After months of planning, The Kitchen Table Collective, who previously gave us, 1x Tab Breakfast, Poached Egg, no mushroom 1x sides, sausage: New Stories from the Tabernacle, have expressed a touching and thought-provoking exhibition through the eyes of immigrants.  The incredibly diverse quintet of artists, including Emma Mudgway, Claire Tipy and Alexia Villard, successfully gave us a very personal look at the alien experience in the UK through their art.  ‘We Are’ can be seen today at The Ugly Duck Gallery at 47-49 Tanner Street in Tower Bridge.

We are here until the afternoon, collecting great thoughts and insights to see what it feels like to be an immigrant.

We’re going in.

Claire Tipy and Sarah Tilotta’s collaboration, ‘Where Do You Think I Was Born‘, seen in motion. Each actor contributed their own heart-felt monologue and drew us totally in.

Alexia Villard captures (in a self-portrait), the very personal expressions and emotions of a couple’s interaction, affected by the immigration system.

Emma Mudgway’s portraits use a combination of detail and information through angles to describe each individual’s geographical journey and plight to get to the UK.

The Immigrant’s journey mapped by Emma Mudgway.

The show is an excellent combination of thoughts, words, comedy and frustrations centred around a word that quite accidentally causes our culture to identify with the world around it.

After laughing and comparing my own past experiences of feeling inadequate, in the face of a growing judgmental society and my questionable potential and contribution,  I felt well and truly represented, connecting to each separate piece of work.

I can say in truth that my only regret is that this production was not witnessed by a preponderant crowd of politicians in the (even more dramatic) theater of 10 Downing Street.

In a sentence, this was total satisfaction on all fronts, gratifying of every raw emotion a person would hope to feel plus more in a customised loft setting. British; No such thing.

The incredible cast–Sam Blake, Niamh Branigan, Siobhan Cha Cha, Madeline Cunningham, Elizabeth Lloyd Raynes, Isambard Rawbone, Zheng Xi Yong with Claire Tipy.

For more  information and forthcoming events look for The Kitchen Table Collective.

By Angel Lewis