The UP Podcast is a new podcast series curated and commissioned by UP Projects and hosted by journalist and critic, Hettie Judah.
Over the course of two episodes The UP Podcast takes an in-depth look at two of UP Projects most recent commissions – The Terrarium by Shezad Dawood and Gut Feelings Meri Jaan by Jasleen Kaur – exploring the themes, processes and implications surrounding these artworks through the voices of the artists themselves and those they have collaborated with.
Episode one delves into the underwater world of The Terrarium by Shezad Dawood commissioned by UP Projects for the Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021. A brand new VR work, The Terrarium blends scientific prediction and science fiction to highlight the implications of climate change for our marine ecosystems, and the consequences of rising sea levels for all forms of life. This episode features a conversation between Shezad Dawood and Hettie Judah featuring the voices of British composer, Graham Fitkin and marine ecologist at the University of Plymouth, Dr Louise Firth.
Episode two transports listeners to the town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester through Jasleen Kaur’s Gut Feelings Meri Jaan, a series of artworks created by Kaur through a collaboration with a group of local women and those who identify as gender non-conforming. Presented at Touchstones Rochdale from October 2021, Gut Feelings Meri Jaan responds to the local archives held at Touchstones by fore-fronting the voices of migrant communities within the social history of Rochdale, which have historically been marginalised and misrepresented. This episode features Jasleen Kaur in conversation with Hettie Judah featuring with voices from the community members she worked with.
The UP Podcast is presented by Hettie Judah and generously supported by Arts Council England. It was audio produced by Arsalan Mohammad and creatively produced by UP Projects.
About Hettie Judah
Hettie Judah is senior art critic on the British daily paper The I, and contributor to Frieze, The Guardian, Vogue, The New York Times, Art Quarterly, Numéro Art and other publications with 'art' in the title. Her recent books include Art London (ACC Art Books, 2019), Lives of the Artists: Frida Kahlo (Laurence King, 2020) and Caroline Walker: Janet (2020.) Her forthcoming book on stone Lapidarium will be published next year by John Murray. A campaigner for the rights of artist parents, she is currently working on a book on art and motherhood.
About Jasleen Kaur
Jasleen Kaur (b.1986, Glasgow, Scotland) is an artist based in London. Her work is an ongoing exploration into the malleability of culture and the layering of social histories within the material and immaterial things that surround us. Her practice examines diasporic identity and hierarchies of history, both colonial and personal. She works with sculpture, video and writing. Recent and upcoming commissions include Wellcome Collection, UP Projects, Glasgow Women’s Library, Market Gallery, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Eastside Projects and Hollybush Gardens. Her work is part of the permanent collection of Touchstones Rochdale, Royal College of Art and Crafts Council.
About Shezad Dawood
Shezad Dawood works across disciplines including film, painting, neon, sculpture and, more recently, virtual reality to deconstruct systems of image, language, site and narrative. Using the editing process as a method to explore both meanings and forms, his practice often involves collaboration and knowledge exchange, mapping across geographic borders and communities. Through a fascination with the esoteric, otherness and science-fiction, Dawood interweaves histories, realities and symbolism to create richly layered artworks. Dawood was born in London in 1974 and trained at Central St Martin’s and the Royal College of Art before undertaking a PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University. Dawood is Senior Research Fellow in Experimental Media at the University of Westminster. He lives and works in London.
