{"id":10009,"date":"2018-12-01T18:35:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T17:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=10009"},"modified":"2018-12-06T16:53:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T15:53:21","slug":"bodies-of-colour-a-poetic-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=10009","title":{"rendered":"Bodies of Colour: A Poetic Script<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Bodies of Colour: A Poetic Script<\/strong><\/h5>\n


\n1. DAVE IS ALREADY PLAYING AS THE AUDIENCE ARRIVE. TWO \u2013 THREE APPROPRIATE IMPROVISATIONS INSPIRED BY THE COLOURS AND THE STORIES OF THE WALLPAPER IN THE EXHIBITION SPACES. ROMMI IS WITH THE AUDIENCE DOWNSTAIRS, SHE MOVES UPSTAIRS AS THE BULK OF THE AUDIENCE MOVES UPSTAIRS.<\/p>\n


\n2. ROMMI GOES TO HER LECTERN AT THE TOP CORNER OF THE STAIRS NEXT TO SONIA BOYCE\u2019S: DEVOTIONAL WALLPAPER<\/strong>. <\/p>\n


\n1. AMPLITUDE (WITH MUSIC)<\/strong>
\n(INSPIRED BY \u201cDEVOTIONAL WALLPAPER\u201d BY SONIA BOYCE, 2008)<\/p>\n

Praising each of their names, each
\nbigger than a stone, as meaningful as moon,
\nmore precious than price, each greater
\nthan its sable-weight <\/p>\n

dropped in midnight\u2019s river
\nto radiate, concentric circles
\nof soundwave. Hear a Dove
\nplace a note in the mouth
\nof a Nightingale; gift
\nto the shell of the ear<\/p>\n

carried across time,
\nacross water, to where we are
\nnow, palm to the skin of the river
\na portal through
\nwhich we and those behind –
\nstep through \u2013<\/p>\n

AT THE END OF POEM, ROMMI LOOKS AT DEVOTIONAL WALLPAPER WITH THE AUDIENCE. SHE THEN TAKES OFF HER COAT AND HANDS IT TO A VOLUNTEER, WHO HANDS HER THE CLIPBOARD WITH THE NEXT POEM ON IT.
\nROMMI MOVES TO THE SECOND STOP IN THE TOUR: ROMMI\u2019S TONE OF VOICE IS MARKS & SPENCER\u2019S CHRISTMAS ADVERT\/SHIPPING FORECAST\/ FOOTBALL SCORES ANNOUNCER. THE VOICE DOESN\u2019T START ON THE SAME MUSICAL NOTE EVERY TIME. WHEN POINTING OUT THE FEATURES OF THE WALLPAPER, NOT EVERY NAME NEEDS TO BE POINTED OUT AS A FEATURE IN THE WALLPAPER, ROMMI JUST INTIMATES IT IS THERE VIA A LOOK THAT SUGGESTS THAT IT MAY BE PRESENT IN THE WALLPAPER.<\/p>\n


\n2. AFTER FARROW AND BALL* (WITHOUT MUSIC)<\/strong>
\n(INSPIRED BY \u201cVUES DE L\u2019INDE – PAYSAGE INDIEN\u201d – BY DUFOUR ET CIE (MANUFACTURER) BEFORE 1815)
\nSilvergate
\nRenaissance
\nArcade
\nOrangery<\/p>\n

Ranelagh
\nBrocade
\nSamphire
\nAranami<\/p>\n

Uppark
\nLotus
\nSt Antoine
\nPeony<\/p>\n

Toile Trellis
\nTessella
\nBrockhampton Star
\nHornbeam<\/p>\n

Rosslyn
\nRingwold
\nHelleborus
\nPaisley<\/p>\n

Jasmine
\nOcelot
\nBlostma
\nBumble Bee<\/p>\n

Amime
\nWisteria
\nShouchikubai
\nYukutori<\/p>\n

Atacama
\nFeathergrass
\nTourbillon
\nHegemone.<\/p>\n

* The words of the poem are exact titles and taken from the 2018 range of Farrow and Ball wallpapers.<\/p>\n

BY THE END OF THE WORD HEGEMONE<\/strong>, ROMMI IS AT THE OTHER END OF TRIPTYCH. ROMMI MOVES TO FAR END OF CENTRAL TABLE (SHE IS HOLDING THE ROLL OF LINING PAPER)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. WITNESS STATEMENT IN WHICH SHE CONFESSES* (WITH MUSIC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(PERFORMED IN RESPONSE TO ZINEB SEDIRA\u2019S UNE GENERATION DE FEMMES, 1997)<\/p>\n

