Michelle Williams Gamaker, Strange Evidence, film still, 2026.
Commissioned and produced by Matt’s Gallery, London and Offline, Glasgow.
Strange Evidence at Offline for Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art
Friday 5 June - Sunday 21 June 2026
Michelle Williams Gamaker’s Strange Evidence is a genre-bending body horror film noir focusing on 1930s screen star Merle Oberon. As a contracted star for British director Alexander Korda’s London Films, Merle was the so-called “exotic”, playing stereotypical roles. To transition to leading roles, she hid her mixed Sri Lankan, Indian and British heritage, claiming to have been born to white parents in Tasmania, Australia. Behind the scenes, she maintained strict control of her image, relying on make-up, lighting, dermabrasion (a type of intensive skin resurfacing), and skin-bleaching procedures, and passed as white until her death in 1979.
Alternating between colour and black and white worlds, Strange Evidence revisits the cosmetic procedures Merle underwent to maintain this illusion, offering speculative psychoanalysis to unpack the star’s self-censorship—what the artist calls Fictional Healing. The project sensitively explores racial stigma, trauma, and complex decisions shaped by prejudice and restrictive labour conditions, which continue to impact performers today.
Strange Evidence forms the first part of Williams Gamaker's new phase in her Fictional Healing series, following Fictional Activism and Fictional Revenge. It also completes her Critical Affection trilogy (2021–2026), including The Bang Straws (2021), and Thieves (2023).
Schedule:
Friday 5 June to Sunday 21 June 2026
Opening hours: 11am - 6pm
Running time: 30 minutes + 5 minute break
Showtimes:
11am*
11:35am
12:10pm*
12:45pm
1:20pm*
1:55pm
2:30pm*
3:05pm
3:40pm*
4:15pm
4:50pm*
5:25pm
*shown with descriptive subtitles
Expanded Programme
Friday 5 June
6 - 8pm
Opening Night
Join us for evening screenings of the film and drinks to celebrate the opening of the exhibition.
Saturday 6 June
1 - 2pm
Michelle Williams Gamaker & Oonagh Gaff: Live Psychodynamic Reflection
Join us for a special live event where counsellor Oonagh Gaff will facilitate the artist’s exploration of themes of identity, labour, memory and psychodynamics at play in the work and her process. This event requires a ticket, get yours here.
Saturday 6 June
2 - 4pm
Free Community Meal
Join us for free homemade food in our adjacent unit where Offline plans to build our permanent gallery-cinema, for-hire workshop spaces and artists’ studios. The meal will be gluten free, nut free and vegan.
Sunday 14 and Wednesday 17 June
11am - 6pm
Relaxed Screenings
Lights will be left up and audiences are encouraged to get up and move around, or speak or make noise if they want to/feel the need to.
Find all our event listings here
Access Information:
Community Access Pot: We have funding to cover childcare and travel costs to help people attend our events. Please contact leonie@offline-glasgow.org for more details.
Language: The film is in English
Captions: The film has English captions every other screening (see schedule below for timings)
Children: The film is unrated, we consider it equivalent to a 12A due to graphic images of medical procedures. Babes in arms welcome.
Relaxed Screenings: All screenings on Wednesday 17th June are relaxed
Equipment: There are ear defenders, fidget toys, face masks and yoga mats available at the front desk for you to use.
Toilets: We have no toilets available in our space, the nearest toilets (including a wheelchair accessible toilet) are on Pollokshaws Road at the Rum Shack
Wheelchair Access: The venue is at street level, there are no steps and the exhibition space is fully wheelchair accessible.
Seating: There are 36 comfortable cinema chairs and spaces for wheelchairs.