shape & situate exhibition at the women's library

On Saturday I made the trip down to London to exhibit large posters from the first two issues of the zine, 'Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women' at Zine Fest! at the Women's Library.

Here's a set of (dodgy) photos that I took of the exhibition. Thanks to all the artists who let me blow their work from the zine up to A3 and include it in the exhibition. So many people complimented the posters, the individual art works, and the project. I also got many offers for contributions to a third issue, so watch this space!
Huge thanks to Footprint for doing such a great job printing up the posters xox














One thing I learned from the experience is that buying pound-shop blue tack for an exhibition is a false economy! Oh, how it failed me! On the photos you will see that only half of the exhibition ended up being mounted on the blue background, and the upper tier of posters are not mounted at all -- I blame this entirely on the blue background not sticking to the wall with the cheap-shit blue tack, and after it fell on my head and the floor countless times I threw a wobbly and chucked the backing in the recycling bin in a huff!!
(Other things I learned from my trip down include the fact that I still get panic attacks on the London Underground, especially when they close entire Lines, like the line taking me to the Women's Library - stressfest! And, the fact that sitting around waiting for delayed coaches then sitting them on for entirely too long brings on my Sciatica like you wouldn't believe. Yowzer, I'm a physical wreck!!)

It was so great to see so many friends and friendly faces at Zine Fest! Congratulations to Red for organising such a great event and getting so many fantastic people in the same space.

Special love goes out from me to Rachael, Patrick, Ed, Colette, Humey, and Charlotte ♥

It was also ridiculously good to meet Erica Smith, A-K Pirata, Sofia Niazi and Kristin Aune.

As a result of Zine Fest! Shape & Situate issue #2 is now available to buy from the following distros:

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

*Ricochet! Ricochet!

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

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

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

*Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/COTL) or search COTL or Shape & Situate on Etsy.

* [Soon] Ms Valerie Park Distro (USA) (http://msvalerieparkdistro.com)


[If you'd like to stock or carry the zine on your distro/in your shop drop me a line!]

charlotte on zine fest

My lovely friend Charlotte has posted about the Shape & Situate exhibition that took place on Saturday at The Women's Library, London as part of Zine Fest! 2011 on her blog, in amongst details of lots of other awesome things that happened on the day. Read all about it here: http://charlotterichardsonandrews.blogspot.com/2011/06/womens-library-zine-fest-25062011.html

reposted at the feminist poster project

Huge thanks to Nina for reposting about 'Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women' zine #2 over at The Feminist Poster Project blog this week

The Feminist Poster Project blog [feministposterproject.wordpress.com] archives and shares feminist posters, postcards and stickers, and there's been plenty of updates recently of materials in various languages fit for reproducing on a wall near you soon!

the reading raum

A photo here:
flickr.com/photos/coldsnapbindery/5771610322/in/set-72157626831769788
of Shape & Situate zine at the opening night of The Reading Raum in Berlin, Germany.

The Reading Raum is a Wunderkabinet hosted exhibition inside Etsy's Berlin Labs.
Split into 'for sale' and 'read only' sections, the exhibition collects together zines, tiny publishers, and paper ephemera.

Looks like a really rad space full of so many ace people's work; I had fun spotting Kristyna Baczynski, Sarah McNeil, and Sara Guindon's work in amongst everything in the photos from the opening night (May 27th) :)

Congratulations to the organiser of the event, Leah Buckareff for putting together such a great collection.

More info here: thewunderkabinet.wordpress.com

zine fest! 2011 -- the latest

Red is doing a great job of organising and lining up this set of delights for Zine Fest! 2011. The current lowdown looks like this:

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Zines are hand-made magazines made for love not money. Requiring few resources to self-publish - just a pen, a piece of paper, access to a photocopier - zines are made on the fringes of journalism, art systems, activist scenes, and bedroom cultures. Basically, they rock.
We're super happy to confirm the 4th Zine Fest! to be happening at The Women's Library, London.
The Women's Library has a growing zine collection, covering the 1970s to now, which was first donated by the Ladyfest London 2001 collective.

The Zine Fest! event in June aims to showcase feminist, queer and women's media projects, hold workshops and discussion spaces, bring together loads of zine makers and stalls, and make connections between different generations of feminist publishing.

The event is free and open to everyone. We hope to see you there!

