In 2016 I triggered a security alert by lying down on the 6th floor of the Southbank centre. I have been living with chronic pain for nearly two decades and for a while my world got very very small. My world only got bigger again, when I started lying down in public. I started to lie down on trains so I could visit family. And to lie down at galleries and theatres so I could have art in my life again. When I ran a 2017 survey into access for people with invisible disabilities like chronic pain, I found it wasn’t just me - many people across a range of conditions and disabilities would ideally lie down to experience art. 

My project Towards a Restful City asks Bristol venues to extend a warm welcome to the chronically ill and disabled communities by running Horizontal Events like Horizontal Cinema. Events like these let us know that we’re not just welcome, but that we belong. 

The project is also an experiment in how far it’s possible to shift the culture of a city - how far can we normalise rest and horizontality in public spaces? For a wider shift to occur we need good allies. The first step to being a good ally is about taking an interest in the disabled community and the things we are asking for. So here, I extend a warm invitation to you to join the Horizontal Cinema Event @ Watershed on Tuesday 22nd November at 12.30pm. Your presence will contribute to that wider shift in culture and let us know that beyond the ambitions of Watershed, we are welcome and we belong. 

Towards a Restful City 

Horizontal Event at Watershed on Tue 22 Nov 12:30

Raquel Meseguer Zafe’s project Towards a Restful City asks Bristol venues to extend a warm welcome to chronically ill communities to attend, and inhabit our shared spaces in new ways. Horizontal Events are experiments in different ways of being together in public, welcoming rest and horizontality as ways of being in the world. 

For this event, Watershed have invited us to inhabit the cinema in the most comfortable way possible, for a private screening of Aftersun

11-year-old Sophie and her dad Calum (Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal) are on holiday in Turkey in the late 1990s. Despite a rough start - such as Calum's broken arm and a room with a double bed rather than twins - it should be bliss. The 'Macarena' is blaring, the warm air is filled with the smell of sunscreen and Sophie is capturing it all on her mini-DV cam... However, cracks begin to emerge in the facade Calum is trying to maintain to give Sophie a perfect holiday.

Book your ticket for this Horizontal Cinema screening

Access

• Yoga matts, cushions and bean bags will be available. 
• The event will have a maximum of 12 lying down spaces. These will be allocated to the first 12 people who choose ‘Horizontal Seating’ when booking. 
• The event will be capped at 40 attendees. 
• We can cover some local taxi travel for disabled attendees, please email uncharteredcollective@gmail.com if taxi travel would support you to attend the screening. 
• Please note all tickets for this event include a companion ticket. 
• This will be a minimally scented event, to make it possible for people with chemical sensitivities to attend.

If you have any questions about the booking process please email Raquel at uncharteredcollective@gmail.com

See more information about Towards a Restful City here.