omos

Our Movement, Our Story

 

OMOS is a moving image and performance project that pays homage to the history of Black people featuring in performances in the 16th century royal court, and celebrates Black performance today. Directed by Rhys Hollis with Andrea Baker, Divine Tasinda, Kheanna Walker. Produced by Pollyanna.​

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https://pollyanna.org.uk/OMOS

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OMOS (2022) by Rhys Hollis, Andrea Baker, Divine Tasinda, Kheanna Walker.
Directed by Rhys Hollis. Produced by Pollyanna

OMOS is a moving image and performance project that pays homage to the history of Black people featuring in performances in the 16th century royal court, and celebrates Black performance today. OMOS is filmed in Puck’s Glen and Stirling Castle and created collaboratively by a group of award-winning artists; cabaret performer Rhys Hollis (also known as Rhys’ Pieces), mezzo soprano Andrea Baker, dancer Divine Tasinda and pole artist Kheanna Walker. The film partly follows the format of queer cabaret and each artist has used their unique perspective to create a solo performance for the film.

 

OMOS is inspired by connections between Puck’s Glen, Stirling Castle and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is also connected to a historical performance given to King James VI of Scotland. At Stirling Castle in 1594, a feared lion was replaced by an unnamed Black man, who pulled a chariot through the castle’s Great Hall. He was one of a number of Black people who appeared in performances at the Scottish court throughout Scottish history. This film is an homage to those people and a celebration of Black performance in Scotland today.

 

The name OMOS was originally an acronym for the phrase ‘O monstrous! O strange!’, a quote from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As the project developed, this phrase has been morphed to stand for ‘Our Movement, Our Stories’. The film has an ambiguous title of solely OMOS.

In OMOS, the artists occupy space as they both draw on the past and look to the future.