ZINE FEST 2011

Saturday 25th June 2011, 12pm-4pm, Free

The Women's Library, 25 Old Castle Street, London

(View event on facebook here)


Programme (deets tbc, but here’s a sneak preview so far!):


Workshops & Discussions

12-1.30pm. Comic-Making (Seminar room, ground floor): Hear some tips and tricks about how to make comic strips from Jay Bernard and Rachael House before we all get down and busy and make a page for a collective comic zine. (Dont worry if you cant draw. It don’t matter! There will also be plenty of magazines and stuff to use if you wanna try a collage/drawing mash up page).

1-2pm. Survivor Zines (Friends Room, ground floor): Sarah Tea-Rex will lead this discussion session about surviving sexual violence and creating zine cultures to speak out and support. A trained support person will also be on hand.

1-2.30pm. Stenciling (Activities Room, ground floor): Marti and Alice will show you how to make stencils to use in zines and street art.

2.30-4pm. Feminist Media & Memory Panel (seminar room, ground floor): A look at feminist self-publishing over the past few decades and a chance to learn more about grassroots feminist media history. Speakers include Humaira Saeed from Race Revolt (a contemporary zine on race politics by feminists and queers), Ilona and Rebecca Oliver from Shocking Pink (magazine made by young women in the 80s and 90s), and Sue O’Sullivan from Sheba Press (feminist publishing collective in the 80s who prioritized writing by women of colour and lesbians). Presentations followed by a Q&A session. Chaired by Sita Balani.




Tours

Zine Tours (1.30-2pm and 2-2.30pm. Meet in the Foyer): Catherine and Indy from TWL will do some tours of the library and show you more of the gems and history of the Zine Collection there.



Art Exhibitions (Cafe space, first floor)

Shape & Situate Exhibition: To celebrate the launch of the second issue of Shape & Situate, Melanie Maddison will be exhibiting a collection of DIY feminist history posters of inspirational women from this awesome zine.

More Crackers Please: A beautiful collage and visual archive of feminist/queer/DIY cultural activism in the UK over the past ten years. Made by Bill Savage as part of a backdrop for a Le Tigre karaoke booth, a super cute video of which you can check out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0yumFIbq7U&feature=player_embedded

Feminist Disco Project:With a nod to Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party, Rachael House is inviting people to come and draw a feminist on a paper plate. Past plates will also be on display.

Cross-Stitch Drop-In: Whether you’re a complete beginner or an old hand, kid or adult, come join Lisa Sleeps in some cross-stitching action. Have a bash at stitching animal masks from the Sleeps in Oysters pattern book, or have a go at designing your own.

Interactive Monster Cafe: Squid + International Nobody are serving up deli-style mask-making in the Exhibition hall. Choose a theme or make up your own and select from an assortment of ingredients (cut-outs, markers, glue, wool, glitter.. ) + see what happens! Also, monster-drawing, third-eyes, irresistible cookies and check out their feminist & monster zines.



Stalls (Mezzanine Space, first floor)

Marching Stars ~ Princesa Pirata ~ Other Asias ~ Walrus Zines ~ Fat Quarter ~ Richochet! Richochet! ~ Cherry Bomb Comics ~ Pamflet ~ Storm in a Tea Cup ~ will xyz ~ Vampire Sushi ~ Angry Violist ~ Volume Magazine ~ Scale Trees ~ Jen Claptrap ~ Sarah Tea-Rex ~ Emma Jane Falconer ~ Shebang Magazine ~ Editions of You ~ Alpha Betty ~ Chloe Cook ~ Nest Gallery ~ Girls Get Busy ~ Girls Who Draw ~

(+ more TBC)



Contact: Red Chidgey, chidgeyr@lsbu.ac.uk (http://feministmemory.wordpress.com/)


Documentation of past ZineFests!: http://www.myspace.com/zinefest/blog#!/zinefest/photos

Getting to the Women's Library: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/location.cfm

Accessibility info: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/access.cfm

shape & situate: posters of inspirational european women issue 2

Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women zine issue #2 just came back from the printers looking great and it's all ready to make it's debut at Zine Fest! 2011 on June 25th at The Women's Library, London.



Thank you so much to all the contributors for their brilliant posters: 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.



Shape & Situate is a 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.



After Zine Fest! I'll work on getting the zine available for purchase (online, and via distros), and I'll post links on here once I know what they are.


[N.B: I also collected the large Shape & Situate posters today that will be exhibited as part of Zine Fest! -- I'll be posting a sneak peak of those soon as I'm thrilled at how they turned out :) -- See the Zine Fest! link above for details on all the exhibitions which will feature at the event.]

the internet's not all bad

Having my arm twisted into googling myself didn't turn out to be all doom and gloom (see past 2 posts)...

