They Are Here - Studio Voltaire 2018

They Are Here - ROUTINE - Studio Voltaire

Collective practice They Are Here present ROUTINE, an evening of live comedy from Londoners living precariously.


This new performance work was initiated with an invitation to community activist groups across the city, including Migrants Organise, IRMO Brixton, the Independent Workers Union, X-Talk and the Latin American Women’s Rights Service to attend a series of free stand-up comedy workshops. These sessions have been led by professional comedian Logan Murray.
Among those who have signed up are a Bulgarian cleaner turned small-business owner, a rat-catcher, a refugee living in an East London anarchist squat, a sex-worker, a freelance writer and Deliveroo courier.
The performance comprises a series of five minute stand-up routines presented in the gallery, which has been temporarily transformed into a comedy club and will be guest compered by The White Pube.


ROUTINE offers a platform for Londoners living precariously to practice comedy as a vehicle to address the politics and intersection of self-representation, migration and the gig economy. It is a live element of They Are Here’s project Laughing Matter (24th May - 10th June), which also includes an installation of sculpture, soundworks and video.


Laughing Matter is the culmination of ‘In Residence’, a new strand of Studio Voltaire’s Participation Programme, which supports artists with a particular focus on public and social practice, connecting the gallery with its locality over an extended period of time.
Commissioned by Studio Voltaire in partnership with Block Universe.


Supported by Battersea Power Station Foundation, Aziz Foundation and Lambeth Community Events Fund.
Special thanks to Battersea Arts Centre, Somerset House Studios and MayDay Rooms.
About They Are Here
They Are Here (f. 2006) is a collaborative practice steered by Helen Walker and Harun Morrison, currently based in London and on the River Lea.

Photos by James Allan



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