CJ Clarke is an award winning photographer and filmmaker.
His intersectional practice crosses between narrative and experimental film, XR, photography and installation.
His work explores themes and stories at the intersection youth, identity and class. He often collaborates with other artists to enable and activate historically marginalised and socially engaged narratives.
His debut photobook Magic Party Place is collected by Museum of Modern Art (USA) and was shortlisted for the Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award 2016, Arles Authors Book Award 2017 and Photo Espana Book of the Year 2017.
Following the publication of the book he worked on an experiment short doc with Channel 4 and a multi-screen installation that was shown at the 2017 FORMAT Festival, at the Beirut Arts Centre as part of the 2017 Sharjah Biennial and in London’s Rich Mix.
He co-directed/wrote and produced the award winning immersive interactive work, Maya: The Birth of a Superhero. Maya won won the Special Jury Mention Award at the Tribeca Film Festival 2023, was selected in competition Festival de Cannes 2024, CPH:DOX 2024 and SXSW 2024, Winner Anidox Best XR Award, Winner European XR Awards 2024, shortlisted for the BFI/Chanel Award and exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
He co-directed/wrote and produced the experimental sci-fi short Fireflies, which won the Best Experimental Award at the Aesthetica Film Festival.
His film Cody’s Story won the inaugural BJP/Canon Open Shutter award and his film It Shouldn’t Happen Here was commissioned by Save the Children’s to launch their UK poverty campaign.
Centralia: Ghost Dance, remiered at The Photographers Gallery in London in 2020.
He produced the immersive films and installation Blood Speaks: A Ritual of Exile which premièred at the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, was presented at SXSW in 2019, selected for the Sheffield Doc Fest Meet Market 2018, and short-listed for the Sheffield Doc Fest Interactive Commission 2018. The three films are distributed by the Tribeca Film Institute.
He has produced and directed TV ads for RSPCA and recently for Centrepoint’s Christmas campaign with Imelda Staunton.
Widely exhibited, his work has been shown in The Photographer’s Gallery (UK) and Sharjah Biennial (Lebanon) amongst others. His work is held in the collections of Museum of Modern Art (USA), Harvard Arts Museums (USA) and Victoria & Albert Museums (UK).
FIREFLIES
15 MINS
PASSWORD: M@gic32!
MAYA: THE BIRTH OF A SUPERHERO
An Immserive Work by Poulomi Basu & CJ Clarke
“GENUINELY EMPOWERING. THIS IS GALVANISING, BOUNDARY-PUSHING ART AT IT'S BEST.”
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
— Charlotte Jansen,The Guardian
The story of a South Asian girls coming of age and the awakening of her sexuality. She must overcome her own shame and fear to find her inner strength and true super-powers.
With the arrival of her first period Maya’s world is turned upside down as she is confronted by the restrictive traditions of her conservative family and a world of hidden shame, stigma and taboo in contemporary London.
An odyssey of womanhood and femininity, referencing ancient symbols of spiritual and feminine power, the piece draws together the real and the imaginary to trace possible paths to resilience and justice. The Player must discover a radical power based on self love, care and solidarity.
Starring Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton)
Produced by Just Another Production Company and Floréal in co-production with France Télévision – Francetv Storylab, in conjunction with the Meta VR for Good program.
This project was possible thanks to the support of the CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, The City of Paris and Digital Catapult/Creative XR. It was developed with the support of the Immersive Creators Catalyst established by Women in Immersive Technologies Europe (WITT) and Unity for Humanity.
Maya: The Birth of a Superhero is best experienced in a headset on the Meta Quest Store.
Headsets can be provided, if required. Please contact us to arrange.
