Rhea Storr, Subjects of State, Labours of Love (2025), film still. Courtesy of the artist.
When: 17 – 19 July 2025, 10AM–6PM
Where: Gallery 2
Permeating within Gallery 2 during the exhibition Small Mercies is an evolving and ‘trickling’ installation of moving image from Matthew Arthur Williams and others. Between 3 - 5 and 17 - 19 July, you can see Rhea Storr’s new film, Subjects of State, Labours of Love (2025).
Subjects of State, Labours of Love is a two-chapter film by acclaimed artist Rhea Storr. Shot on 16mm film, the work at Primary is presented single-screen and captures the shared joys, celebrations, struggles, oppressions and complexities experienced by Caribbean heritage communities.
The first chapter captures a present-day discussion among key people involved in Black/Caribbean community organising during the 1980s through to the present day in Wolverhampton. This was a turbulent time marked by race riots in major British cities, the brutal policing of Black communities and the rise of far-right groups like the National Front. Against this backdrop, Black/Caribbean organisers provided vital community spaces at a time when Black people faced widespread discrimination and inequality in education, housing, and the job market. In the conversation, the members share their experiences of organising, the challenges they encountered (particularly related to British politician Enoch Powell’s lasting racist rhetoric), and the joys of solidarity and community.
The second chapter of the film is an observational portrait of present-day Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association, SADACCA. The work highlights how SADACCA, which used to be a manufacturing site, now serves as a valuable resource for the community and a central part of the social fabric of the city. This chapter also looks at the importance of archiving from the perspective of what future generations of Black people living in the UK might need, and how their changing position in UK society influences the viability of the space.
Subjects of State, Labours of Love is commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, Site Gallery and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. The commission and its acquisition by Wolverhampton Art Gallery are made possible with Art Fund support. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Artist Biography:
Rhea Storr explores Black and mixed-race cultural representation with an interest in the in-between, the culturally ineffable, translation, format and aesthetics. Her work is often concerned with Caribbean diaspora in the UK. This includes an interest in representing Black subjects in rural spaces and the politics of masquerade. Frequently working in photochemical film practices, Rhea Storr considers counter-cultural ways of producing moving-image. She is currently a PhD researcher at Goldsmiths focusing on Black experimental filmmakers and the use of 16mm film and is a former co-director of a filmmaker’s co-operative ‘not nowhere’.
Selected exhibitions/screenings include: BFI London Film Festival, New York Film Festival, CPH:DOX, Blackstar Festival, Hamburg International Short Film Festival, European Media Art Festival, Museum of African American History and Culture, Somerset House, Whitechapel Gallery and Lisson Gallery. She is the winner of the Aesthetica Art Prize 2020, Louis Le Prince Experimental Film Prize and won the Royal Photographic Society’s Award for Creative Contribution to Art in Moving Image 2023.
