Tuesday 25 September 2012

plotting and planning and getting my hands dirty

Wow, I haven't written anything properly on here for ages. It's because I'm up to my ears in things-to-do and things I've-been-doing.
This week I'm mostly plotting and planning my involvement with two zine fests (Leeds Zine Fair, November 2012, and Queer Zine Fest London, December 2012), one with a killer workshop, two with poster exhibitions, AND, both with new zines. More news on those two new zines soon, and when they'll appear. I'm more than a little excited about them though, despite the hard work getting them to happen, and co-ordinating who'll be involved. Suffice to say though I've been thrilled to be able to contact and speak with some people who are complete gems and have been making my heart and brain swell with their kickass-ness. I love that feeling!

Mostly however, I haven't been writing much on the blog as I've been distracted by watching and listening to Hop Along, and in particular this video below, over-and-over-and-over-again. LOVE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqbUJg6Z4v8

Monday 3 September 2012

music & liberation exhibition tour

from my inbox...

Music & Liberation, an exhibition about Women’s Liberation Music Making in the UK (1970-1989), is touring the UK this autumn.

Music & Liberation: Women’s Liberation Music Making in the UK, 1970-1989 shows how feminists used music as an activist tool to entertain and empower women during the 1970s and 1980s.

Featuring the work of Jam Today, the Northern Women’s Liberation Rock Band, Feminist Improvising Group, Ova, the Fabulous Dirt Sisters, Abandon Your Tutu, the Mistakes and many others, the exhibition brings together a diverse collection of women’s cultural heritage.

The exhibition will be touring to the following venues:

· 9-25 September, Butetown History & Arts Centre, 4 Dock Chambers, Cardiff, CF10 5AG
· 1-14 October, Bureau ‘off-site’, Three Piccadilly Place, Manchester. M1 3BN
· 29 October–24 November, Glasgow Women’s Library, 15 Berkeley Street, Glasgow G3 7BW
· 30 November-13 January 2013, Space Station Sixty Five, Building One, 373 Kennington Road, London SE11 4PS

All venues except the Glasgow Women’s Library* are wheelchair accessible, and an RNIB Penfriend will be available to facilitate access for visually impaired visitors.
*For information about access arrangements to Glasgow Women’s Library, please contact them on 0141 248 9969, info@womenslibrary.org.uk

The exhibition showcases rare ephemera and artefacts such as posters, songbooks, t-shirts, instruments and fliers. Visitors will be able to watch films, interact with installations, look at photos and, of course, listen to music. This is a unique opportunity to listen to unreleased recordings of practices, live performances and studio tracks from women musicians yet to be discovered by contemporary audiences.

Ten oral histories, which have been collected especially for the project, will also be available to listen to and watch.

Music & Liberation: A Compilation of Music from the Women’s Liberation Movement will be sold at the exhibition, alongside limited edition Music & Liberation postcards made especially for the project.

A series of events will accompany Music & Liberation, including participating in IMPRINT, an experimental women’s art festival taking place in Manchester and Newcastle in October.

Please check the website and twitter for further details of all events and project updates.

The opening event is an afternoon tea party on Sunday, 9 September at the Butetown History & Arts Centre, Cardiff, 2-4pm. There will be film showings and a guided tour of the exhibition.

http://womensliberationmusicarchive.wordpress.com/

http://music-and-liberation.tumblr.com/

@music_liberate

The Facebook event page for the opening is here: http://www.facebook.com/events/469969166377282/

Follow updates @music_liberate

Music & Liberation is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is based on theWomen’s Liberation Music Archive, an online blog archive launched in May 2011 by Frankie Green and Dr Deborah Withers.

QZFL

I have many rad friends, but Charlotte Richardson Andrews just got even radder by announcing her plans to make Queer Zine Fest London happen in December.

Date and venue to be confirmed, but for now you can follow the plotting at:

queerzinefestlondon@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/lgbtqzinefestlondon

http://queerzinefestlondon.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/QueerZineFestLd

Of the event, so far, Charlotte writes:

Queer Zine Fest London is go! We’re planning, scheming and looking for queer zine comrades and friends to help organize the fest. Please get in touch if you are interested in any of the following:

•Attending!
•Tabling (setting up camp to sell yr wares)
•Helping to table for absentee zinesters. We’ll be selling zines from around the world on behalf of zinesters and distros who can’t be with us in person and will need plenty of extra hands
•Donating zines for the communal zine table or materials for workshops
•Hosting a workshop or skill share session
•Appearing on a panel/giving a small talk
•Helping to set up the venue
•Helping out on the day (assisting on the door, introducing folk, acting as point-of-contact for stall holders, visitors and fest attendees)
•Have tips, advice or other contributions to make to the planning stages of the fest.
•Want to offer services not listed above
•Want to host us! We’re still choosing a venue. Ideally, we’re after somewhere roomy, accessible, well-lit and affordable.