For May’s Digbeth First Friday, we are delighted to present the first iteration of ‘HORSES!’, a special event co-curated with artist, educator, and equestrian Linda Stupart and Flatpack Festival at Grand Union. Reflecting Grand Union’s social and environmental work, these events explore the therapeutic connections between the urban landscapes and the power of equine energy.
Linda, Flatpack, and Grand Union come together to present ‘HORSES!’ – an evening of film screenings and performance exploring representations of horses in relation to class, queerness, anti-colonial contexts and filmic materialities.
‘HORSES!’ is a new film/project by Linda Stupart. There is a millennia-long relationship between humans and horses, which has been documented throughout the history of art, literature, and storytelling. These documents show histories of agriculture; of violent domination of land via hunting scenes; fantasies of colonialism and countless historical statues of male war heroes astride seething mounts, not to mention the highly gendered and racialised category of the ‘Western’ in cinema. However, horse stories are also famously ‘stories for girls’; complicated romances in which girls get to be the main characters; queer stories, and ultimately stories of care and desire.
As well as rich symbols, real, present horse-human relationships are particular in their requirement for collaboration and physical intimacy across complex power relationships due to the relative size of horses; their reliance on human care; and the position of the human rider around and astride the horse in both competitive and leisure horse-riding, which might destabilise ontological differences between human and animal.
‘HORSES!’ is a new experimental 16mm film and performance event building on Stupart’s long-term research into horse-human relationship. The DIY film is comprised of found 16mm footage and 16mm documentation of the artist’s earlier performances with horses: images are destroyed; shifted and made malleable via embodied, dirty, imprecise and often abject interventions. The performance builds on their previous intervention into the geography and history of the Grand Union Canal.
Projectionist and 16mm documentation by James Holcombe.
Horse provided by Nicole Sherwood.
Alongside Linda’s work we will be screening ‘Stepney Western’ (2025) by artist and filmmaker Harry Lawson, an experimental documentary made with a group of young inner city horse riders from Stepney Bank Stables in Newcastle. It is loosely centred on their Alternative Provision programme – a unique alternative for teenagers who struggle in mainstream education settings.
About the Artists
Linda StupartOpen accordion
Dr Linda Stupart is an artist, writer, equestrian, and educator from Cape Town, South Africa currently living in Birmingham, UK.
Stupart’s recent work thinks through climate change, embodiment, abjection and the transgression of borders. Recently, they have performed as and on top of icebergs in the Arctic Circle (2019); immersed in the River Cole in Birmingham (2021 – 2023); balanced on a precarious log in the Danube (2024) and floating on top of a home-made raft on the Birmingham Grand Union Canal (2024).
Harry LawsonOpen accordion
Harry Lawson (b. 1994) is an artist and documentary filmmaker from Sunderland. He lives and works in Newcastle. His approach is deeply collaborative, prioritising long-term engagement with participants. Projects develop slowly, often over several years embedded within a community. Through film, installation and public art, Lawson’s work focuses on how communities are seen and how they see themselves.
He has been supported by BFI Doc Society, Arts Council England, and Wellcome Trust, and featured in publications such as The Guardian, Art Monthly, e-flux, British Journal of Photography, The Face, and The Quietus. Recent screenings and exhibitions include GSFF (Glasgow), NCA (Newcastle), BFMAF (Berwick), Chemist Gallery (London), Zumzeig (Barcelona) and Floating (Berlin).
Access Information:
All films will be captioned or subtitled.
This event is free and there is no need to book.
Grand Union is located up two flights of stairs with no lift access.
Access to the horse will be at ground level outside.
Expect mixed lighting and sound levels within the space.
There is a spacious gender neutral bathroom on site with no mobility aids.
There will be a pay bar serving alcoholic and soft drinks.
Exact timings for the evening will be shared here in due course.
There will be masks and hand sanitiser at the entrance to Grand Union available for your use.
Photography will be taking place on site for documentation purposes and these images may be used on our social media, website, in reporting, and other places.
Please get in touch via email at info@grand-union.org.uk or phone at 0121 643 9079 for any questions or to discuss access further.
