For four months, Al-Maria and Ourahmane will transform Somerset House Studios’ project space into a black box that shifts and bends. Over the exhibition period the public are invited to dwell, rearrange and even book The Pits free of charge to host their own events; discussions, gatherings, performances, and readings.
There is a prevailing myth that contemporary society is evolving, becoming more civil and more rational. That with enough mindfulness, therapy, and curated self-care, wounds will heal, and rage and grief will dissipate. The Pits does not believe in this myth and the artists have created a space for what lingers, for what refuses to be soothed or neatly resolved.
The work takes its name from the belly of the theatre, from the sensation in the stomach and from the void that emerges when things go wrong. The Pits is intended as an unapologetic room that invites us to collectively discuss what happens when we stop performing and sit with the difficult emotions —a room designed to welcome unwelcomed feelings. A space which invites the public to explore what cannot be metabolised into productivity, for the ways contemporary politics, debt, and bureaucracy can feel as an assault.
If you are interested in booking The Pits for your event, please fill in this form and if you would like more information on how to access the programme please follow this link.
