The Pangolin Project

The Pangolin Project was a hybrid film and live-performance project exploring how the pandemic changed people, society and the world. Mama Quilla commissioned new and experienced writers and artists to create short films reflecting on the pandemic, together with new interactive material for live performance. Other artists developed live responses to films they had made during the pandemic.

Alongside this work, Kay Adshead led the Extreme Close Up Community Film Workshops at Alexandra Palace. Participants created intimate portrait-format films (less than 60 seconds duration) responding to the question How the Pandemic Changed Me. These deliberately contrasted with the wider perspective of the commissioned films, bringing personal and political experiences of the pandemic into dialogue.

Adshead curated the films into a single theatrical event, adding newly devised ensemble material, an introduction and an ending. Film, live performance, music and audience interaction were brought together in the Creativity Pavilion at Alexandra Palace. The title used the pangolin as a symbol of vulnerability and as a way of looking beyond COVID itself to wider questions about how society treats the vulnerable. The project also sought to give substantial creative space to older women artists and performers.

Sea Glass, a 4-minute film made for the Pangolin Project describes one woman's response to isolation.

Pangolia, an experimental film bricolage reflecting on the challenges of living through difficult time, was created from numerous compoThe Pangolin Project by Kay Adshead and Dana Alexandra.

The project was funded by Arts Council England.