UWL lecturer Serena Braida performs at Miu Miu Literary Club launch event in Milan
Intro
Serena Braida, Lecturer in Voice at University of West London, recently performed at the inaugural Miu Miu Literary Club in Milan. Titled ‘Writing Life’, the event was a new venture for the fashion house, reflecting on the lives of women past and present as expressed through the written word.
Article body
The Miu Miu Literary Club consisted of two days of panel conversations, live performances and entertainment. Discussions also focused on the power of storytelling through two books by 20th century Italian women writers - ‘A Woman’ by Sibilla Aleramo - and ‘Forbidden Notebook’ by Alba De Céspedes.
Serena lectures on Performing Arts courses at UWL’s London College of Music (LCM). She is also a performer and writer. Commissioned for the event, her experimental piece ‘She's Really Going Places’ was a live, poetic (mis)narration of iconic scenes from the movie The Human Voice (1966), originally a monologue of a woman talking on the phone with her long-term lover.
Serena developed her piece through the technique of neo-benshi, or movietelling, which means writing an alternative script for what is happening on screen. A mini story in three parts, she explored how to be a woman artist and carve out the resolve to support a creative life.
Stripping the familiar of its authority and layering onto it themes of female agency, ambition and friendship, the experimental narrative creates a parallel, alternative character busy with private machinations, public persona, professional disappointments and the reshaping of hope,”
explains Serena.
Other participants at the event included writers Sheila Heti, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lou Stoppard and Zing Tsjeng, actor Bel Powley and musician Aziya.
It was an amazing opportunity. To be on the same lineup as Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks was very special.”
says Serena.
Related news
-
Ealing Wind Orchestra to perform pieces by LCM students at upcoming concert
Two composition students have participated in a year-long residency with the Ealing Wind Orchestra which will culminate with the premiere of their new pieces at the concert.
-
LCM collaborate with The Poppy Factory on music-making project for veterans
The project forms part of a London-wide initiative, Thriving Together, that aims to support veterans in their transition to civilian life.
-
UWL partners with Soho Sound to manufacture and distribute invention by professor and PhD student
First developed through the Knowledge Exchange Seed Fund scheme, the MIDI_Fader_One is the latest Technology Transfer case study for UWL.
