In Conversation with Sonia Boué and Ashokkumar D Mistry

Join Sonia Boué and Ashokkumar D Mistry in conversation with Woodrow Kernohan and guest contributor Kai Syng Tan, as they discuss the exhibition , currently on show at John Hansard Gallery.

Las Gemelas (The Twins) are the creative duo Sonia Boué and Ashokkumar D Mistry. Hear about their collaboration and what the twinning of practice means to them. As neurodivergent artists, their conversation will touch on how they have tested boundaries through a process of unmaking, and their different approaches to understanding and navigating themselves whilst creating new works.

Boué and Mistry researched into the Basque child refugee archives, held within Special Collections at the University of Southampton. They will share some of their methodology and how the exhibition connects to the UoS Collection and historical context. Part of their process has been to transform the archive into a multisensory experience, placing an importance on the memory of care and a coming together of communities.

The Gallery will be open from 5.30pm for visitors to view the exhibition. The talk will begin at 6pm and finish at 7pm. Following the talk there will an opportunity to network. Refreshments will be provided.

Sonia Boué is an Oxford-based Anglo-Spanish neurodivergent artist. As a child, Boué’s family lived in political exile in England as a result of the Spanish Civil War. Her work is often an attempt to bridge a profound sense of displacement; feeling herself exiled both geographically and neurologically speaking.

Ashokkumar D Mistry is a Leicester-based, neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist and writer. Mistry’s antifascist-centred research scrutinises individual difference to expand understanding to include impairment and disability as integral to the human condition. His work encourages close interaction and provokes debate

Woodrow Kernohan is the Director of John Hansard Gallery. Before joining, he was Director of EVA International, Ireland’s biennial of contemporary art in Limerick from 2011-17, Curator of the Irish Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, and Co-Director of Brighton Photo Fringe from 2008-11.

Kai Syng Tan (she/they) is an artist-academic-agitator and Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership at University of Southampton. Kai writes and performs in her personal, hyperactive and tentacular capacity.

Host or Publisher John Hansard Gallery