msorya@hotmail.co.uk
msorya.co.uk
Education:
2016 - 2018 MA Fine Art (Distinction) Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London
2013 - 2014 PGCE, City Lit Institute/ University of Westminster, London
2005 - 2009 BA Fine Art (First Class Honours) Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London
1997 - 2001 LLB Law (2:1 Honours) University of Westminster, London and The University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Selected Awards, Projects and Research:
Apr 2025 - Present: Knowledge Exchange Impact Fund, Central Saint Martins, UAL: Analogue Film School
Coordination of 16mm analogue film school in Southall, West London. Facilitation of workshops for local people/ schools to produce short analogue films.
Oct 2024: BFI London Film Festival 2024: Experimenta
Presentation of work at ICA, London: one of four selected artist filmmakers presenting projects in different stages of development – from research to post-production.
July 2023: Film London Lodestar | Artist Filmmakers' Award
October 2023 – July 2025: John Lyon’s Charity | Artist Facilitator/ Filmmaker
Series of art workshops in primary and secondary schools focused on aspects of local history and anti-racist activism of the 1970s – in conjunction with local history classes taught by The Monitoring Group and Southall Community Alliance.
Director/ Editor of project film ‘Young Voices’
June 2021 – June 2022: Film London Artist Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) | Fellowship
Fellowship for emerging artists working with moving image.
Nov 2022 – Present: Peoples Health Trust | Workshop Facilitator/ Filmmaker
Art Zone event organiser, family art sessions + community filmmaking workshops for residents in Southall, London, with (SCA)
Nov 2022 – December 2023: Peoples Health Trust | Community Film Making Workshop Facilitator
One-year intergenerational filmmaking project ‘How Southall Celebrates’, Southall, London
Aug 2022 – Jan 2024: Greater London Authority | Workshop Facilitator/ Filmmaker
‘Untold Stories’: community film + photography workshops for residents in Southall, London
Street Mela event organiser/ art workshop facilitator
Director/ Editor of project film ‘Stories of Southall’
June 2021 – September 2021: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) + UAL | Project Coordinator
‘Southall Ever After’ Community Arts Festival
January 2020 – February 2022: AHRC + UAL | Production Manager/ Workshop Coordinator and Researcher
Project working with first and second generation South Asian communities in the UK. Project partners include: Southall Community Alliance, TrAIN (The Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation), Tara Arts and The Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication (University of Hyderabad), India. View journal article on the project by P.I J.Collins here.
May 2021 – August 2021: UAL CCW – Chelsea, Camberwell and Wimbledon + Gunnersbury Park Museum | Project Coordinator
'Being South Asian' Photography Project/ Exhibition. Project partners include: South Asian Heritage Month UK, Gunnersbury Park Museum, Southall Community Alliance and University of the Arts, London.
June 2021 – Present: Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and The Essay Film Festival |
Make Film History project
March 2021: Axis Arts/ Social Art Library | Storytelling for Artists Commission: Social Art Library bursary
July 2020 - June 2021: UK Asian Film Festival/ The Arts Council| Satyajit Ray film commission
Writing
2025 (forthcoming) book chapter: Dreams and Dreamlike Realities in Childhood: (Post)memory, Fantasy and Fear Across Local, Global and Cinematic Narratives of Violence, in anthology ‘Urban Violence and Marginalised Communities: Multidisciplinary Interpretations’ (UCL Press, 2025).
Selected Exhibitions:
2024 Peoples Unite: How Southall Changed the Country, Gunnersbury Park Museum, London
2024 Southall Resists, Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, London
2024 Elm Street at 40: Exhibition, film screening and Symposium: University of Nottingham
2024 Threat Simulation 1 (part of group exhibition), Lethaby Gallery, London
2024 Young Voices, Villiers High School, London
2023 The Krueger Institute (part of group exhibition ‘Vestibule’), Lethaby Gallery, London
2022 B3 Biennial of the Moving Image 2022, Frankfurt, Germany
2022 Swedenborg Film Festival, London
2022 Deptford X 2022 Mobile Cinema, London
2022 UK Asian Film Festival, Satyajit Ray Festival, BFI Southbank
2021 Mosaic International Film Festival, Ontario, Canada
2021 Make Film History, Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, London
2021 Fringe of Colour Film Festival 2021, Fringe of Colour, Edinburgh (online)
2021 UK Asian Film Festival, Phoenix Cinema + Arts Centre, Leicester
2021 UK Asian Film Festival, Soho Screening Rooms, London
2020 Fringe of Colour Film Festival, Fringe of Colour, Edinburgh (online)
Nov 2021 - Present: Central St Martins (UAL) | 0.6 Senior Lecturer: BA Fine Art
2014 – Nov 2021: London College of Communication (UAL) | 0.8 Lecturer: Academic Support: Screen School
2010 – 2021: Morley College London | Art History Lecturer: Contemporary Art
May 2010 – July 2013: Mary Ward College | Art History Tutor (Contemporary Art)
April 2014 – July 2016: Lewisham Council (Mindlift) | Printmaking Tutor: Print for adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
2013 – 2014: Spectrum Youth PRU (14 – 16 year olds) | Sessional Art Tutor: Specialist Artist Register – Fine Art
GCSE Art teaching, based in a pupil referral unit.
Jan 12 – Aug 12: Tate Modern/ Tate Britain | Intern and Freelance Assistant Curator (Young People’s Programme)
March 2004 – Dec 2011: The Bede Centre/ Youth Project | Education and Employment Co-ordinator
Professional Membership:
FHEA: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Member of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education