I also found a lovely set on Flickr by 'Mondoagogo' which includes some lovely images that I'd not seen before from the female comics zine exhibition that I put together for Zine Fest at the Women's Library in 2009 -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mondoagogo/sets/72157613047219261/with/3398348661 (it's kind of spooky/co-incidental timing to be finding this and being reminded of the exhibition, since I'll be collecting from my printers tomorrow the posters which will feature in the exhibition that I'm putting on at the 2011 Zine Fest at The Women's Library on June 25th)

I also stumbled across two really lovely images of a copy of 'Colouring Outside The Lines' zine issue 5, photographed on the desk of Caitlin Shearer who I interviewed for that issue in 2009...
www.flickr.com/photos/caitlinghoster/3731268474 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitlinghoster/3731266406/in/photostream -- I love seeing it nustled on her desk in amongst all her fantastic creativity :)

this is getting depressing now...

Following the post I just wrote below about somebody selling my free work at a profit to themselves, I did some more internet digging (which was a mistake), and have just found more depressing news...
An interview I did with Katy Horan (for Pikaland website in 2010) was re-posted on somebody else's website, (a 'professional' website, called 'Sight Unseen' which comes complete with Vodka advertisements no less, hence they're making money off their site) which is totally not cool; it's not like it would have been difficult to ask permission to use the interview...
Grumble grumble...

making money off my ass

Ewww, I don't really like what I just found... a copy of a *free* zine that I made back in 2004 being sold second hand on Amazon for £5. The very idea makes me queasy...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-Waiting-Doin-yrself-Constructions/dp/B001FVQL92/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307313379&sr=8-1

updated details about zine fest! 2011

(Blurb by Red Chidgey, organiser of Zine Fest! 2011)...

Zines are hand-made magazines made for love not money. Requiring few resources to self-publish - just a pen, a piece of paper, access to a photocopier - zines are made on the fringes of journalism, art systems, activist scenes, and bedroom cultures. Basically, they rock.

We're super happy to confirm the 4th Zine Fest! to be happening at The Women's Library, London.
The Women's Library has a growing zine collection, covering the 1970s to now, which was first donated by the Ladyfest London 2001 collective.

The Zine Fest! event in June aims to showcase feminist, queer and women's media projects, hold workshops and discussion spaces, bring together loads of zine makers and stalls, and make connections between different generations of feminist publishing.

The event is free and open to everyone. We hope to see you there!

ZINE FEST 2011

Saturday 25th June 2011, 12pm-4pm, Free

The Women's Library, 25 Old Castle Street, London


Programme (deets tbc, but here’s a sneak preview so far!):


Workshops & Discussions

Comic-Making 101: Hear some tips and tricks about how to make comic strips from Jay Bernard and Rachael House before we all get down and busy and make a page for a collective comic zine. (Dont worry if you cant draw. It don’t matter! There will also be plenty of magazines and stuff to use if you wanna try a collage/drawing mash up page).

Survivor Zines: Sarah Tea-Rex will lead this discussion session about surviving sexual violence and creating zine cultures to speak out and support, more details to come.

Stenciling: Marti and Alice will show you how to make stencils to use in zines and street art.

Feminist Media History Panel: A look at feminist self-publishing over the past few decades. Speakers include Humaira Saeed from Race Revolt (a contemporary zine on race politics by feminists and queers), Ilona from Shocking Pink (magazine made by young women in the 80s and 90s) and more tbc. Chaired by Sita Balani.


Tours

Zine Tours: Catherine and Indy from TWL will do some tours of the library and show you more of the gems and history of the Zine Collection there.


Art Exhibitions

Shape & Situate Exhibition: To celebrate the launch of the second issue of Shape & Situate, Melanie Maddison will be exhibiting a collection of DIY feminist history posters of inspirational women from this awesome zine.

More Crackers Please: A beautiful collage and visual archive of feminist/queer/DIY cultural activism in the UK over the past ten years. Made by Bill Savage as part of a backdrop for a Le Tigre karaoke booth, a super cute video of which you can check out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0yumFIbq7U&feature=player_embedded

Feminist Disco Project:With a nod to Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party, Rachael House is inviting people to come and draw a feminist on a paper plate. Past plates will also be on display.


