In the face of crisis, uncertain futures, and continued social injustice- there were glimmers of hope and new imaginings. We sought the oracle and took to the archives looking for perspective.

From vaults across the land, sepia-stained reels of celluloid have been dusted off, and film footage from across the years crackled to life for us to play with. To sift through the tea leaves and imagine our shared future, within the context of Covid lockdowns, we presented some of the UK’s freshest artists giving their take on connection, loss, and community.

From opera and dance, to circus, comedy and spoken word, each artist was invited by Compass Presents to create a bespoke work in response to our archive film, uncovering hidden stories and presenting their unique vision of the future.

Are you interested in how we can curate your archive footage, and in how it can be reinterpreted through different artistic mediums? Get in touch: [email protected]

Watch The Film

Below is our original film, made entirely of archive footage, and the creative muse for a series of spine tingling live performances that took place throughout October and November, 2020.

Watch The Performances

Each week throughout October and November, a different artist responded to the archive film above in their chosen medium. Originally streamed each Thursday evening over the course of the two months, their performances are now available to watch here via the links below.

Jonathan Luke Baker
Exploring feelings of isolation, nostalgia and optimism, world-class contemporary dance artist Joanthon Luke Baker presents his interpretation of the archive footage, featuring forsaken locations, hidden in plain sight in the central canals and riverways of London.
Watch Their Performance
Hollbeck, Still
Fusing thick analog electronic sound with unique captures of traditional instrumental tones Holbeck, Still’s response goes beyond a traditional score in an intricate and fascinating process of sound manipulation, overlaid projections and synthesised responses.
Watch Their Performance
Mengqi He
Dolly Mengqi He is a performance and calligraphy artist from Wuhan, China living and working in London. Inspired by footage evoking the cycles of human history, Dolly’s performance makes a link between such repetitions and the cycle of rebirth in Buddhist philosophy.
Watch Their Performance
Libby Rodliffe
Libby Rodliffe is a certified funny bones: dry, deadpan and dead funny. Look no further for some fresh takes on the signs of our times as she introduces a few characters she’s met on her travels around the UK, and through the prism of our archive footage.
Watch Their Performance
NuNu Theatre
Nu Nu Theatre bring their trademark abstraction, humour and outsider perspective to the archive, presenting a new lens through which to consider aspects of our original film. With a playfully captivating sound design and bread, a symbol of connection, taking centre stage this video work is both unsettling and heartwarming.
Watch Their Performance

Alastair White & Clara Kanter
From the glass panes of screens, to border-seas, to the seal of our own bodies, how do we transcend the divisions by which we define ourselves? A new cantata in Scots and Yiddish – by composer Alastair White and mezzo-soprano Clara Kanter – explores the physical realities of language in our increasingly virtual world.

Watch Their Performance
Sarah Jane Dobbs
Filmed on Hendon Beach in her home of Sunderland, against the backdrop of the ocean, aerialist Sarah Jane Dobbs brings a visceral response to the archive. Footage depicting the recent Black Lives Matter protests found resonance in connected forms of prejudice, and embodiment in a very different approach to aerial movement.
Watch Their Performance
Ciarán Hodgers
Bringing the filmmaker-artist conversation full circle is Drogheda–born, multi-award winning poet Ciarán Hodgers. His prophetic spoken-word response generated a final re-edit of the original film to close the project. Settle in for a journey through luscious tones to places of inspiration, warning, wonder and hope.
Watch Their Performance