Under My Skin is a collaboration between Spike Island, Rising Arts Agency and Integrate UK in response to Imran Perretta’s exhibition the destructors.

Eleven young adults from Bristol were invited to take part in a series of conversations and film-focused workshops, exploring the themes of identity and marginalisation present in the exhibition. Participants were provided with the opportunity to explore their own personal testimonies, develop filmic, photographic and audio skills and create a series of short films from this exploratory process to be presented at Spike Island.

Shot on location in North Bristol, the resulting work ‘Under My Skin‘ is a triptych with a strong focus on the identity of young women as a counterpoint to Perretta’s film the destructors. It explores ideas of vulnerability and self-love, creating intimate portraits of personal experiences through spoken and visual poetry.

Workshop leaders Roseanna Dias (Rising) and Shamil Ahmed (Integrate UK) focused on creating a welcoming and inclusive space, where participants were able to generate content through collaborative activities. All of these were linked to ideas about the body, the senses and the complexity of human experience.