After buying a consignment of water from a shady Nigerian in Sierra Leone, quixotic Afro-Caribbean ‘businessman’ John Jay-Jay Joseph attempts to smuggle his booty through London and Essex to Outback Australia, where he intends to sell it to a mysterious Aboriginal tribe with magical realist ambitions. But when Jay-Jay’s bizarre plans go awry, the transaction between him and the other ‘ethnics’ unravels a darkly comic tale that raises questions about racial stereotyping, global trade, and the mutating qualities of water.

Paul Howard and David Matthews were originally part of The Lock-Up’s 2009 residency program, visiting from the UK to research and develop their collaborative film project AquaVoltaic. They returned in 2012 to present the film to date, and to shoot and produce its next installment.

In 2015 AquaVoltaic starts its journey as a touring suitcase at the place where it all began.

Paul Howard is an award-winning artist, curator and educator, with over twenty years experience of exhibiting, programming, publishing and involving people in contemporary art at national and international levels. David Matthews is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Their collaborative works, including Rush Hour and AquaVoltaic have toured the UK and internationally.