Call When You Reach

The Live Art Development Agency are delighted to invite you to the first screening of Call When You Reach.

This film explores racial trauma, in an effort to overcome the burden and weight of whiteness as it impacts Black bodies.

Following the screening, which was created by Madinah Farhannah Thompson, with cinematography by Joy Kisuka, and sound design by Joshua Banham, a Q&A session will take place with Madinah Farhannah Thompson and artist Lydia Newman.

About the artists

Madinah Farhannah Thompson

Madinah Farhannah Thompson is a visual artist and writer, whose work explores the (mis)representation of the Black female body and the paradoxical space it often exists in; between hyper-visible and invisible. Her work is research and text led and incorporates poetry, performance, memory and film.

Madinah studied at The Cass School of Art, where she received the Owen Riley prize for best in show for her BA final show performance No Black Girls Sorry. She completed her MA at Goldsmiths University, where her final show film Saliva & Tears/Underneath You went on to win the 2020 Ingram Collection Young Contemporary Talent Prize. With residencies taking place at the Venice Biennale, Hestercombe House and Gardens, The Live Art Development Agency, and Cob x PLOP Residency in London. She has exhibited and performed at The Mall Galleries, Wellcome Collection and Camden People’s Theatre. Being published for her work in Social Works? for Open, Shades of Noir and on the British Council Website. Along with her work being featured in The Guardian and Art Monthly.

About Lydia Newman

Lydia Newman is a multidisciplinary artist, in contemporary performance-making and creative facilitation.

Lydia has co-directed notable theatrical performances such as; Extremism (2017, NT Connects – Soho Theatre, The National) and Van Gogh on the Beach (2019, Camden Fringe – Cockpit Theatre). Lydia also served as Co-Art Director for the moving image production Imagination and The Misfit Kid (2021, Labrinth). In her solo practice, she has showcased FACEFORWARDS (2021 Goldsmiths), A Primal Scream (2021 Black Discourse), the Tangled Series (2023 Catch 23 Gallery, Barcelona), and The Renovation Revisited (Anatomy Theatre, Scotland 2023).

With a background in the charity sector spanning 14 years, Lydia has led well-being projects; empowering participants to explore their inner and outer experiences creatively. Her performance practice seamlessly blends visual art and live performance to create participatory experiences. Lydia’s artistic focus centres around the self-recovery and healing of Black women in a post-colonial, capitalist world. Through sharing her suppressed experiences, Lydia offers audiences an opportunity for emotional emancipation. Her larger concept, ‘Rewilding,’ challenges capitalist ideals and promotes alternative ways of existence and fulfillment.

Access information

The screening has no spoken dialogue, however, if you would like us to book a BSL interpreter for the live Q&A session, please email us.