Beverley Bennett: Simon Says/Dadda

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Friday 15 September – Saturday 4 November 

Open Wednesday – Saturday, 12pm – 5pm 

The NewBridge Project Gallery Space

The NewBridge Project is delighted to present Simon Says/Dadda, an exhibition by artist Beverley Bennett, exploring father/daughter relationships among Black and Asian women and non-binary individuals, highlighting the deep impact that structural inequalities have within wider society. At the NewBridge Project, Beverley will bring together for the first time the newly commissioned 3-channel film installation with a single screen film work, introducing the artist’s own voice to a constellation of testimonies and footage made over the past five years.

Working in partnership with Metal, Liverpool, LUX, London and Grand Union, Birmingham, Simon Says/Dadda is an ambitious large-scale film project developed through a series of gatherings across England, bringing to light stories that are currently not represented in the visual arts space.

Comprising three core parts, Simon Says/Dadda brings together numerous elements; gatherings, testimonies, collaboration and community, of Beverley’s practice within the same body of work. Working over a longer period of time to allow for deeper connections and evolutions to manifest, the work has drawn together mediums that previously have been kept separate, to generate a whole.

With an imperative to look after visitors and participants the artist provides a grounding experience before introducing the main components of the work. You are invited to take a moment before entering, to gather thoughts and take time.

With a title referencing patrilineal relationships, ‘Simon’ is the artist’s father, and ‘Dadda’ was the Grandfather on her Mother’s side; ‘Dadda’ is also used as a term in Patois (the Caribbean/Jamaican dialect) to reference ‘Father’. Looking at intergenerational legacy and father/daughter relationships, it is these affinities that form the foundation for the show and is the mainstay of the 3-channel installation; exploring familial love languages.

Stemming from a desire to highlight Black and Asian women as well as non-binary individuals and their experiences to counter the historical silencing of their voices, Simon Says/Dadda includes the direct testimonies of a number of these individuals, collected via gatherings across the UK, sharing their own stories.

Developed in 2018, Beverley coined the term ‘gatherings’ to denote a methodology that differs from the more hierarchical model of the workshop; one person leading and sharing information with participants taking part in the activities. Instead ‘gatherings’ are cyclical, whereby everyone learns from each other and often formulate in myriad ways, from reading together to gathering at a party. This has created a ‘tapestry of voices’, an interweaving of communalities and differences that provide a broader view, an important part of amplifying intergenerational relationships.

Underpinned by a newly commissioned soundscape by Trevor Mathison, Simon Says/Dadda is supported by a crew who the artist has worked collectively with from ideation development through to installation. The work pays homage, as so much of Beverley’s work does, to intergenerational voices and collaborations.

This exhibition is generously supported by Arts Council England, The Elephant Trust and Serpentine (Support Structures for Support Structures Fellowship Programme).