listed in the Application Form within a recording of 5 minutes. Send the file to [email protected].
Access: We cannot provide or pay for access support to help with writing or preparing the application. Should you need support accessing or submitting the application, please contact us using the phone or email details below and we will be happy to help.
Further questions/support: Please see the FAQs, email [email protected] or call us on 020 8985 2124.

Other projects in DIT 2026: Tom Marshman - We Showgirls Are Offline

This three-day ‘offline lab’, for queer artists of different ages, will experiment with thematic pairings: performer and avatar, memory and screen, presence and absence.