Stalls:

Marching Stars ~ Princesa Pirata ~ Other Asias ~ Walrus Zines ~ Fat Quarter ~ Richochet! Richochet! ~ Cherry Bomb Comics ~ Pamflet ~ Storm in a Tea Cup ~ will xyz ~ Vampire Sushi ~ Angry Violist ~ Volume Magazine ~ Scale Trees ~ Jen Claptrap ~ Sarah Tea-Rex ~ Emma Jane Falconer
(+ more TBC)


Contact: Red Chidgey, chidgeyr@lsbu.ac.uk (http://feministmemory.wordpress.com/)


Documentation of past ZineFests!: http://www.myspace.com/zinefest/blog#!/zinefest/photos

Getting to the Women's Library: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/location.cfm

Accessibility info: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/access.cfm

wishing i was still on holiday

laura skilbeck

Laura Skilbeck has drawn a wonderful response to the interview I did with Summer Pierre for Pikaland as part of her daily diary drawings.

You can see it here: http://lauraskilbeck-picturediaries.blogspot.com/2011/05/27th-may-2011-by-lauraskilbeck-on.html

summer pierre interview on pikaland

The interview I did with the awesome Summer Pierre hit the Pikaland website today. Yay!
Read it here: pikaland.com/2011/05/26/artist-interview-summer-pierre

ms valerie park - new website

Ms Valerie Park Distro has a lovely new website: http://msvalerieparkdistro.com with so many really terrific zines for sale. It's one of my favourite distros.

This also means Shape & Situate (issue 1) has got a lovely new page on the site: http://msvalerieparkdistro.com/zines/?artist=Melanie+Maddison Perfect for those wanting to buy S&S from the other side of the pond.

anne alizabeth moore on gender inequality in comics, and her ladydrawers column

I think it's well known amongst my friends that I have a brain-crush on Anne Elizabeth Moore, and here's more proof of why...

I suggest skipping through to about 13:36 til 30:17 of this podcast to hear an interview with Anne Elizabeth Moore: http://matthewf.net/2011/05/19/the-matthew-filipowicz-show-episode-14-with-anne-elizabeth-moore-and-josh-kalven about women in comics ahead of her new project that I got an email about today. I'll paste that email below cuz it's kinda rad and I don't want to paraphrase what AEM has to say or misquote the radness she has in store!


Hi friends,

Exciting news!

Starting in mid-June, I'll be doing a biweekly column on gender in media and comics for Truthout, a progressive news and opinion site on the internet! But this column is unique, because I won't be doing it alone: each installment will be a collaboration with a different artist, mostly (or at least initially) from the comics community.

Some of you are probably familiar with the graphic essays I've been doing since I left the Best American Comics—collaborations with Esther Pearl Watson, Susie Cagle, Christa Donner, and most of the young Chicago comics community for lit pubs and mags like Tin House, Bitch, Annalemma and others. I also teach a course on gender and comics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago that has allowed me to collect, sort through, and play with a whole mess of raw data, stats, and media theory that I look forward to working with you on presenting to the world in as funny a manner as we can collectively muster.

The latest set of data looks at the participation of women in comics creation (approximately 40% of the field) as compared to the number of published pages they are offered (currently between 13-24%) across the spectrum of comics published in the US. Once gathered, we can compare this to, for example, the likelihood that women are to appear sans culottes on comics pages (5.3 times more likely than they are to draw them). We also looked at rape stats (75% of Vertigo books feature a rape or sexual assault), MSRP per book (on average, pages by female creators cost approximately 58% what pages by male creators do), and plain old ridiculousness (that in most cases—in comics, journalism, film, and literature—the experts offered space to weigh in with opinions on these matters are men.)

In addition to statistics, the column will feature interviews with artists that both stayed in (Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel) and left the game (Julie Doucet, Katherine Collins) and will intercut the heaviness with, basically, splash pages. Titled things like, WHY WOMEN CAN'T DRAW GOOD FIGHT SCENES; CUTE GIRL IN THE COMICS SHOP; GET OVER IT, SISTER; and I don't know what-all else. Your funny ideas, however, are welcome. Nay—necessary.

To start with, the column will appear as a regular series of collaborations with various women and trans comics artists: Over the run of the series I aim to involve as many creators as possible. Each assignment will start with a loose script we can finalize together—although all non-text decisions I'll leave to your superior skills—and I'll try to get them to you with a ton of lead time. Final JPG art must come in black with one color of your choice (pink seems popular but is not mandatory) at 800 pixels wide and 1600, 2400, or 3200 pixels tall (your call, depending on how you choose to depict the material) and there will be some flexibility in how many subsequent assignments it takes you to fill out the script. I can currently offer a hundred bucks for totally new work, and $50 for reworked, previously published pieces that fit within the structure (most of these will be print pieces we've collaborated on together, but I'm open to other ideas, too).

