Hull’s Princes Avenue is familiar to many as the destination for a great night out. Nestled amongst the lively bars, cafes and coffeeshops, however, is a more contemplative choice – the contemporary art and community co-production venue, 87 Gallery. Here, Hull-based artist-writer and founding director of Tales and Scales Productions, Emily Oetegenn, has created her own space for celebration with her first solo exhibition, Special.
The centrepiece of Special is a short film of the same name (2025), which follows a queer couple as they celebrate Valentine’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Made in collaboration with Fly Girl Films, it has a home-video format, complimented by frequent intimate closeups and point-of-view shots. While the couple revel in happy domesticity, Oetegenn performs her poem ‘Special’, a rousing ode to her reclamation of self as a disabled person in a restrictive world.
The film plays to a cosy selection of vintage cinema seats. Behind this lies a shrine-like installation, with objects selected by Oetegenn, including her favourite dress (worn in the film), Lego roses, Mickey Mouse ears and tinsel decorations. These items appear in the film too, as the protagonist couple exchange gifts and decorate a den in their home. This underlying atmosphere of warm, nostalgic whimsy echoes the artist’s biggest influences, the architects of Disney: composer Alan Menken, former Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee and Walt himself.
Upstairs, there is an interactive area, which features an activity space with pens, pencils and paper. A large screen displays 87 Gallery’s interview with Emily, in which she describes the inspirations behind the ‘Special’ film. This is accompanied by a smaller listening point playing her previous short films, namely a screen with two sets of headphones. Accessibility is prioritised, thanks to an array of comfortable seating and a learning table with sensory items, New Year’s Eve decorations and books by disabled and neurodivergent people. Oetegenn’s work is not just meant to be viewed: clearly, she hopes that her own creative expression will be the impetus for similar self-exploration in gallery visitors.
Special is supported by Artlink Hull, an organisation dedicated to community connection and disability arts. Based at 87 Gallery since 2007, they host four shows a year, with two reserved for Hull-based artists. Oetegenn was initially nurtured by Creative Connections, a coproduction project established by Artlink in 2019 to reduce isolation and encourage artistic expression. Her work has featured in several group shows at the gallery, and she has staged open mic nights for queer, disabled, neurodivergent communities and their allies as part of her own production company, Tales and Scales Productions. Special represents Oetegenn’s first solo outing, and the culmination of a longstanding working relationship with curator Becky Gee.
Special is a deeply personal show, inflected with Oetegenn’s journey to self-acceptance. Oetegenn states that her art is a way for her to ‘become the adult her inner child needed’. Her practice has allowed her to ‘make sense of a world that wouldn’t make sense’ without a means of discovering her own voice. The film work ‘Special’ is a new approach to a familiar theme in her short films, as Oetegenn continues to challenge harmful, infantilised representations of disabled adults. In her previous films, both of which are set to spoken word pieces, Oetegenn is the protagonist. In the first, she encounters a magical goddess-like figure, and in the second, embraces her sensuality and attraction to another woman. Her poetry speaks of ‘Athena rage’ and an ‘Aphrodite gaze’, contrasting paradigms she employs to understand her experiences of female anger and sexuality. Her frequent use of pop culture images from Greek mythology, Disney films and fairytales seem designed to welcome visitors into her narratives. In ‘Special’, she moves from fantastical metaphors to grounded visions of domesticity. She reveals a hopeful vision of adult life, one which can include the innocent play of childhood.
With these narratives, Oetegenn rewrites depictions of disabled life that she found stifling as a young person, in which people like her were often cast as the villain or the victim. In conversation, she memorably criticised this ableist framework:
‘Society doesn’t always make space for disabled and neurodivergent people to experience life wholeheartedly, to make mistakes, to change paths and grow – to say fuck!’
The latter phrase is an allusion to an attention-grabbing line in ‘Special’, as Oetegenn asks those that restrict her: ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ Interestingly, Gee and Oetegenn had some debate about this phrase, out of concern for the young children and families that might pass through 87 Gallery. Ultimately, they decided that Oetegenn should express herself without censorship. Without this unguarded moment, how could she fully reject the limitations her poem rails against?
This spirit of reclamation is evident in the title of her film and poem. Prevalent in her past as an insult, she refers to the euphemistic term ‘special’ as a ‘hidden weapon’ in its use towards disabled individuals. Its intentions, cloaked beneath layers of implication, are even harder to decipher through a neurodivergent perspective. Oetegenn’s poem shakes off a confining term that she deems a ‘leash’. This creates an effective contrast within the ‘Special’ short film. The couple in her film claim their identity through spatial relationships, in designing a home where queer love can flourish in safety and joy. As they self-fashion through actions, Oetegenn declares her selfhood through the reappropriation of ableist language. ‘Special’ becomes something of a manifesto.
Oetegenn’s first solo effort stands out as an example of genuine self-empowerment. Her exhibition is both a key moment in her creative evolution and a potent reflection of Artlink’s emphasis on community co-production. Curator Becky Gee remarked that Special conveys a feeling of anticipation, as Oetegenn draws towards a bright future and invites her audience along for the ride. Special gently roars. It will surely find a life beyond its genesis at 87 Gallery.
Emily Oetegenn: Special is on at 87 Gallery, Hull, 12 April – 21 June 2025.
Amy Kitchingman is a writer, curator and cinephile based in Leeds.
Published 23.05.2025 by Benjamin Barra in Reviews
1,019 words
