Current Projects

Two crossed white canes bisect an image of the Watts towers in Los Angeles on the left, and Clapham Common tube station’s Clock tower on the right, with the title ‘A Trail of Two Cities’ in the middle of the canes.

image by Geoff Pike

A Trail of Two Cities (TO2C) is an Arts Council funded project that researched and develop the urban experiences, connections and inspirations shared between two blind artists of African descent: London’s Maria Oshodi and LA’s Lynn Manning.

The TO2C R/D completed at UCL Pearl in Dagenham in October 2021

Maria stands in the doorway under the PEARL sign outside the vast UCL research facility

Maria stands on wooden spiral stairs with a glass wall of the Pearl reception area behind

Maria sits on a white bench wearing terracotta dungarees in a grass area outside PEARL

Immersive and staged excerpts from the performance were presented to a live audience at the UCL PEARL Facility, and feedback was gathered through a Q/A with the audience after the show.

Maria sits on stage with a PEARL technician above on a crane attending to lights

Maria stands thoughtful on stage with Lynn on a long screen next to her – The light from a projector spreads up Maria’s legs like boots

Maria poses animated while the Hollywood walk of fame appears on a large screen behind on the right

Maria stands on stage in terracotta dungarees with a black top underneath - At the back, large screen left Lynn performs with a guitarist and on screen right there is a blur of shadowy images

Maria sits on stage while Lynn sits on screen –Behind them on the large screen right in black and white are the frightened faces of a couple in a B-movie

Maria walks upstage with a white cane while on the large screen to her right shows a white cane on a side-walk

“Thanks for bringing Trail Of Two Cities to us – it has been a long trail – I had forgotten it all went back to 2014!” Nick Tyler PEARL Director

“This work is powerful, and evocative. Keep creating!” Sola

“I felt really proud watching the sharing yesterday – proud of you as a blind creator who is always doing amazing things, proud that I have some personal connections you and to Lynn and just excited to find out what happens next.” Amelia

“Thank you so much for inviting me to the sharing – I loved it and think it’s a genuinely exciting piece of work!“ Grace

Maria gestures to Lynn on a down stage screen while the Hollywood sign appears large on the right hand screen behind

Play the edited highlights taken from the full length film of the presentation below

Disability Arts Online – Maria Oshodi in conversation with Zuleika Lebow – October 26, 2021

https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/opinion/maria-oshodi-in-conversation-a-trail-of-two-cities/

The history of this collaboration with Braunarts, Glen Neath and PEARL in this project inspired by Lynn Manning. Can be found here –