Alia

I am an actor, writer, director and workshop leader based in Salisbury. As an actor I have worked for over 20 years in theatre, touring nationally and also in the West End. I am currently developing a play called ‘Becoming Simone’ with Mayflower Studios, Forest Forge and Stage Door. In 2023 I wrote and produced a short film, ‘Living Loud’. This was selected for screening at Portsmouth Short Cuts Festival. I am also a Presentation and Communication coach, having worked across many sectors including finance, Ed Tech and charities. I have also designed and led training in communication using roleplay as a learning tool.

I am a community archaeologist & wellbeing facilitator. I love to discover and tell untold stories from the past & to help people discover history & engage in cultural heritage. I help heritage organisations with community engagement, co-creation, education, outreach & interpretation. I offer public historical walks and talks. I am passionate about the role heritage can play in wellbeing & communities. I enjoy taking heritage into care settings & groups, with through reminiscence & object handling. I have completed the Green Dementia Care programme am looking forward to offering Elders of the Woods sessions very soon. In community venues, I run Arts, Crafts & Archaeology workshops & work with social prescribers.  

I am a visual artist who works across a range of media, originally crochet and textile but more recently in sculpture, installation and performance. I have a sensory approach to connecting to materials, most of them domestic recycled waste. I am very interested in experimentation and cross collaborations with artists from other disciplines and also outside of the field of the arts. Across the years, my practice has delved into the visual and metaphorical links between neuroscience and crochet, the cracking and transformations of womanhood after the menopause and more recently the opening and reconnecting to nature.