Motiroti was a
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based organisation which used the arts to achieve intercultural innovation. Since the mid-1990s the company made internationally acclaimed and award-winning art that transformed relationships between people, communities and spaces. motiroti worked at the forefront of ever-changing global social realities, challenging and teasing perceptions of artists, institutions and audiences alike.
Working with a range of collaborators within visual and live art, new technology and socially engaged practice, motiroti made public art with the public itself being central to the making and shaping of the work, using emerging social technologies to incorporate multiple perspectives within artworks. The company fostered the development of a lifelong learning culture, with learning and art production part of the same process, and offered potent opportunities to inspire and develop a dynamic exchange between artists and communities.
History
Motiroti means 'fat bread' in Urdu, and the company took its name from one of its earliest projects, ''Moti Roti Puttli Chunni'' - a playful examination of gender stereotypes, presented as live Bollywood musical theatre in east London. Co-founded by artists Ali Zaidi and
Keith Khan, motiroti was officially registered as a charity in 1996, although the pair had worked together since the late 1980s. Khan left the company in 2004 to become CEO of the
Rich Mix Cultural Foundation
Rich Mix is a charity that offers cinema and cross-arts centre that is located in the East End of London, located in Shoreditch in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, England. Once a vast leather factory, 62,000-square-foot building was ...
. Ali Zaidi continued as the sole Artistic Director until 2012, when he left to establish his own freelance practice under the name of Ali Zaidi Arts. motiroti was thereafter led by Executive Director Tim Jones, who joined the company in 2010, and following its closure operates as an independent consultant and workshop designer, advising on the development of enterprise opportunities and digital capacity in the culture sector.
Details of motiroti projects, from the early 1990s onwards, can be viewed onlin
here A catalogued archive of its work from the late 1980s up to 2005 is owned by Future Histories, the UK's first dedicated repository for African, Asian and Caribbean performing arts, and its contents can be viewe
here
motiroti presented works in many countries, at venues such as
Arnolfini Gallery
Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
, Bristol;
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
, London; Bonn Biennale;
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.
BAM was chartered in 18 ...
;
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
;
Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota;
Greenwich Theatre
Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.
Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Ri ...
; Harbour Front Centre, Toronto; Houston International Festival;
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...
, London;
Ikon Gallery
The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...
, Birmingham; It's Queer Up North, Manchester; Kannonhallen, Denmark;
Krannert Center, Illinois; La Ferme du Buisson, France; Leeds Mela; London International Festival of Theatre; Lille 3000;
Melbourne Festival
Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...
;
Midlands Arts Centre
MAC (stylized as mac; formerly and legally Midlands Arts Centre) is a non-profit arts centre situated in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was established in 1962 and is registered as an educational charity which hosts art e ...
;
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
;
Museum of London
London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...
;
National College of Arts
The National College of Arts (colloquially known as NCA) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Overview
The National College of Arts – Federally Chartered Institute, is the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second ...
,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
; National Gallery, Cape Town; National Theatre, Islamabad;
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
, London; New Art Gallery, Walsall; New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas;
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean Carnival event that has taken place in London since 1966 ;
Oval House Theatre
Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW. It closed in 2020, and moved to Brixton, becoming the Brixton House theatre (locate ...
, London;
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...
, London;
REDCAT
Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts center for innovative visual, performing and media arts in downtown Los Angeles, California, located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. Named for ...
, Los Angeles; Romaeuropa Festival, Italy;
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
, London;
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
, London;
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...
, London;
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
with IGB, London;
Royal National Theatre
The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
, London;
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
, London;
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
, London; Sibikwa Theatre, Johannesburg;
Singapore Arts Festival
Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. It is organised bArts House Limitedfor the National Arts Council Singapore, National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch ...
; Tamaseel Theatre, Lahore;
Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool is an art gallery in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The gallery was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporatio ...
;
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
;
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Stratford East (formerly known as Theatre Royal Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with di ...
; Tramway Theatre, Glasgow;
V&A;
Warwick Arts Centre
Warwick Arts Centre is a multi-venue arts complex at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. It attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to over 3,000 individual events embracing all types of theatre and performance, contemporary and ...
;
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 ...
;
Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York.
