About

Kinesthesia is a new moving image festival taking place at Middlesex University and online 16 – 18 July 2021.

Kinesthesia puts focus on the body as the agent of seeing rather than as an object of display, inviting audiences to experience film and moving image work from an embodied perspective.  

Initiated by artists Dominique Rivoal and Claire Loussouarn, this new festival has been curated and produced collectively by them, freelance film curator Gitta Wigro and co-directors of Independent Dance Heni Hale and Nikki Tomlinson. The contributing artists were found via an international open call, and selected by the festival team with guest panellist Adesola Akinleye.  

As a team we are exploring how film can be made and viewed kinaesthetically. Bringing together wide interests in dance, somatic practices, experimental film and sensory ethnography, Kinesthesia focuses on movement beyond visual impact and narrative, to consider the whole range of sensory experiences, including visceral, proprioceptive and haptic awareness.   This edition of the festival combines screenings, short workshops, installation and discursive sessions that attend to the subtler felt sense of the body. We are delighted that it will be framed by keynote speaker Karen Wood, author of Kinesthetic Empathy : Conditions for Viewing, who will speak about meeting points between screen-based practices, eco-somatics and empathy.  

We are excited to present a distinctive and truly international programme. We thank all the contributing artists, and and all those who submitted work through the call-out. We acknowledge that as a new festival with micro-funding, work is being contributed on a voluntary basis; this not-for-profit festival is also made possible through in-kind work by the whole festival team, and through partnership support from Middlesex University.  

Kinesthesia will take place in hybrid form; in person and online. In keeping with Covid-19 safety protocols, there is a limited capacity for in-person festival tickets. If circumstances allow, further tickets will be released in the coming weeks.   We look forward to welcoming you to Kinesthesia and to experiencing it with you, virtually or in person!

Kinesthesia team

Kinesthesia has been created by:

Curatorial and producing team: Claire Loussouarn, Dominique Rivoal, Gitta Wigro, Henrietta Hale, Nikki Tomlinson
Guest panellist: Adesola Akinleye
Events Coordinator, Middlesex University: Nicola Skinner
Facilities and Campus Events Manager, Middlesex University: Joe Fulgoni
Technical production, Middlesex University: Bruce Allen, Mikkel Svak, Joe Jackson, Michael McGlone
Trailer: Joe Grisdale
Website: Gitta Wigro
Marketing support: Jay Yule, Sara Rantala
Photography: Dave Pickens
Stewards: Narina Bira, Charlotte Paul, Sara Rantala, Teresa Skamletz, Alison Thomas, Sumi Cheng Xiaomei

Thanks to Vida Midgelow, Paul Cobley and Lesley Main

In partnership with Middlesex University and Independent Dance