Want to get started? I have scripts read to rock it, due as soon as June 8. Just hit me back with a "Yes, please!" and a "I'd be into doing something about __________!" or an "I won't be free until _______" and we can put you in the lineup.

Excited to work with you all!

heart,
aem

international alternative press festival 2011

I sadly can't make it, but the schedule of things happening as part of International Alternative Press Festival 2011 is pretty staggering.
I don't know how Jimi and Co have managed to put so much awesomeness together, but hats off to them!

The festival runs 27th May - 13th June 2011 and there's now an online calendar to help you co-ordinate what you want to do and see and when (cuz there's *a lot* going on).

Things that I wish I could do/see/be at from this festival include:

The Main Fair
28-29 May
A million (or so!!) amazing people have stalls at this bumper event, including some of my favourites:
Sofia Lindh, Stina Johnson, Tanya Meditsky, Dead Trees and Dye, Ed Baldry, Ellen Lindner, Jimi Gherkin, Josie Long, Karoline Rerrie, Footprint Workers Co-op

Plus there's some neat events running throughout the day, including:
3pm – 4.30pm: Play the Anthology Game: A Whores of Mensa Experience.
Comix anthologies like Stripburger play a crucial role in developing new comics talent, and launched the careers of creators like Nick Abadzis, Jessica Abel and Chris Ware. Ellen Lindner (co-editrix of the long-running Whores of Mensa) will lead you through the process of making your own anthology, while introducing you to the history of the anthology in comics.

- - -

Followed later in the week by:

- - -

Team Girl Comic Brainstorm: Comics for Everyone, Let's Make it Happen!
30 May, 15:00 – 17:00
@ Orbital Comics 8 Great Newport Street London WC2H 7JA
Glaswegian zine queen Gillian Hatcher (editor of Team Girl Comics) leads a brainstorming session aimed at - but not exclusive to! - young women. In the punk rock, DIY spirit of Stripburger, we ask: what do women want from comics? And how can we get it? Refreshments will be served for a small donation. http://gillhatcher.tumblr.com/

- - -

The Swedish Collection - An Exhibition of Art by the Students from the Comic Art School on Malmo
Monday 30th May - Sunday 5th June
@ The New Gallery London, SE15 5PY (map)
Alternative Press takes over The New Gallery to feature the work of ten artists from the Comic School in southern Sweden. On 30 May: Introduction to the Malmo Comic Art School by Sarah Klapp, the exhibition's curator, artist and editor at C'est Bon Magazine, followed by an evening with some of the artists.

- - -

i've zine the darkness

Shape & Situate zine is to feature in an Art Zine exhibition in Germany called I've Zine The Darkness. Run by artzine.de the exhibition will take place at the dieschönestadt gallery in Halle from June 3rd to 11th, 2011.

Shape & Situate arrived safely at the gallery, as can be seen here!!

After the exhibition all the zines are to be donated to the library of the Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design in Halle.

zine fest! 2011

I'm going to be London bound in June to put up an exhibition of the posters from Shape & Situate zine (#s 1&2) as part of the always-great Zine Fest! at The Women's Library...

Facebook event page here

(Blurb by Red Chidgey, organiser of Zine Fest! 2011)

Zines are hand-made magazines made for love not money. Requiring few resources to self-publish - just a pen, a piece of paper, access to a photocopier - zines are made on the fringes of journalism, art systems, activist scenes, and bedroom cultures. Basically, they rock.

We're super happy to confirm the 4th Zine Fest! to be happening at The Women's Library, London.
The Women's Library has a growing zine collection, covering the 1970s to now, which was first donated by the Ladyfest London 2001 collective.

The Zine Fest! event in June aims to showcase feminist, queer and women's media projects, hold workshops and discussion spaces, bring together loads of zine makers and stalls, and make connections between different generations of feminist publishing.

The event is free and open to everyone. We hope to see you there!

ZINE FEST 2011

Saturday 25th June 2011, 12pm-4pm, Free

The Women's Library, 25 Old Castle Street, London

Programme (tbc): Comic-Making 101, Survivor Zines, Stenciling, Feminist Media History Panel, Zine Tours, Shape & Situate Exhibition.


