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SERAFINE1369, Liverpool Biennial 2021. Image by Katarzyna Perlak
Book tickets
Our third event in the Speaking Futures x Diasporas Now programme explores movement and performance with SERAFINE1369, Ivan Michael Blackstock and Meneesha Kellay. We discuss what it means to use the body as practice and how movement can become its own type of language and form of expression.
SERAFINE1369 is a dancer, artist and body-focused researcher working with dancing as a philosophical undertaking, a political project with ethical psycho-spiritual ramifications for being-in-the-world; dancing as intimate technology. They work with/in the context of the hostile architectures of the metropolis towards moments and states of transcendence and transmutation.
Ivan Michael Blackstock is a multidisciplinary creative from South London. Ivan is focused on his work as an independent artist, creating thought-provoking and political artistic expressions. His work has been showcased internationally, including at Sadler’s Wells and 180 Studios (London), La Villette (Paris), Kampnagel (Hamburg), and ITA (Amsterdam). A contributing editor at Fact Magazine, he was awarded the Breakthrough Cultural Excellence in Film and Video (Nowness Awards, 2019) and shortlisted for DAZED 100 (2021).
Meneesha Kellay is a curator working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Currently the Senior Curator, Contemporary at the V&A Museum, she supports emerging creative practice through commissioning artists and designers. She is an advocate for shifting museum practice with an interest in the transformative potential of the arts. With extensive experience in broadening participation, she champions methodologies that foster inclusive cultural environments and democratise museum spaces.
For our 2025-2026 Speaking Futures programme, Diasporas Now – a platform of expanded performance by the global majority – take up residence at the ICA. Collaborating on a yearlong series of talks, performances, workshops and practice sharing studio sessions, we will explore how art practice can provide strategies for dreaming new futures.
Speaking Futures x Diasporas Now is a cross-cultural programme of exchange and knowledge production, gathering artists together, sharing urgent discussions and inviting audiences to shape the journey.
To explore the full programme, click here.
SERAFINE1369 is a dancer, artist and body-focused researcher working with dancing as a philosophical undertaking, a political project with ethical psycho-spiritual ramifications for being-in-the-world; dancing as intimate technology. They work with/in the context of the hostile architectures of the metropolis towards moments and states of transcendence and transmutation.
Ivan Michael Blackstock is a multidisciplinary creative from South London. Ivan is focused on his work as an independent artist, creating thought-provoking and political artistic expressions. His work has been showcased internationally, including at Sadler’s Wells and 180 Studios (London), La Villette (Paris), Kampnagel (Hamburg), and ITA (Amsterdam). A contributing editor at Fact Magazine, he was awarded the Breakthrough Cultural Excellence in Film and Video (Nowness Awards, 2019) and shortlisted for DAZED 100 (2021).
Meneesha Kellay is a curator working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Currently the Senior Curator, Contemporary at the V&A Museum, she supports emerging creative practice through commissioning artists and designers. She is an advocate for shifting museum practice with an interest in the transformative potential of the arts. With extensive experience in broadening participation, she champions methodologies that foster inclusive cultural environments and democratise museum spaces.
For our 2025-2026 Speaking Futures programme, Diasporas Now – a platform of expanded performance by the global majority – take up residence at the ICA. Collaborating on a yearlong series of talks, performances, workshops and practice sharing studio sessions, we will explore how art practice can provide strategies for dreaming new futures.
Speaking Futures x Diasporas Now is a cross-cultural programme of exchange and knowledge production, gathering artists together, sharing urgent discussions and inviting audiences to shape the journey.
To explore the full programme, click here.
Bios
SERAFINE1369 is a dancer, artist and body-focused researcher working with dancing as a philosophical undertaking, a political project with ethical psycho-spiritual ramifications for being-in-the-world; dancing as intimate technology. They work with/in the context of the hostile architectures of the metropolis towards moments and states of transcendence and transmutation.