Notable productions
Multiwalks(2013–14) – a suite of artist-led creative walks through 3 city neighbourhoods (Vauxhall and Waterloo in London, England; Santa Croce in Reggio Emilia, Italy; Gronland and Bjorvika in Oslo, Norway). Developed by motiroti in partnership wit
Do Tank StudiosMondinsiemean
Oslo Intercultural Museum Multiwalks is a free mobile app available o
iOSan
Google Play
Potluck: Chicago(2011-2012) - a residency process at Columbia College Chicago which drew upon art, food, design, urban planning, technology and social enterprise to offer a toolbox for making 'The Local' more vibrant.
Streets of Gold(2012)- An installation at the Museum of London. Creatively directed by artist Daniel Saul, Streets of Gold offered a fresh vision of London through migrant eyes, and a reminder that cities are built on the dreams of successive newcomers.
Journeys of Love and More Love(2009-2011) - A live film and media installation with edible interludes, co-production wit
Napoli Teatro Festival Italia performed in Italian. Later shown at Lilian Baylis at Sadlers Wells in London in 2010. Presented at Art House withi
Melbourne Festivalin October 2011 and at the National Museum of Singapore for its last iteration.
*
360°' (2007–2010) – Bringing to light a rounded contemporary picture of the cultural dynamics between Britain, India and Pakistan. The three-year programme consists o
60x60 Secs three international Arts Residency Labs and a new collaborative work.
* Priceless (2006) ''Priceless'' brought together high-profile art and science institutions together. A multi-site large-scale project involving video and graphic installations, road-shows, mobile units, guided tours to secret archives and major launch event in and around Exhibition Road. Commissioned by the
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...
,
Platform for Art
Art on the Underground, previously called ''Platform for Art'', is Transport for London's (TfL) contemporary public art programme. It commissions permanent and temporary artworks for London Underground, as well as commissioning artists to create ...
and
The Exhibition Road Cultural Group (
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
,
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
,
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
and
V&A,
Imperial College London
Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
, and
Goethe-Institut London). To date one of the most ambitious projects of the company.
*
Alladeen' (2002–2005) – A co-production with The Builders Association which weaved between the ancient legend of
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
from ''1001 nights'' and identity-blurring phenomena found in the teeming metropolises of
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, London and New York.
* ''Celebration Commonwealth'' (2002) – A parade highlighting the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
and its contribution of peoples and cultures to the United Kingdom for
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...
's
Golden Jubilee Weekend
The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration held in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50 years as ...
.
* ''One Night'' (1997) – A piece of visual theatre exploring the shifts between Indian
courtesan
A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
History
In European feudal society, the co ...
culture, first-generation
British Asian
British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...
s and contemporary student life in the United Kingdom.
* ''Wigs of Wonderment'' (1995–1999) – A performance installation challenging the notions of beauty, objectification and the 'exotic' in
Western culture
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
.
* ''Maa'' (1995) – An audacious mix of odd mythic creatures, melodrama, snatches of film, towering carnival costumes and scratch animation.
* ''The Seed The Root'' (1995) – A series of site-specific installations and performances exploring gender and cultural imbalances, created in collaboration with local businesses in
Brick Lane
Brick Lane () is a street in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, mo ...
and international and British artists.
* ''Moti Roti, Puttli Chunni'' (1993–1994) – The United Kingdom's first
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
musical. Winner of Time Out Performance Award
* ''Flying Costumes, Floating Tombs'' (1991) – An extravagant spectacle inspired by the Hosay Festival in
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
. Winner of Time Out Performance Award.
Notable collaborators
Mina Anwar
Mina Mumtaz Anwar (born 20 September 1969) is a British actress. She is best known for her roles as Constable Maggie Habib in '' The Thin Blue Line'' and Gita Chandra in ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''.
Early life
Anwar was born to a family of P ...
,
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Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jamila Massey, Robin Rimbaud, Sunetra Sarker, Shri (musician), Shri, Jasmine Simhalan, Talvin Singh, Nina Wadia,
Benjamin Zephaniah. Nila Madhab Panda,
Shalalae Jamil,
Daniel Saul.
References
External links on the UK web archive
summary archive of Motiroti's workwebsite for Alladeen motiroti's OBIE award-winning multiplatform collaboration with the Builders' Association;
360° website including links to sixty one-minute films created in India, Pakistan and the UK as the 60x60Secs project.
{{Authority control
English artist groups and collectives
British contemporary artists