Contact: Red Chidgey, chidgeyr@lsbu.ac.uk (http://feministmemory.wordpress.com/)


Stalls: Marching Stars ~ Princesa Pirata ~ Other Asias ~ Walrus Zines ~ Fat Quarter ~ Richochet! Richochet! ~ Cherry Bomb Comics ~ Pamflet ~ Storm in a Tea Cup ~ will xyz ~ Vampire Sushi ~ Angry Violist ~ Volume Magazine ~ Scale Trees ~ Jen Claptrap ~ Sarah Tea-Rex ~ Emma Jane Falconer


Documentation of past ZineFests!: http://www.myspace.com/zinefest/blog#!/zinefest/photos

Getting to the Women's Library: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/location.cfm

Accessibility info: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/about/access.cfm

zinefest at the women's library 2011

I'm looking forward to exhibiting something special at the 2011 Women's Library Zinefest being held on Sat June 25th in London.
More news on that soon but in the meantime check out more details on the Fest: feministmemory.wordpress.com/zinefest-2011

khaela presents...

Oh, how I can identify with a lot of this!
I love Khaela so much for her eternal honesty.

http://teenagefilm.com/archives/dear-diary/khaela-presents-teenage-lesbian-role-model

queer youth music projects

Two projects came to my attention today...

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My friend Ste McCabe writes, 'Anybody interested in supporting young LGBT people in Manchester getting onstage for the first time in their lives and performing, and giving them a massive boost with happy cheers etc, please come and support this event next Saturday 14th for International Day Against Homophobia'
The event in question is:

IDAHO Down
14 May
19:30 - 22:30
Nexus Art Cafe, Dale Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester. UK
Doors: 7:30pm
Tickets: £3 on the door

This year LGBT Youth North West are marking International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia with our music event IDAHO Down!

IDAHO Down will be taking place on Saturday 14th May at Nexus Art Cafe, Dale Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter, and is aimed at encouraging LGBT young people to compose music with local artists.

On the night artists will perform their own set, then each be joined on stage by the young people to perform the song they have composed together.

Performing are:

Ste McCabe
http://www.ste-mccabe.co.uk/
This Morning Call
http://www.thismorningcall.com/
Awesome Wells
http://www.myspace.com/itsawesomewells
Becca Williams
http://www.beccaandthebrokenbiscuits.co.uk/
Plus special guests.


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&

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QUEER ROCK CAMP

Queer Rock Camp is a brand new day camp for youth ages 12 - 20 starting this summer in Olympia, WA. USA, Official camp week is AUGUST 8th - AUGUST 13th!

Mission Statement:
Queer Rock Camp is a music camp for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual youth and their allies. Through instrument instruction, band practice, and workshops, Q.R.C aims to empower youth by building confidence, fostering and strengthening peer alliances, and dismantling gender binaries. Q.R.C aspires to promote queer visibility in music through L.G.B.T.Q.Q.I.A and allied instructors, mentors, and visiting performers.

We need your support to raise money to make this a free program for youth who need a voice! All of our staff is volunteer, and is working year round to make things happen. The money that is raised will go to paying for camp locations, musical equipment, food items for volunteers and campers that is not donated, showcase venue, art supplies, workshop materials, press / printing needs and much more!

For more information, visit our website www.stonewallyouth.org/queerrockcamp
http://www.indiegogo.com/Queer-Rock-Camp
OR send us an email queerrockcamp@gmail.com

sistershow revisited opens this week

In the first issue of Shape & Situate zine, Deborah Withers made a poster about Pat VT West; Pat was one of the creative forces behind Sistershow. Sistershow was the amateur feminist theatre branch of the Bristol Women's Liberation Movement. They used humour, dramatics and art to explore the feminist issues of the time. They challenged stereotypes about the humour-less feminist whilst exploring new forms of gender and sexual identities.

Deborah has been working really hard over the past year in her role as project coordinator to put together a series of exhibitions and events that open this week: Sistershow Revisited. This is the result of years worth of research and interviews that Debi has been doing.

http://sistershowrevisited.wordpress.com




This May an exhibition (funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) about Sistershow and the history of the Bristol WLM (1973-1974) is being held in Bristol.

The exhibtion aims to invoke the spirit of Sistershow for contemporary audiences. It will include participatory educational activities that will enable visitors to reflect upon the gender and sexual politics of the 1970s, as well as our own era.

To accompany the exhibition there will be also be a catalogue which will include the research generated by the project, commentary and analysis.


The Sistershow Revisited exhibition, is open 7 days a week from 7-26 May at Centrespace Gallery, Bristol UK
Opening times:
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday 11am-5pm

There's loads going on alongside the actual exhibition. The full programme of events is here: http://sistershowrevisited.wordpress.com/events

the women's liberation music archive

From my inbox, from the ace Deborah Withers...


