Monday 28 November 2011

consent zine - submission call out

From my inbox from A-K:


Verbal consent has definitely been something that has had a big impact on me and the way I look at relationships, sex and intimacy. Learning good consent has helped me respect my boundaries and the boundaries of my lovers, given me words to discuss things I didn't know how to approach before and tools to continue working with. Such important things!

I feel that there aren't enough zines on consent out there. That's why I'm putting together one, hopefully in time for the Bristol Radical Zine Fest in U.K. in February 2012.

This is a call-out for text and images on consent. Especially your own experiences, but also helpful tips, text you might have seen in other zines, useful resources, good books to read etc.

Please email them to me: princesapirata@wildmail.com

Deadline for submissions: end of January 2012

And please feel free to pass on the info to friends you think might be interested in taking part in the zine!

love and rage,
A-K Pirata

Saturday 26 November 2011

women artists and feminism in the 1980s and now

From my inbox, from Rachael House:


Brixton Calling!

Women Artists, Feminism in the 80s and Now Symposium
Saturday 3 December, Goldsmiths University, Ben Pimlott Building, 10am-5pm
Free, no refreshment provided
For more information contact Althea Greenan: a.greenan@gold.ac.uk
Access: see campus map and for additional info: http://www.gold.ac.uk/find-us/

The symposium is collaboration between The Women’s Art Library and BAG Women (Brixton Art Gallery women artists group) to coincide with Brixton Calling!exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning (28 October – 21 December 2012).

Women Artists, Feminism in the 80s and Now is a cross generational symposium that examines the legacy of UK 80s women artists and feminists in the light of current feminist practice and thinking.
The symposium aims to recall 80s Feminist practice, thinking, debates and campaigns and discuss their relevance today for a new generation of women artists and feminists.

The symposium is part of a series of events, held during Brixton Calling! including a 3 day 80s Women Lens Based Media Event (10-12 November 2011, Brixton Village). For more information contact: e-mail: info@198.org.uk

Brixton Calling! (2011) is a collaborative and participatory project, connecting contemporary Brixton to its past through the history of 1980s Brixton Art Gallery & Artists Collective and their archives. Based at the Brixton Art Gallery, 2 women artists groups: Women's Work and Black Women In View, initiated and curated ambitious and powerful exhibitions and led courses, conferences and public events; contributing to local and international political campaigns and debates around Feminist art and aesthetics, sexuality, race and gender.
For Brixton Calling! exhibition, artists Françoise Dupré and Rita Keegan have created an Archives Installation, celebrating the contribution Women Artists and Feminism made to the Brixton Art Gallery. For the project, Dupré and Keegan have reactivated Brixton Art Gallery's network of women artists to form Brixton Calling! BAG Women.

Symposium Question and Themes
Debates about 80s feminist art often raise contradictory but relevant questions: 80s feminist art practice has been forgotten, parodied, emptied out of content, re-enacted, has produced paralyzing reverence and ongoing tension between past and present generations.
The symposium’s running question is:

Drawing from 80s Feminist aesthetics, ethics and practice, how can we today develop a critical and relevant feminist art practice?
It will be addressed by ‘young’ and ‘old’ feminists through panel and group discussions and a concluding plenary session.
Two interconnected themes have been identified:
· Body Politics (performativity, identity formation, race, sexuality)
· Public sphere (community engagement, education, places)

Symposium Format
Symposium’s Mistress of Ceremony: Rita Keegan, Brixton Calling! co curator
10am: Registration
10.15: Welcoming introduction by Rita Keegan
10.30am-10.45am: Introduction by Althea Greenan, Women’s Art Library curator
10.45-11.15am Introduo Rebecca Snow, Brixton Calling! volunteer and Françoise Dupré, Brixton Calling! project co-manager/curator
11.15am-12.45pm: Panel discussion
11.15am-12.15pm: Panel presentations (15 minutes each)
Artists Rosy Martin, Roxane Permar, Shanti Thomas, reflect individually upon 80s feminist engagement with Body Politics and the Public Sphere.
Catherine Grant addresses the tension and problematic about re-visiting 80s feminist art practice in the light of today feminism.
12.15pm-12.45pm: Panel discussion, moving debate forward for the afternoon sessions
12.45pm-1.30 Lunch
1.30pm-2.15pm: 3 group discussions responding to morning panel discussions to be lead by a younger generation of feminists including: Oriana Fox, Diana Georgiou, Rachael House, Rebecca Snow + more
Topics for the 3 groups: Body Politics, Education and third one to be identified on the day in response to the morning discussion
2.15-2.30: Break
2.30pm- 3.30pm: Group reports and panel discussion
3.30pm-3.45pm: Break
3.45-4.15pm: Bringing together by Rebecca Fortnum
4.15-5pm: audience response
5pm: end of symposium

Brixton Calling! 28 October-21 December 2011, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London

where to find a copy of shape & situate #2 zine

I thought it may be worth bumping this information up the blog in case anybody is looking to buy a zine as a winter/christmas gift this year. Feminist history posters make a great stocking filler ;)

Shape & Situate is a self-published zine of posters made by artists and DIY creative folk within Europe, each poster highlighting the (often hidden) history and lives of radical inspirational women and collectives from Europe, as a way of connecting us with the past, the present, and to help us to make sure that there will be a future which contains such creative and pioneering female action and activity. The zine aims to activate feminist cultural memory, to inspire in the present and to visually bring women’s social and political history to life.

