In this episode of Live and Now, Steve talks with Sheila Ghelani – an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans live art, performance, installation, social art and moving image – and whose most recent work includes Common Salt, a ‘performance around a table’ made with Sue Palmer that explores the colonial, geographical history of England and India.

Starting with Grafting & Budding – a lecture style performance examining ideas surrounding race, heritage, and mixing – we explore the development of Sheila’s practice as a solo artist in relationship to her work with Pacitti Company and Blast Theory, and the significance of a sequence of works presented as part of the National Review of Live Art.

Contexts and documents

the project page for Common Salt and the accompanying book, available to order from Sheila’s website or Unbound.
an interview with Sue Palmer and Sheila Ghelani about Common Salt for Scare the Horses, curated by Paula Crutchlow
documentation of Grafting and Budding on Sheila’s website
documentation of Sugar Sugar White on NRLA30, a website celebrating the 30th anniversary of the National Review of Live Art

Live and Now: Sheila Ghelani