Four walls provoke me first.
\nNext, bars appear for a score <\/p>\n

that demands I\u2019ll sing the single-note of my wedding ring.
\nFaithful, I obey. I honour \u2013 but save love. <\/p>\n

(PICKS UP ROLL OF PAPER AT WEDDING DRESS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, I take the costume of my wedding dress
\nfrom the highest shelf and dusting it of its ignorance,<\/p>\n

(ROMMI ROLLS OUT THE LINING PAPER WITH HELP OF THE AUDIENCE; VISUAL INFERENCE OF WEDDING DRESS TRAIN)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hold it to the trace of my outline;
\nthe looking-glass sees me as ghost before my time:<\/p>\n

my sunken eyes, my skin of ash,
\nmy lips of lustreless desire, <\/p>\n

which mouth the words to the vows he wants to hear.
\nThen with his key, my husband enters what is mine; <\/p>\n

(ROMMI MOVES DOWN THE TABLE WRITING WORDS ON THE LINING PAPER, AS SHE FEELS LIKE IT)<\/strong><\/p>\n

the room learns the word cold;
\nand one magpie flies past the window. <\/p>\n

And though I laugh, to put him off the scent of what it means
\nto pay for a sow\u2019s purse with silken ovaries, <\/p>\n

something has to change. So, when he leaves,
\nforbidding me paper and pen,<\/p>\n

prescribing me eternal rest, as I wrap myself in the silence
\nof our barren marriage bed, I am plotting. <\/p>\n

Dark and sleep steep themselves in dream,
\nthough I am estranged from each of them.<\/p>\n

When the moon turns witness,
\nand the stars are her accomplice,<\/p>\n

I rise from my resting place,
\nand with the gleam of an idea in my bare hands<\/p>\n

I slay the bleak dog who has followed me, devoted,
\ndown these slow, grey years of matrimony.<\/p>\n

Grief on my hands, I grind its bones to dust
\nand mix the dust with tears to make an ink <\/p>\n

and with the half-moon nail of a fingertip,
\nI write and write and write the story of my life<\/p>\n

on each page of wall, each word a spell of yellow
\neach metaphor transforming the vision at the window<\/p>\n

til, in the mirror\u2019s length, I see how I blush,
\nmy skin luminous, my hair aflame, my lips<\/p>\n

the shade of what separates us
\nfrom the dead. For what woman could live <\/p>\n

with herself, if the only thing in life she feeds
\nwith sweetmeats from her own dreams<\/p>\n

is the black dog that chases her?
\nA woman who haunts the white-feint pages<\/p>\n

of the book she\u2019ll never write,
\nwho\u2019ll never understand how the mistress of line <\/p>\n

will seduce you from your sleep, keep you restless
\nas a test of what commitment means.<\/p>\n

And what woman could forsake the love of paper and pen,
\nany more than her own reflection?<\/p>\n

I know I couldn\u2019t. So, you see,
\nI had to lay the dog to rest. <\/p>\n

I have no regrets.
\nNo, Sir, I\u2019d do it again. <\/p>\n

I tell you this, with every inch of my words as witness
\nthat I was here: I am. I do. I exist. <\/p>\n

* Originally commissioned by Alchemy, as part of its project The Haunting (a celebration of the ghost story), the monologue-poem takes it inspiration from Charlotte Perkins Gilman\u2019s The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)<\/p>\n

ROMMI KEEPS EYE CONTACT WITH AUDIENCE MEMBERS CLOSEST TO HER.
\nAT THE END OF POEM, ROMMI HANDS OUT BLACK\/DARK CRAYONS, ONE TO RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBERS AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO WRITE ON THE LINING PAPER IN RESPONSE TO THE WORDS SHE HAS WRITTEN ON THE PAPER. SHE STANDS AMONGST THEM A BIT LONGER THAN NECESSARY.
\nDAVE CONTINUES TO PLAY. ROMMI MOVES AWAY FROM TABLE AND SWAPS HEADPHONES. ROMMI TAKES THE MEGAPHONE AND MARCHES INTO NEXT GALLERY SPACE. <\/p>\n