THE WOMEN’S LIBERATION MUSIC ARCHIVE

Feminist music-making from the 1970s and 80s

Press release for 1st May, 2011

An exciting new online resource is launched today: the Women’s Liberation Movement Music Archive, at http://womensliberationmusicarchive.wordpress.com

This project documents the bands, musicians and musical projects that were part of, or influenced by, the great burgeoning of cultural creativity generated by the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) of the 1970s and 80s.
During this era, women’s music, film and theatre groups, visual art, literature, performance art, street theatre and other activities proliferated, fusing artistic activities with politics to develop and express feminist ideas. Feminist bands and musicians were not solely about providing great entertainment but embodied a world-changing commitment to putting politics into practice and advancing women’s rights. Challenging sexism and stereotyped gender roles, their lyrics and style reflected the values of the WLM. They were a vital and integral part of the movement, yet are often omitted from or marginalised by the media and historical accounts. Many operated outside the commercial mainstream or alternative circuits – or indeed were oppositional to them – and are not widely known about. Most were self-funded, grassroots groups who worked on a shoestring and many were unable to create lasting material.

Concerned that this part of women’s history is at risk of being lost, Archive Co-ordinators Dr Deborah Withers and Frankie Green believe the achievements of these music-makers should be mapped and celebrated. This work-in-progress collection comprises testimonies and interviews, discographies, gigographies and memorabilia including photographs, videos, recordings, flyers, press clippings and posters, plus links to ongoing women’s music-making and feminist activism. The project is an independent, voluntary and (as yet) unfunded venture. Funding possibilities and a safe eventual home for the physical archive are being investigated.

All women who were involved in women’s music – as solo artists, in bands, as DJs, MCs, in distribution networks, recording studios, photographers, journalists, events organisers, etc – are invited to contact and contribute to the project.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT wlmmusicarchive@gmail.com

FWSA looking for cover illustrations

from my inbox...

Email administrator@fwsa.org.uk for more details


The Feminist and Women's Studies Association (UK & Ireland) is pleased to announce a new initiative in search for original and exciting cover illustrations for its biannual newsletter. We encourage artists, photographers and illustrators to submit a piece of their work for consideration as a cover image. Images should be – in the broadest possible sense – inspired by or relatable to the topics of women, gender and/or feminism. Artists whose work is selected for our newsletter cover will receive a feature in the form of an interview and/or prose piece in the same issue as well as a free copy of the newsletter. Please see below and attached for detailed submission guidelines and a submission form.



The FWSA Newsletter is a biannual publication with a readership of nearly 300 national and international subscribers from a wide range of disciplines and interest areas related to women, gender and feminism. In addition, the newsletter is distributed at a variety of conferences and locations relevant to FWSA’s remit. The newsletter is published in January and July.



Submission Requirements



Submissions can be made throughout the year, but must fulfil the following requirements. If you have any questions about the scheme, please email administrator@fwsa.org.uk. For more information about the FWSA please visit www.fwsa.org.uk.



1. Work submitted must be accompanied by the entry form available at www.fwsa.org.uk.

2. Images must be the original work of the artist(s) submitting the entry.

3. Image must not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

4. Any one artist or team of collaborating artists may submit no more than two images in any one calendar year.

5. Images must be suitable (in size and quality) for publication on an A4 cover page.

6. Submissions must be made in electronic format as a pdf file.

7. Artist(s) submitting images must be available and agree to provide information on themselves and their work for a feature in the FWSA newsletter if their work is accepted.

8. Images must be inspired by or relatable to the topics of feminist, women’s and/or gender studies. We suggest artists who are considering a submission request a free electronic copy of a previous newsletter from the FWSA administrator (administrator@fwsa.org.uk) in order to get a better idea of the FWSA’s remit and the newsletter’s focus.

9. Acceptance and rejection of images is entirely at the digression of the FWSA Newsletter editor.

10. Images accepted will be used for the next possible issue (be this the next or a later one).

11. The FWSA reserves the right to distribute newsletter issues for publicity purposes as its committee members see fit.

--
Katya Salmi
Administrator

Feminist and Women's Studies Association (UK & Ireland)
www.fwsa.org.uk

great anarchists zine event

Peter Willis is hosting an event to re-launch his zine, 'Great Anarchists' on 27 April at Sauna, Great Hoxton St, London, 6-9pm.

At the event, to mark the 4th pressing of the zine, Pete will be exhibiting drawings from the zine and has made a new video about anarchism made from youtube videos. Pete will also be selling copies of the zine as well as other related zines.

