Uncanny Waters

Costumes That Carry Stories

Poster: Ray Malone

Photo: Henri T

Photo: Ray Malone

Photo: Ray Malone

Photo: Ray Malone

A Toolbox by Honor Bathurst Photo: Henri T

Jeanne Baret Photo: Ray Malone

The Jester of Our Drowned Siblings. Photo: Ray Malone

Arkem Mark Walton, Lu Firth & Medusa Has Been Photo: Ray Malone

Magic Fish Photo: Ray Malone

Photo: Henri T

Photo: Henri T

Medusa Has Been Photo: Henri T

Gabriela Salas. Photo: Henri T

Gabriela Salas, Aisha Mirza, Juliet Jacques, Sarah Jaffe, Sacha Coward. Photo: Henri T

Belly Full by E.M Parry. Photo: Henri T

K.A Harper & E.M Parry. Photo: Henri T

Honor Bathurst. Photo: Henri T

Honor Bathurst. Corsetina. Photo: Henri T

Fanny Bleach - Would you still love me if I was a worm? Photo: Henri T

Photo: Henri T

Photo: Gabriela Salas

Ship of our queer ancestors. Photo: Gabriela Salas

“The Creek procession was hugely memorable and the collective feel of us queers on the bridge was filmic, a bearing witness moment that will stay with me…very special.

It was so good to be transported and connected with our ancestors, old, current, in the moment and future ones…”

— Audience member, Uncanny Waters, Deptford Creekside

Uncanny Waters

a costume and performance project

by Lu Firth & Ray Malone

Uncanny Waters is an intergenerational costume and performance project led by collaborative artists Lu Firth & Ray Malone, bringing together 10 uncanny participants aged under 30 and over 50 to explore the intersections of water and queer resistance through costume-making.

Through a series of workshops, our participants explore the symbolism of water as a site of connection and transformation. From mythical figures like the Deptford Necker (a South London river hag) to personal stories of migration and border-crossing, the project created costumes and textiles from the stories that shape our identities and connect us to time and place.

The workshops involve costume design and creation, as well as explorations of queer resistance, the uncanny, and historical research. Participants also engage in activities such as mudlarking and low tide walks, that connect their creative work to London’s rivers.

Somerset House Workshops

Running from January to April 2025, Uncanny Waters workshops took place in the iconic setting of Somerset House. Led by artist Lu Firth, these hands-on sessions introduced participants to the basics of sewing and encouraged experimental approaches to costume-making. The workshops provided a welcoming space to play and create as a community.

Fanny Bleach & Teabag

Photo: Ray Malone

“Being immersed in time travel, transported by costume, words and environments”

— Audience Member, Uncanny Waters, Deptford Creekside

“Surreal beauty and authentic expression”

— Audience members, Uncanny Waters Deptford Creekside

“It was so poetic and surprising. The boat appearing was like a dream… Clearly the time spent together had been used profoundly. A very thoughtful and provoking exploration of queer bodies, culture, resilience and community..”

— Uncanny Waters, Uncanny Waters Deptford Creekside

“I loved that politics was there through and through time and performance content and visuals.”

— Audience Member, Uncanny Waters, Deptford Creekside

National Maritime Museum Workshops

From November 2024, Uncanny Waters

workshops took place at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Ray Malone led workshops, Exploring the Uncanny, Folklore, Queer activism , and participants Stories of personal and collective heritage and resistance.

Shakleton’s Endurance Expedition

Frank Hurley, 1915. © Scott Polar Research Institute

“Everyone looks sexy in waders.”

Medusa Has Been

Deptford Creekside

Exploring Deptford Creek during Storm Bert, November 2024

Uncanny Waters trip to Deptford Creekside was a muddy treasure hunt through London’s history.. featuring sexy green waders, treasure hunting, and walking trees. We uncovered Staffordshire Slipware pottery shards, a river bed of old clothes, and a discarded can of sardines.

Big thanks to all at Deptford Creekside Discovery Centre for your continued support with the Uncanny Waters project.

“This whole event and meeting has become my number 1, of my top 10 experiences in my life, and it's thanks to all you”

Uncanny Waters Participants:

“My favourite moment was the performance in the creek. it came together so well with the setting sun and the choreography of the performers and the spectators watching and I felt like all of the costumes and artworks and ideas and experiences and people that I've been exposed to throughout my involvement in the preparation for the exhibition were culminating somehow in that performance in a way which also felt quite mysterious and I loved that.”

“Each workshop was like a big collective brainstorm, finding the links between our experiences and interests, thinking out our history, our future, I think a part of my personal development through the project was really about gathering so much more of a sense of queer lineage, of the queer history in the streets that I walk today in London. Towards the end of the project, I started to feel different in the city, a sense of being held and surrounded, I would have the stories that everyone was sharing in mind, for example of certain nights out in the 80s, of bars, protests, partners, ex partners, etc etc and I have felt sense of belonging, of trust, and of hope.”

“It has truly been a privilege and a joy to work with such a generous and interesting group of people. Definitely a highlight of the whole experience.”

“I don't always feel very confident talking about political things, I know how I feel but find it hard to articulate. But you both created a space that felt so easy and comfortable that having these discussions only made me feel interested and keen to learn more, never judged or criticised and I didn't feel intimidated.”

“The themes of queer heritage and migration have resonated strongly with me chiming with my experience of biological and chosen family. The restless grief & hope of people forever moving on, the dichotomy of belonging and not belonging. The symbolism of water – bringer of life and death, always refracting and reflecting, the shifting patterns of tidal flows and cycles of life. The fluidity of the body, the flotsam and jetson of our recycled material reality drifting on currents and washing up on unknown shores.”

“It has truly been a life affirming, life changing moment for me!”

Credits:

Heads Bodies Legs artists: Lu Firth & Ray Malone

Uncanny Waters participants:

Arkem Mark Walton

Bug!

E.M Parry

Fanny Bleach

George Cox

Honor Bathurst

K.A Harper

Kate Coss

Medusa Has Been

Meg Jordan

Teabag

Description Texts: DesCrip: Annie Hayter (writer and performer) Joseph Rizzo Naudi (description facilitator and producer) and Autumn Sharkey (description facilitator and support worker)

Photography: Henri T and Ray Malone

Costume Assistants: Nina Cava and Elisabeth Sur

Photography Assistants: Diliyana Tankova and Kathryn McGreary

Ancestral Boat Crew: Billy Taggart Brunton and Fiona Slater

Special thanks to Deptford Creekside Discovery Centre, Wimbledon College of Art, National Maritime Museum and Somerset House.

Supported by Arts Council England and Big South London.