Keeping up appearances: labour and exchange

This short article for Siobhan Davies Dance’s publication Material was prompted by a talk Livergant gave at Independent Dance’s Crossing Borders series in 2017. The talk was about support systems for artists in the new work sector in London and how these systems overlap with wider systems of support in the city. In this short intervention, Livergant considers the head shot, and explore how the pressure to remain visible in the sector can serve to obscure solidarities between arts workers and other workers in London.

Material is a new magazine published twice a year by Siobhan Davies Dance. It aims to present and nurture critical dialogue around dance, choreography and contemporary artistic practices. Each issue emerges from the Siobhan Davies Dance programme.

This second edition of Material concerns itself with in/visibility in contemporary artistic practice, especially dance. It consists of Movements - commissioned by texts that hinge around a particular idea or concept, and Gestures - other interventions that offer a space for pause or a shift in direction.

Material, no. 2 was created in dialogue with Something Other (Mary Paterson, Maddy Costa and Diana Damian Martin) and includes writings by artists involved in the Siobhan Davies Dance programme; Shivaangee Agrawal, Laura Burns, Lucy Suggate, Katye Coe, Siobhan Davies, Alexandrina Hemsley, Giorgia Ohanesian Nardin, Last Yearz Interesting Negro, Elyssa Livergant and Zinzi Minott.