'Othered in a region that has been historically Othered' opens in the woodlands surrounding Old Knobbley, an 800-year-old oak tree in Mistley, Essex. According to folklore, the tree served as a sanctuary for women who were persecuted as witches during the 17th-century English Civil War. Accentuating the commonality of oppression across vast timescales, the chapter marries the women's barbaric experiences with the contemporary lived experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees living in South Essex, as we hear their harrowing stories in the song's lyrics.

Chapter two shifts time and place from Old Knobbley to Dedham Vale, also known as 'Constable Country', where the English landscape painter John Constable painted his national masterpieces. Seen dancing frenetically in the 'Jab Jab' tradition of smearing shiny black pigment over the entire body, the physical movement indexes the carnivalesque gesticulation in which the formerly enslaved and their descendants satirically restaged scenes from their bondage to mock festivities enjoyed by the colonial upper classes. The chapter serves as a gift for the people of Essex and a transformative juncture, propelling the viewer towards a radical future vision in chapter three.

In the final chapter, the viewer is taken beneath the M25 at Thurrock into a future reimagination. An insistent voice-over fused over a hypnotic techno beat (a nod to the county's rave culture) envisages Essex accepting difference rather than denigrating it. In this way, a future differing irrevocably from the trauma enveloping past and present is conceived. The chapter was devised from focus groups held with individuals from the Black Student Societies at the University of Essex and the LGBTQIA+ community in Southend. The refrain in the spoken word asks,

What would Essex look like if the norm got turned on its head?

And the ‘Othered' became the norm,

If it wasn't so scared to embrace its differences.

And if the 'Essex girl' and 'Essex man' terms never came about,

And it led the world into becoming a better place for all humanity.

'Othered in a region that has been historically Othered' was shown in the main gallery for the solo exhibition of the same title at Focal Point Gallery between June and Sept 2022. The exhibition was also shortlisted for the Freelands Awards 2021.