About Ancestories
Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you end up here? A multi-art Virtual Reality exhibition inspired by the wonderful city and people of Derby. Showcasing the work of 15 participants as they reveal their journey of DNA discoveries exploring their cultural heritage that has inspired creative writing, art, music, mask making, and performance.
The Project and Exhibition
Ancestories is a participatory art project originally conceived by Paul Broesmith as part of Derby CAN. Over nine months, 15 volunteers from different communities across Derby and Derbyshire developed art and live performance inspired by their own ancestral DNA, genealogy, and introspective exploration. This journey saw the group work with professional artists and performers including, musicians, songwriters, dance choreographers, fight choreographers, mask makers, theatre-makers, and digital artists.
Their journey was guided by questions; Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you get here? What impact has Derby had on you and have you had on Derby? The work in this exhibition is their response to those questions and the enlightenment they found on their journey of ancestral DNA discovery. So come along, don the VR goggles, and enter a network of caves to discover these artistic responses to ancestral DNA.
The Team
Paul Broesmith
Paul truly embraces the idea of being a multi-hyphenate, which is a posh way of saying he wears many hats, but predominantly he is a theatre-maker, how he gets there, varies. Ultimately, Paul gets stuff done and motivates others to do the same as demonstrated by his track record of almost 50 productions, events, and experiences overseen. Paul is passionate about the arts, firmly believes in the STEAM concept, wants to sing about unsung heroes, but also gives them the courage to use their own voices, and enjoys co-creating in community and professional settings.
Paul is influenced by many topics and areas with qualifications ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate via professional diplomas and countless hours of CPD in a range of subjects including; Acting, Behaviour, Event Management, Hoplology, Leadership and Management, Producing, Teaching, Therapies (inc arts, drama, CBT and hypnosis), plus wherever the projects lead him including anthropology, biology, ethology, geography, and history.
Paul is also a keen martial artist and stage and screen combat practitioner. He holds several qualifications in these areas and his fight work has been seen on TV and in live performance.
Paul's work is often interdisciplinary and he loves to utilise whatever is needed within his toolbag project by project, whilst also learning new skills himself.
Paul is a member of the Derby Creative Arts Network, a Fellow of the Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences, and a Committee Member of the United Kingdom Glima Federation.
James Filby
James came to work with Paul on Ancestories after having been a participant in the first Ancestories project (some of his work can be seen in the exhibition). After the completion of the first session, Paul wanted advice on ways of presenting the mixed-media output of the project on a digital platform, when James asked: ‘Wouldn't it be cool if we did this in VR?’ and from this idea the partnership was born.
James is a computer programmer and digital artist with over two decades of experience. He has worked with some of the worlds largest companies creating truly innovative and cutting edge experiences that often straddle the line between the digital and physical.
James is highly passionate about the potential of Virtual Reality, and particularly about bringing his enthusiams for the media to an audience who might not otherwise engage with it. With Ancestories, he is interested in the intersection between technology and phyisical experience, and in using technology to enhance and enrich the output of art projects beyond the limitations of a traditional exhibition space and, additionally, using technology in surprising ways to create truly experiential digital events.
hello@ancestories.org.uk