Posters include: Selina di Girolamo, Ari Up, Poly Styrene, Durbahn/Bildwechsel, Joana Vasconcelos, Angela Carter, Monica Sjoo, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Bunnies On Strike, Louise Michel, Granuaile, Susan Golombok, Nana Mouskouri, Claire Fontaine, The Women of Bletchley Park, Jayaben Desai, Liz Ely, Olave Baden Powel, BJ, Breyer P Orridge, Sophie Blanchard, Stella Vine, Sheila Rowbotham, Florence Nightingale.

Artists/Contributors: Erica Smith, Rachael House, Melanie Maddison, Michelle Mendonca, Anna Knowles, Verity Hall, Kathryn Taylor, Nina Nijsten, Peter Willis, Emily Aoibheann, Ed Webb-Ingall, Cara Corden, Patrick Staff, R Clout, Kathleen Teadrinker, Marylou Anderson, Flo Brooks, Charlotte Cooper, Cendrine Rovini, Gladys Badhands, James Clayton, and John Davison.

28 pages (23 posters)
A5 size zine.
Black and white illustrations throughout.
Printed on recycled 100gsm paper. Covers printed on 200gsm paper.


Available from:

*Folksy: (http://www.folksy.com/shops/COTL)

*Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/COTL?ref=pr_shop)

*Marching Stars (UK) (http://www.marchingstars.co.uk)

*Ricochet! Ricochet! (UK)

*Dead Trees & Dye (UK) (http://www.deadtreesanddye.com)

*Cherry Bomb (New Zealand) (http://www.cherrybombcomics.co.nz)

*Space Station 65 (UK) (http://www.spacestationsixtyfive.com)

*Ms Valerie Park Distro (USA) (http://msvalerieparkdistro.com)
Online listing at: http://msvalerieparkdistro.com/zines/various-melanie-maddison-shape-situate-2-posters-of-inspirational-european-women

*News From Nowhere (Radical & Community Bookshop, Liverpool, UK. http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk)

*lmnop shop (Brighton, UK. http://www.lmnopshop.com)

*Justseeds (USA, http://justseeds.org) Online listings can be found at: http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/04shapesit02.html and http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/04shapesit01.html

*Natterjack Press (UK, http://www.natterjackpress.co.uk)

*Vertiline In Love (Sheffield, UK, http://vertilineinlove.com)

*Princesa Pirata distro (UK) (http://princesapiratadistro.wordpress.com)

///

The zine can also be found in the following zine libraries: *London College of Communication Zine Library, *Salford Zine Library, *Rotherham Zine Library, *Canny Little Library (Newcastle)

zine submissions wanted for trans adolescence zine

From my inbox...


Call For Zine Submissions....Trans and Genderqueer Adolescence Stories

Topic: Essays, anecdotes, comix, poetry from Trans and Genderqueer folks telling stories of going through puberty and adolescence. Take that as broadly or specifically as you’d like; literally how your body was changing and how your brain was dealing with it, or going to a dance and how that made you feel, to coming out to your family, teachers, classmates, etc…

Audience: 7-12 grade students.

Specifics: The pieces should be free of cursing and super overt sexual content. Keep in mind that 7th graders are about 13 years old.

Why/Purpose: I taught a piece from the zine, The Next Body, in my 7/8th grade zine writing class, in it the writer is discussing his decision to have top surgery. After class a student approached me asking for an extra copy of the piece to give to her friend who has recently come out as Trans. “She is getting super big breasts and having a hard time dealing with it” my student told me. I gave her an extra copy of the piece and went home to dig through my books and zines to find more I could offer. It’s rough trying to find age appropriate material for a Trans kid. It’s imperative that young people who are Trans and Genderqueer see themselves in print, ideally in the curriculum but at the minimum in readings a queer, liberal, concerned, shit starting teacher passes on to them. I know, I know… all GLBT kids should see themselves in print but it’s extra hard to find Trans material, that’s why I want to start with the T as opposed to GLB.



