Wednesday 25 January 2012

things i wish i could attend...

The San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center & Queer Cultural Center present: "Queer Ancestors," Prints by Queer Young Artists

Reception Thursday, January 26th, 7 to 9 pm
LGBT Community Center
1800 Market Street
Prints on exhibition January 18th to February 16th

-For more information: katie@katiegilmartin.com

Exhibition generously supported by the San Francisco Arts COmmission, Queer Cultural Center, SOMArts, Chrysalis Studio, THe LGBT Community Center, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

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Thurs Jan 26th,
Mortreal, Quebec

Join us for a community discussion on building bridges between art and social activism organized by the Howl! arts collective. The event will feature presentations by accomplished grassroots artists that are working to explore links between their artistic practice and str...uggles for social justice, followed by an open discussion. Howl! is presenting this event within the context of a Conservative majority government that is enacting economic austerity policies that undercut support for the arts and threaten the social fabric of our communities.

a panel discussion moderated by Kevin Lo
http://www.lokidesign.net/

presentations by

* Coco Riot. visual artist / community activist.

An artist and a queer and migrant activist, Coco Riot loves exploring the multiple possibilities of drawing through installations, graphic novels, animation films etc. Coco is the outreach coordinator of the artist-run center articule (Montreal) and the graphic designer of the social graphic design studio The Public in Toronto. http://www.cocoriot.com/

* Freda Guttman. visual artist / community activist.

Freda is a native of Montreal, has been a practising artist for over 45 years. In the 1980's she quit teaching art in order to situate her work into the realm of the political beyond art galleries for a participatory and broad range of viewers. She created two very large installations which toured Canada extensively for several years, in artist-run centres: “Guatemala: The Road of War” and“The Global Menu”. She has also created several small installations about the Palestinian struggle. In 2003, she co-curated an exhibition, “Artists Against the Occupation”, with Rawi Hage in Montreal and has shown her work in numerous “Artists Against the Occupation” exhibits all over the world. She recently completed a continuum of five installations globally entitled, “Notes From the 20th" which was a ten year project.

* Malcolm Guy. filmmaker / activist / Productions Multi-Monde.

Malcolm Guy is an anti-imperialist activist and filmmaker. He is General Secretary of the International League of People's Struggle, an anti-imperialist formation representing more than 350 grass root organizations from 40 countries. He is a founding member of the Centre for Philippine Concerns and the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal. On the film front, Malcolm is President of Productions Multi-Monde, a production company he co-founded in 1987. Malcolm contributed to establishing the international film fest Rencontres International du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) and the Observatoire du Documentaire. He also helped organize the first-ever International Conference of Progressive Culture, held in the Philippines in July 2011 under the theme: People's Art - shaping the society of the future. http://www.pmm.qc.ca/english/spip.php?article37

* Vincent Tinguely. poet / writer / CKUT radio host

Vincent Tinguely is a Montreal writer and poet. His work has appeared in Four Minutes to Midnight no. 10, Canadian Poetry no. 64, and the Poetry-Quebec website. He is the co-author of Impure — Reinventing the word, a book about the Montreal spoken word scene. He’s currently the managing editor of litlive.ca, a webzine devoted to performance poetry, spoken word, dub poetry and beyond. http://vintin.wordpress.com/


Howl! arts collective
http://www.twitter.com/howlarts
http:///www.facebook.com/howlarts
http://www.howlarts.net/

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Newcastle, UK
(29th Feb onwards)

http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/season/121

LOUDER NOW! is a monthly screening of films of a feminist nature at The Star and Shadow Cinema, presented by The Gender Research Group at Newcastle University. It is intended that these films will enlighten, provoke and spar...k discussion, build networks, and perhaps inspire action. Each film will showcase a different aspect of feminist thought and politics, be introduced by a specialist and post-film discussion will be encouraged. LOUDER NOW! promotes an open atmosphere where every opinion, thought and feeling will be respected.

Dates for your diary: 29th February, 26th April, 24th May, 28th June, 04th October, 01st November, 06th December

LOUDER NOW! is brought to the Star and Shadow with support from The Gender Research Group at Newcastle University.

All LOUDER NOW! events are free to attend (although £1 membership to the Star and Shadow is required).

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FILMS...

Wed 29th February, 7pm
LOUDER NOW! LAUNCH EVENT
Summer School
Guest Speakers: Marcie MacLellan (Summer School's director/producer), Dr Carolyn Pedwell (GRG, Newcastle University), Dr Kate Chedgzoy (GRG, Newcastle University).
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/923

Thur 26th April, 7.30pm
don’t need you: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl
Guest Speaker: Dr Julia Downes (Durham University)
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/916

Thur 24th May, 7.30pm
Eat the Kimono
Guest speaker: Dr Nobuko Anan (Northumbria University)
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/918

Thur 28th June, 7.30pm
Privilege
Guest speaker: TBC
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/917

Thur 04th October, 7.30pm
Blind Spot
Guest speaker Prof Marie Cross
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/919

