Thigh House by Rosa Uddoh | Exhibition

Exhibition

10 - 13 May 2018

'Thigh House' by Rosa Uddoh

For London Craft Week 2018, Rosa presents 'Thigh House' at Sarabande: The Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation.

‘Thigh House’ is an installation made from women and non-binary people’s bodies, based on a Cuban myth that it was the role of black female slaves to mould roof- tiles on their thighs, in order to shelter colonial houses. Uddoh will be bringing this installation to life in the Sarabande Main Space as a working exhibition. Audiences will have the opportunity to see the structure, the tiles that are drying and a collection of video, sound and photography in accompaniment of the piece. As the tiles dry and are then fired in the kiln, Rosa will add each tile to the structure to create a complete roof.

Prior to the exhibition, Rosa ran two thigh-tile workshops where attendees used their own thighs as moulds to create clay tiles that will then be presented together on the structure. Together, participants learned to make terracotta tiles by moulding clay to the shape of their thighs in a social space where the act of making a functioning shelter exists, alongside the chance to meet and talk while the clay dries. The more thighs involved, the more the roof grows. The workshop, open to black and brown women and those who identify as non-binary only, emphasised an atmosphere of self-care and healing through learning our body's inherent capabilities and productive capacity, whilst also engaging with lost and traumatic histories.