Biography

Established in 2002 whatsthebigmistry is artist Priya Mistry, working in live art, performance, film, photography, web& fine art forms. This multidisciplinary approach explores co-collaborations & exchanges in the working process. Mistry carefully considers audience role in cultivating experience, plays with the mode of story-telling, generating interventions and private engagements. Projects are located in a variety of settings, reaching diverse audiences from formal art spaces & galleries to public space including streets, markets, road side cabins, magazines and virtual/ web space.

She trained as a performer, featuring in productions at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and volunteering and working in the arts, media and sports organisations, venues and companies. She graduated from De Montfort University with BA Hons Dance & Theatre Joint (+video & photography) in 2003.

whatsthebigmistry has developed and presented work as an artist in the field of live art/performance for over 4 years. Early projects addressed with real life stories and personal experiences. Doing so revealed conflicts of living in a culturally diverse environment, sexual politics and other everyday experiences and conversations. Performing with intimate small groups to one on one audience sizes, using live performance, photo, video and web mediums.

2004 commission for Bonington Gallery/Sensitive Skin season was a project titled 'Experiments In...' began to explore a shift towards site specific areas, intervention and public spaces in order to explore private engagement within public spaces. The commission was a close collaboration with Edward Orton fine artist - and Chris Slowe multimedia artist. Mistry’s ability as a collaborator expanded and developed my style and found new ways of challenging and communicating with audiences.

Undertaking a period of broad personal development which spanned 12 months, living in Glasgow- WTBM enlisted in short courses in specific art forms, workshops, networking and attendance to various events/festivals. The activities taken up during the phase were across a number of contemporary visual arts fields from live art, performance and mixed media, to other areas my work is moving into such as site specific and use of new set/craft materials. This complimented continual collaborative and facilitative approaches to work with other artists.

In 2005 City Gallery (Leicester) commissioned a group show 'A Stranger drifts into town or someone goes on a journey', curated by Birmingham collective aas. WTBM produced AGENT the off site performance element of the show with a Wonderland style. In developing my work -a new emphasis emerged generating fictional characters with the use of costume, text and movement work in performance. This evolved the modes through which audience interaction was engaged. Signing a move away from concerns with the personal self. This was a large scale production working with a number of other professional performers/devises and students performers from the Dance and Drama course at De Montfort University. Project managed, directed produced and also performed by whatsthebigmistry.

2006, WTBM featured as In Residence Artist at (LHT)Leicester Haymarket Theatre, undertaking a period of research and development  to further investigate the Wonderland theme. 'DoorWonderLand' was produced and presented as a work in-progress. Here my practice underwent a new progression by relocating ideas from site based spaces and moved them into a space constructed for interactive performance. Space, props, costumes and characters were created as interactive devises to elaborate the engagement with audience/participants in a labyrinth style space. The scale and complexity of the work grew into a production with a theatre set installation and a small cast of performers.

In 2007 DoorWonderLand is being developed under a £25K project funded by arts council In conjuction with the Fierce! Festival and The Birmingham REP Theatre who co-commissioned WTBM to develop DoorWonderLand for performance at Fierce! 2007 In Progress. The most recent and accomplished performance of DoorWonderLand took place at the Custard Factory in November 2007.

Please see artist CV and accompanying information on projects & experience.

whatsthebigmistry has appeared, amongst others at Fierce Festival, SPILL, Bonington Gallery-Sensitive Skin Season, NOW/Expo with Reactor- Nottingham, BBCi, Architecture Week, City Gallery, Leicester, EEC (East End Collaborations in associated with LADA/Queen Mary's College), Cabin Exchange, CCA live Art Weekend- Glasgow, Teatergarasjen, Tou Scene Norway. As well as featuring in work by the Pacitti company at IETM and Guilleriamo Gomez Pene for Fierce festival, Gobquad Workshop performance during Reich And Behrumpt Festival Berlin-Podweil.

whatsthebigmistry always aims to work across the boundaries of art forms to find exciting new ways of expressing ideas. Taking various forms in production these include stage, screen, photography, installation, sound, live movement, performance, word and the use of virtual and public spaces. Work formed is adventurous, innovative live/performance art with a style that plays with and challenges audiences.

To continue working diversely I am open to collaborations, always looking for new ways of generating experimental expression. Furthermore I hold a commitment to the discussion of contemporary arts practice in order to lift it's profile and spread practice amongst young people and build audiences.