\n4. FARROW AND BALL STRIPE*: A REPRISE (SOLO)<\/strong>
\n(INSPIRED BY VIRGIL MARTI\u2019S \u201cBULLIES\u201d, 1992-1997)
\nBroad Stripe
\nBlock Print Stripe
\nChromatic Stripe
\nDrab.<\/p>\n

Plain Stripe
\nTented Stripe
\nCloset Stripe
\nDrag. <\/p>\n

* The words of the poem are exact titles and taken from the 2018 range of Farrow and Ball wallpapers.<\/p>\n

ROMMI HANDS MEGAPHONE TO VOLUNTEER, THEN SETTLES WITHIN THE FRAME OF THE NEXT WALLPAPER<\/p>\n


\n5. NOTE FOR THE LUMINARIES OF THE SCHOOL YEAR BOOK<\/strong>
\n(INSPIRED BY VIRGIL MARTI\u2019S \u201cBULLIES\u201d 1992-1997)
\n“A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it…It\u2019s a community space. It\u2019s a place of safety, a haven from the world.” \u2014 Neil Gaiman.
\nit took ten years after playground taunts;
\nfistfuls of shadow; morning\u2019s glint
\non the jagged edge of a stolen pint of milk \u2013<\/p>\n

for time and distance to offer their philosophies,
\na place where words might understand me differently. <\/p>\n

My finger tracing shelves marked A: Auden,
\nB, Baldwin, C, Colette;
\nthen words rose to the surface: haunt, hunt, hurt. <\/p>\n

Yet trust urged me to move further on
\nthrough quiet rooms of reflection:
\npast safety, sanctuary, searching, til the name
\nSartre and: \u201cfreedom is what you do with what\u2019s been done to you.\u201d <\/p>\n

It took ten years more to reach the letter W:
\n(ROMMI MOVES OUT OF THE FRAME OF THE WALLPAPER)
\nWalker, Waugh, Wilde – and \u201ceach man kills
\nthe thing he loves\u201d or tries…) <\/p>\n

I decide to take the Year Book
\nfrom a dusty basement shelf
\nand find the page where you reside <\/p>\n

eyes (or shame) hidden by shades. I take paper,
\nglitter, pen, glue, scissors,
\nrecast you into rightful rainbow light, <\/p>\n

your high cheekbones almost sharp
\nenough to cut your own stereotypes,
\nyour face, in this light, revealing an unsaid
\nsomething – a longing, you could never name. <\/p>\n


\n6. MONEY, MISSISSIPPI: 1955<\/strong> <\/p>\n

(INSPIRED BY THE LIFE AND STORY OF EMMETT TILL, THE ORATORY OF MAMIE TILL-MOBLEY AND A RESPONSE TO ROBERT GOBER\u2019S HANGING MAN\/SLEEPING MAN (1989) AND CATH KIDSTON\u2019S COWBOY WALLPAPER (2018)<\/p>\n

Journalist<\/strong>: \u201cDo you have any evidence bearing on this case?\u201d<\/em>
\nMamie Till-Mobley<\/strong>: \u201cI do know that this is my son.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

\u201cWhite supremacist ideology is based first and foremost on the degradation of black bodies in order to control them. One of the best ways to instil fear in people is to terrorize them. Yet this fear is best sustained by convincing them that their bodies are ugly, their intellect is inherently underdeveloped, their culture is less civilized, and their future warrants less concern than that of other peoples.\u201d<\/em> Cornell West. 1994. Race Matters. New York: Vintage Books Edition, p.122<\/p>\n

Not bodies\u2026 Not body\u2026
\nWrite: my black-skinned, light-eyed son.
\nBorn breech. Head heavenward.
\nFeet facing south. <\/p>\n

Chicago-tongued. Quick-
\nquipped; more than a John Doe
\nin a notebook-sketch, kept
\nby policemen as evidence
\nof what injustice won\u2019t admit. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell me we walked
\nall the way from Jubilee
\nthrough Jim Crow
\nto arrive at the place <\/p>\n

where a boy can still enter
\na store with a nickel
\nfor candy and leave
\nwith the dust of his
\nname in a small paper bag. <\/p>\n

Let me tell you:
\n\u201cwhat happens to any of us,
\nanywhere in the world,
\nhad better be the business of us all.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

Write this: I chose an open casket,
\nto \u201clet the people see what I\u2019ve seen<\/em> [\u2026]\u201d
\nnot as a title for a painting. <\/p>\n

Write this: a painter\u2019s brush
\nwill never author features
\nas a mother\u2019s body does. <\/p>\n