Puberty and adolescence are hard for everyone but it’s extra alienating and difficult when you feel alone and radically different from everyone else. I want this zine to be an offering to Trans and Genderqueer kids who need to see themselves in print, to know that they are not alone. I want it to offer comfort and hope to some young people who may be struggling. I want it to open the eyes and hearts of non-trans kids so they become allies. I also want it to open up dialogue between students, parents and teachers. It’s my job to teach students reading and writing but the bigger more satisfying and important part of my job is to offer support, care, and guidance to ALL kids in their emotional and personal development. Unfortunately, as a society, we’re forgetting some kids, we’re looking the other way when Trans kids need us to look right at them and say “You are okay, you are in fact, amazing - just the way you are. And you’re not alone either.” I’d like this zine to be a move towards that.


I keep this quote in mind when I’m writing curriculum and deciding what to teach for the year. Perhaps it will inspire you:

"When those who have the power to name and to socially construct reality choose not to see or hear you, whether you are dark-skinned, old, disabled, female, or speak with a different accent or dialect than theirs, when someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes a world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.” –Adrianne Rich



Send submissions to: Brilliantmistake01@gmail.com

Please send as an attachment in basic word formatting with “Zine Submission” as the subject.

Include; a title for your piece, how you’d like to be credited - the name you’d like to use, and any contact info you want included in the zine. If you’d like a copy of the finished product send me your mailing address.

Deadline: March 1, 2012.

Publication: April, 2012

You can e-mail me with questions, suggestions, complaints, that kinda stuff too.

Thanks!

Carrie

political poster exhibition, manchester

From my inbox...


Picturing Politics

Come and visit our new Changing Exhibition Picturing Politics - Exploring the Political Poster in Britain. Researched and curated by PhD student Chris Burgess, this exciting new exhibition explores the development of the political poster, examining how political parties ‘speak’ to the people and how this communication has changed. The exhibition showcases the museum’s unique poster collection which is the largest in the UK.
12 November 2011 — 17 June 2012

Exhibition at: People's History Museum, Manchester, UK.

To keep up to date with the ongoing research on political posters, background information on some of the individual posters and the odd sneak preview of material, visit the blog written by Chris Burgess http://picturingpolitics.wordpress.com/.

bristol radical zine fest

From my inbox, from A-K:


BRISTOL RADICAL ZINE FEST

Sunday the 12th of February, from noon til 6pm at Kebele Community Co-Op (14 Robertson Road Bristol BS5 6JY, (www.kebelecoop.org)

A day of zines, workshops, tea and vegan cakes. Horay! Followed by yummy Kebele dinner at 6.30pm.

We'd love for you to take part! If you're interested in having a table at the fest, please send us an email to bristolradicalzinefest@gmail.com answering the following questions:
- Who are you and what do you do?
- Where are you based?
- What kind of zines would you have at your table?
- What's your price range? Would you be up for swaps?
- If you have a web page, please share it with us.

Deadlline for applications: 8th of January 2012.

Unfortunately because of limited space we won't be able to fit all the stalls in, these questions will help us make a selection. Spaces will be 1/2 table each and we'll be asking a donation of £1 to £5 from stall holders on the day. We're aiming for the Bristol Radical Zine Fest to be a celebration of grassroots D.I.Y. culture!


Please pass on this email to friends who might be interested. Let us know if you'd like us to send you posters/flyers to distribute.

Love & rage,
Bristol Radical Zine Fest crew x

Saturday 19 November 2011

london exhibitions galore

Well, that just about seals the deal... a trip to London must surely be on the cards come the beginning of 2012. There's the (previously mentioned) Pipilotti Rist exhibition on at the Hayward Gallery until the 8th January, and now I discover the Catherine Opie exhibition on at the Stephen Friedman Gallery (25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN) until 21st January

Oh London, why do you tease me so?!

Friday 4 November 2011

2012 illustrated calendars

Part #1 of my picks for awesome 2012 illustrated calendars is up on Pikaland today: http://pikaland.com/2011/11/04/2012-illustrated-calendars-part-1
I love each and every one featured. And there's more to come!

I've also started making an etsy treasury featuring the ones available on etsy.

[EDIT 12/11/11]
Part 2 is up now too: http://pikaland.com/2011/11/10/2012-illustrated-calendars-part-2



(N.B - Amy W, if you're reading this please do not follow any of the links unless you want to ruin your Christmas surprises! I'm serious!)

marci washington exhibiting in Leeds

Last night I went to the private view of Marci Washington's new exhibition in Leeds.

I got to hang out with Marci and hear about how she created the work - which is outstanding. A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Marci (from Berkeley, California) about her work for Aorta Magazine, so it was a real treat to see some of her work in real life and to speak to Marci in person. I really can't explain how amazing her art work is up close.

The exhibition in Leeds is on until November 25th and is well worth checking out.

Some photos taken at the private view: