A Double Blessing is a multimedia body of work in progress being produced over 2022 - 2023. Artist and writer Tom Stockley will be working with communities across the UK (including London, Bristol, Gloucester, Plymouth, Edinburgh and Glasgow) to create live performances, interactive workshops, digital installations, films and audio in response to ideas and conversations around Jewish identity, spirituality, heritage and queerness.
The artist's aim is to respond to their personal process of self-discovery through connecting to their ancestral roots and their sexual identity. Judaism is an ancient and multifaceted religious culture, rich with symbolism, rituals and oral history that many Jewish people today hold in symbiosis with their queer identity. From the Golem as a symbol of unfinished human form and the six recognised genders of the Torah to contemporary queer theory and pagan ritual, this project holds the intriciacies of Jewish culture as a lens to our diverse human experiences of community, identity, sexuality and self-healing in a fractured world. This is the language of all those who are doubly blessed, both in the deep roots of their culture and in the way they love and see themselves. |
(CUT):// is a movement piece in development (2022-2023).
It is a semitic ballet, a reflection on circumcision / queer bodies / divine rituals & cultural symbols, a meta-human performance of culture and queerness.
It explores the experience of being cut off and reconnected through audio soundscapes, DIY costume, experimental dance and the sound of chainsaws, haircuts and archived speech.
(CUT):// documents a process of collective rebirth and blessing and invites you to become severed and rejoined.
It is a semitic ballet, a reflection on circumcision / queer bodies / divine rituals & cultural symbols, a meta-human performance of culture and queerness.
It explores the experience of being cut off and reconnected through audio soundscapes, DIY costume, experimental dance and the sound of chainsaws, haircuts and archived speech.
(CUT):// documents a process of collective rebirth and blessing and invites you to become severed and rejoined.
SEMITIC BALLET // Performance stills taken in residence with @uniofglos and @strikealightfestival: Jewish and queer bodies // using found materials to embody symbolic objects: MENORAH / GOLEM / POMEGRANATE |
A Double Blessing was a spoken word theatre piece developed over 2021 - 2022.
It explored the initial stories, research and archive material of this wider body of work.
Costume was designed by Love Deluxe and the show was performed at Fringe Theatre Fest in June 2022
It explored the initial stories, research and archive material of this wider body of work.
Costume was designed by Love Deluxe and the show was performed at Fringe Theatre Fest in June 2022
RESEARCH // TEXT // ARCHIVE MATERIAL
Thank you to everyone who has inspired and supported this project so far:
Aimée, Bobby & Elizabeth, Aunt Barbara, Daniel Silver, Oskar Schlemmer, Eugen d'Albert, Elinor Lewis, Love Deluxe, The Shadow Rabbinate, Pink Peacock, Homos & Hummus, Miknaf Haaretz, Strike a Light, Tsitsit and Fringe Fest
★ Donate to the GoFundeMe to support this work and be a part of the project community ★
Thank you to the amazing individuals who have contributed:
Talya, Malaika, Jack, Andi, Dawn, Blair, Aimée, Holly, Rhi, Chris, Helen, Charley, Nick, Scarlet, Birch, Nicola-Rose, Sophie, Liv, Cat & Bryony
תזכה למצוות
Aimée, Bobby & Elizabeth, Aunt Barbara, Daniel Silver, Oskar Schlemmer, Eugen d'Albert, Elinor Lewis, Love Deluxe, The Shadow Rabbinate, Pink Peacock, Homos & Hummus, Miknaf Haaretz, Strike a Light, Tsitsit and Fringe Fest
★ Donate to the GoFundeMe to support this work and be a part of the project community ★
Thank you to the amazing individuals who have contributed:
Talya, Malaika, Jack, Andi, Dawn, Blair, Aimée, Holly, Rhi, Chris, Helen, Charley, Nick, Scarlet, Birch, Nicola-Rose, Sophie, Liv, Cat & Bryony
תזכה למצוות