Thur 01st November, 7.30pm
Greenham Granny
Guest speaker: Prof Sasha Roseneil (Birkbeck University)
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/921

Thur 06th December, 7.30pm
A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde
Guest speaker: TBC
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/film/922
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Monday 23 January 2012

the house that groaned

From my inbox from Karrie Fransman... The House That Groaned is her graphic novel which references issues of bodily anxiety and image from a feminist perspective:

"I wanted to drop you a line as my my new graphic novel 'The House That Groaned' has just been released by Random House's Square Peg. It's off to a flying start with praise from film director Nicolas Roeg, a fantastic review from Paul Gravett and it was voted no.1 book by Foyles just the other week. You can have a play with the book at www.thehousethatgroaned.com and watch an animated trailer here": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiha_y4nCBU.




Quotes: 'KARRIE FRANSMAN breaks all the rules of storytelling; accumulated over the past thousands of years. She creates a confusion at first, that suddenly bursts into the obvious and simplest fact; that all the stories of, and in our lives, are personal and private. Unlinked and unlike anyone else’s…..like our DNA. The only way this wonderful ‘Book’ could have been written is by illustration….not by word…..rather like the hidden stories drawn on the walls of caves.-Nicholas Roeg (director of Don't look Now and Walkabout)

'Oddly macabre and moving at the same time, more absurdist magic realism than gritty kitchen-sink drama, few British debut graphic novels have been as audacious and unsettling as this.' Paul Gravett (journalist, curator and The Man at the Crossroads)

zine fests usa

The workshop component of February's upcoming LA Zine Fest makes me wish I got off my ass more...

Not half as gutting though as realising that I'm gonna fleetingly be in New York missing the Feminist Zinefest NYC by two weeks. Bah. Rubbish timing on my part.

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LA Zine Fest

Panel Discussion: DIY Artspaces

Moderator: Mark Allen of Machine Project

“Los Angeles is a rich environment for creating low cost, grassroots venues of all kinds,” says moderator Mark Allen. Do our six experienced panelists agree with him? Participants will discuss starting your own DIY/alternative art space or venue, and how to keep it going. The panel includes Jim Smith of The Smell, Walt Gorecki and Shaddy Zeineddine of Home Room, Pauline Lay of Pehrspace, Sean Carnage, and Katie Vonderheide of Synchronicity Space.

* * * *

Workshop: Zines As Agents Of Social Change

Presented by Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go

A discussion on expanding the scope of zines to provide community support and social change though zine creation. Topics will include: framing zine workshops for different audiences, partnering with community organizations or activist affinity groups, acquiring grant monies and other support options, the importance of collaboration, and, of course, why zine makers are needed as culture workers.

Margarat Nee & Kim Schwenk of Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go have been teaching zine workshops for nearly a decade and will facilitate the discussion using the GZAGG Manifesto as a starting point.

About Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go: “Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go is an all-women workshop group based in Southern California. Since 2002 we have been facilitating workshops in community venues and college campuses in our region. We focus on the empowerment of young women through the production of fanzines and self published works.”

* * * *

Workshop: Making And Selling Your Minicomic!

Presented by Jim Higgins of Meltdown University

Comics editor Jim Higgins will discuss the basics of writing and drawing a minicomic and how to sell it to stores, distributors, and your soon-to-be adoring fans. He’ll talk about the creative process, finding and working with collaborators, production and printing, and the best ways to market and sell your independently produced comic book.

About Jim Higgins: Jim has been a writer and editor in the comics business for 18 years. He was an editor and assistant editor at DC Comics in the Paradox Press division (The Big Book of Grimm, Hoaxes, and The ’70s, plus the graphic novels Road to Perdition, and Stuck Rubber Baby) and is the editor and publisher of New Thing, an international anthology of comics. He taught comic book storytelling for eight years at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and cinema studies at The City University of New York for four and a half. He is presently teaching Graphic Novel Development at CalArts and various comics classes at Otis College of Art and Design. He is also the Program Director for the Meltdown University classes at Meltdown Comics.

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Wednesday 4 January 2012

justseeds interview now online

An interview I did with a group of some of the women involved with the Justseeds artists co-operative, back in 2010, has just been published online at the (new) Aorta blog.

It can be found here: www.aortamagazine.com/blog/women-of-justseeds

Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized community of artists based in Canada, the US and Mexico who have banded together to collaborate with and support each other and social movements.
I spoke with six women active in the diverse Justseeds artists’ co-op, who are an integral part of the collective: Melanie Cervantes (Oakland, CA), Bec Young (Pittsburgh, PA), Molly Fair (Brooklyn, NY), Meredith Stern (Providence RI) and Thea Gahr (Mexico), alongside Nicole Schulman (Brooklyn, NY) who has created art work for Justseeds. We spoke about political collective creativity, art in social movements, socially engaged printmaking, and art as activism.


Many thanks for the patience of the women involved, I know it's been a while since we wrote this!

Image above by: Melanie Cerantes

Image above by: Nicole Schulman