Announcing our next exhibition

We are excited to announce our next exhibition, Strange Evidence, a new film, installation and large-scale exhibition by Michelle Williams Gamaker opening at Matt’s Gallery this spring.

Strange Evidence focuses on 1930s screen star/Academy Award nominee Merle Oberon, who kept her mixed Sri Lankan/Indian and British heritage secret to protect her industry status, passing as white until her death in 1979. Merle kept her “exotic beauty” in check by controlling how she was photographed, falsifying her past and relying on make-up, lighting, dermabrasion and skin-lightening procedures.

The project sensitively approaches Oberon’s story, exploring self-censorship, racial stigma and trauma, looking with nuance at complex decisions shaped by racial prejudice/restrictive conditions of labour, which still impact screen artists today.

Crew
Writer/Director: Michelle Williams Gamaker
1st AD: Lottie Gomes
Production Co-ordinator: Leïla Arenou
DOP: Tom Wright
1st AC: Ada Wesolowska
2nd AC: Madhuni Alahakoon
Editor: Elan Gamaker
Movement Director: Tali Foxworthy-Bowers
MUA: Jin Ong
MUA Assistant: Nipa Khan
Props + Set Design: Shireen McCormack
Costume: Herman & Simmonds
Costume Assistant: Ginko Pei, Noor Greystokes
Sartorial rubber: HYDRA
Sound: Laur Rozier
DIT: Sam Mcneil
Set Photographer: Ellen Jane Rogers, Paulina Figueora
Runner: Christian Bell

Cast
Merle Oberon: Thara Schöön
Surgeon: Mark Gillis
Nurse 1: Hannah Taverner
Nurse 2: William Lang
Lucien Ballard: Maximilian (Max) Raboin
Body double: Jacinta Gowans

Supported by:
Cockayne-Grants for the Arts
Kingston University
Goldsmiths, University of London
The British Academy
The Bryan Robertson Trust
Associate Producer: John Cavanagh

Special thanks: Kulraj Phullar, Giulia Magno, Jes Fernie, Michael Curran, Alison Wilding, Teresa Grimes, Deep Kailey, Tim Dixon & Robin Klassnik