Write this: Till – our name – the hinge
\nof a word you\u2019ll need
\nto measure the distance between
\nwhat is and what should be. <\/p>\n

Write this: I will tell the story of my son\u2019s body,
\nand if Law still sleeps, I\u2019ll speak
\nuntil the Tallahatchie coursing through
\nits dreams. <\/p>\n

ROMMI JOINS THE AUDIENCE AND IS LOOKING AT THE WALLPAPER WITH THEM.<\/p>\n

Write this down: my son\u2019s dreams,
\nbigger than the hoop
\nof John Wayne\u2019s Hollywood lasso.<\/p>\n

DAVE STOPS PLAYING JUST BEFORE THE WORDS: \u2018John Wayne\u2019s Hollywood lasso.\u2019<\/p>\n

END.<\/p>\n

by Rommi Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rommi Smith was commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival and The Whitworth to create a poetic response to the Bodies of Colour: Breaking with Stereotypes in the Wallpaper Collection exhibition. The resulting script, a collaboration between poet, playwright and performer Rommi Smith, musician and composer Dave Evans and performance director Sonia Hughes was performed at The Whitworth on Thursday 18 October as part of the 2018 Manchester Literature Festival.<\/p>\n

Manchester Literature Festival
\nThe Department Store
\n5 Oak Street
\nManchester
\nM4 5JD
\nwww.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk <\/a>
\nCopyright \u00a9 Rommi Smith (words) Paul Burrows (photography) 2018<\/p>\n

Manchester Literature Festival would like to thank The Whitworth, Arts Council England and Manchester City Council for their generous support.<\/p>\n

Note on photography<\/strong>
\nThe following artworks are featured in the background of the photographs:<\/p>\n

(Photo 1 and 6)
\nNiki de Saint Phalle<\/strong> (artist) 1930 \u2013 2002
\nMarburger Tapetenfabrik J.B Shaefer GMBH and Co KG<\/strong> (manufacturer) est. 1845
\nNana<\/strong> 1972
\nScreen printed
\nMade in Germany
\nPresented to the Whitworth by Walter Eitel of Marburger Tapetenkfabrik in 1986
\nw. 1986.3 the Whitworth, the University of Manchester
\n\u00a9Niki de Saint Phalle <\/p>\n

(Photo 3)
\nSonia Boyce<\/strong> (artist) b. 1962
\nDevotional Wallpaper, 2008
\nHand screen printed
\nMade in England
\nPurchased from Sonia Boyce in 2009
\nw.2009.48.1 the Whitworth, the University of Manchester
\n\u00a9Sonia Boyce<\/p>\n

(Photo 4)
\nDufour et Cie<\/strong> (manufacturer) 1804-65
\nVues de L\u2019Inde<\/strong> (Paysage Indien) before 1815
\n9 of 25 panels (4,6,7-12 and 14)
\nHand block printed wallpaper
\nMade in France
\nPresented by the Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd. In 1967
\nw.1967.176.1 the Whitworth, the University of Manchester
\n\u00a9the Whitworth, the University of Manchester <\/p>\n

(Photo 7)
\nVirgil Marti<\/strong> (artist) b. 1962
\nBullies<\/strong> 1992-97
\nHand screen printed wallpaper with fluorescent ink and rayon flock on Tyvek
\nPurchased in 2010
\nw. 2010.1.1 the Whitworth, the University of Manchester
\n\u00a9Virgil Marti<\/p>\n

(Photo 8)
\nRobert Gober<\/strong> (artist) b.1954
\nNorton Blumenthal Inc.<\/strong> (manufacturer)
\nHanging Man\/Sleeping Man<\/strong>
\nHand screen printed wallpaper made in the United States of America
\nPurchased from Robert Gober Studio in 2009
\nw. 2009.12.1
\n\u00a9 Robert Gober <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Rommi is the inaugural British Parliamentary Writer in Residence and inaugural Poet in Residence for Keats House. John Barnard Scholar at the University of Leeds, she is also a Visiting Scholar at City University New York (CUNY). Rommi has presented original work at The Royal Academy, Segal Theatre, New York, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem and her performance at Schwerner Writers\u2019 Series in New York was at the invitation of Tyehimba Jess, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry. Her academic writing is due for publication by New York University Press in 2019. She is a recipient of an Arts Council England Award.","url":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?author=268"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2PuXo-2Br","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10009"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10031,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions\/10031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}