Busy with propositions and practices - of dancing, spatial arrangement and modes of receiving - that counter the tendency towards bodily compression, inflammation and alienation, their practice is concerned with the integrity and efficacy of structures (bodily and social). This approach acknowledges the cosmic oneness of all things as manifested through the ecologies of relation and the fact that everything is made of the same stuff, whilst being intensely curious about the magic and mysteries of life processes of distinction, variation, cycles, decomposition; the inevitability of movement as it transforms and sustains.
Cumulative and cyclical their practice involves a continual re-synthesising of their own archive materially and thematically, addressing non-linear time, unsettling internalised hierarchies and oracular practice. This work is underpinned by their interest in the invisible systems and structures that choreograph bodies in life. SERAFINE1369 is a Five-Element Acupuncturist and is working towards their PhD.
Ivan Michael Blackstock is a South London-born multidisciplinary creative. Ivan is focused on his work as an independent artist, creating thought-provoking and political artistic expressions. His work has been showcased on TV and at iconic venues worldwide, including Sadler’s Wells, 180 Studios, La Villette in Paris, Kampnagel in Hamburg, and ITA in Amsterdam and is proudly recognised for his award for Breakthrough Cultural Excellence in Film and Video (Nowness Awards 2019), Dazed 100 shortlist, 2021 and his role as contributing editor at Fact Magazine. His growing success has catapulted his career into a multidimensional innovative space, and he has since founded CRXSS PLATFXRM, an organisation that platforms subculture creatives and carves out new paths in contemporary culture. CRXSS PLATFXRM has collaborated with the Southbank Centre, Nike, Red Bull, Soho House, and UAL: Central Saint Martins, producing events, consultancy, and high-profile creative partnerships. Now extending his creativity by tapping into the world of film and media. Ivan created TRAPLORD BLKMEME/RA for Channel 4 Random Acts in Autumn 2021, choreographing for Beyonce’s Black Is King and Grammy award-winning music video 'Brown Skin Girl, as well as founding his very own media production company ALTRUVIOLET, for which TRAPLORD is the premier work and winner for Britain's most prestigious stage honors, The 2023 Olivier Awards for best new dance production. His most recent career highlights include serving as Former Artistic Director at 180.
Meneesha Kellay (she/her) is a curator working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Currently the Senior Curator, Contemporary at the V&A Museum, she supports emerging creative practice through commissioning artists and designers. Meneesha has experience leading major events on London’s cultural calendar, such as the Friday Late programme, London Design Festival at the V&A, and Open House London, reaching over a quarter of a million people. She is also developing a major South Asia focused exhibition opening in 2027. She is an advocate for shifting museum practice with an interest in the transformative potential of the arts. With extensive experience in broadening participation, she champions methodologies that foster inclusive cultural environments and democratise museum spaces. Meneesha is also co-curator of the British Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2023 which received a Special Mention Award.
In partnership with AnOther Magazine.
Book tickets
07:00 pm
Wed, 21 May 2025
Cinema 1
£12 full price / £9.50 concession
Ticket information
- All tickets that do not require ID (full price, disabled, income support) can be printed at home or stored in email
- For aged-based concession tickets (under 25, student) please bring relevant ID to collect at the front desk before the event.
Access information
Cinema 1
- Both our Cinemas have step free access from The Mall and are accessible by ramp
- We have 1 wheelchair allocated space with a seat for a companion
- All seats are hard back, have a crushed velvet feel and they do not recline
- These are our seat size dimensions: W 42 x D 45 x H 52
- Arm rest either side of the seat dimensions: L 27 x W 7 x H 20
for the following requirements:
- We have unassigned seating. If you require a specific seat, please reserve this in advance
- Free for visitors where ticket prices are a barrier, please email
Related Events
Speaking Futures
WIP: Sharing Space with Joshua Woolford
Tue 13 May, 7pm
A series of performance-based work in progress crits led by Diasporas Now in collaboration with 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning. The first session in the series showcases work in progress by transdisciplinary artist Joshua Woolford.
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Ivan Michael Blackstock
Meneesha Kellay
no. 236848.