The Great Anarchists flier blurb reads:

A collection of anarchist portraiture, incendiary quotations and new video work exploring the relevance and history of anarchist thought and practice.

Peter Willis' zine Great Anarchists has sold over 350 copies to date and this launch marks it's 4th print run. Collecting 20 portraits and quotes from theoretically and historically important anarchists, it was described by Maximum Rocknroll as 'drawn with a weirdo's hand'

!women art revolution

There's a post online HERE featuring all the upcoming North American screenings of Lynn Hershman's amazing looking film, !Women Art Revolution which I'm itching to see, so fingers crossed it heads over the pond for UK screenings pronto!
There's an interview with Lynn Hershman about the documentary here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/us/15bcculture.html?_r=2

For over forty years, Director Lynn Hershman Leeson has collected hundreds of hours of interviews with visionary artists, historians, curators and critics who shaped the beliefs and values of the Feminist Art Movement and reveal previously undocumented strategies used to politicize female artists and integrate women into art structures.
!W.A.R. features Miranda July, The Guerilla Girls, Yvonne Rainer, Judy Chicago, Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, B. Ruby Rich, Ingrid Sischy, Carolee Schneemann, Miriam Schapiro, Marcia Tucker and countless other groundbreaking figures.

open call for new books from feminist writers on feminist art

From my inbox (via nparadoxa)... (I wish I wasn't feeling this poorly, otherwise I'd be jumping on this... fingers crossed I get the hell better soon enough to engage properly with this)


Open Call for writers on feminist art: KT press books


Open Call for new books from feminist writers on feminist art

KT press, publishers of n.paradoxa, are planning a new book series on feminist art theory and the work of contemporary women artists (visual arts only, post-1970) – for late 2011 into 2012. This new series could be characterised as a return to the 18th century tradition of pamphleteering – with a modern digital twist and an ISBN!

It is intended that each book in the series will be an e-book, sold and circulated at low cost as PDFs, from KT press’ website. Each book will contain around 40 pages of text and images. The first series will contain 5-10 books.

KT press holds the view that feminism in relation to the visual arts is a contentious subject but it is also an open question about the relationship between art, aesthetics and politics which needs to be debated, especially with regard to the work of women artists. Authors must specify which feminist ideas they are engaging with and where their views of feminism originate. New perspectives and a critical consideration of the legacy of feminism will be valued in selecting this series.

The aim of the series is to publish books containing:-

a) collected conference papers or panel discussions on or about feminist art

b) translations of writings about feminist art from any language into English for the first time (with commentaries).

c) discussions of a single woman artist’s work by one or several authors including documentation of their projects (where no monograph exists)

d) collected writings / performance scripts / art notes by a woman artist on art and her practice (Poems will not be considered).

e) new polemics about feminist-art-theory and feminist art criticism arising from a single author or a discussion between feminists.

f) essays engaging in future thinking about feminism in the visual arts or written as new manifestos for the future.

g) extended discussions of curation or exhibitions as forms of feminist reading or praxis or essays written bringing together works to form virtual exhibitions “of our wishes”.

Ideas developed from theses (MA to PhD) will be considered but authors are asked not to send the thesis itself, only a summary of the key arguments and a description of the subject. Women who have not published a book before are encouraged to apply, if they are prepared to develop their ideas in co-operation with the publisher.

Ideas based in post-structuralist approaches to language, psychoanalysis and social critique of art and politics, cyberfeminist thinking, exploring new art forms, feminist post-colonial critiques, feminisms of the North and South/ East and West, approaches to global diasporas in contemporary art, issue-based political thinking about questions of social justice in relation to contemporary art are all welcome.

KT press operates as a not-for-profit company. Fees to authors will be paid as a royalty on copies sold. Potential authors should write to Katy Deepwell at KT press, sending an outline of their idea for an e-book. katy@ktpress.co.uk

callout for bike workshop space in leeds

Repost on behalf of Hannah (yes, I know I don't ride a bike, but it doesn't mean I don't care!):


*****CALLOUT FOR BIKE WORKSHOP SPACE IN LEEDS (UK) - PLEASE FORWARD/SHARE*****


Hi friends, strangers, bike riders and space holders.

This is an urgent callout for a NEW SPACE from which to run The Pedallers Arms, Leeds' very own DIY bike co-op.

WHO ARE WE?

We are a co-operative of volunteer bike mechanics who help the people of Leeds to fix up their own bikes. We provide tools, books, time and space (until now) to enable them to do this. We have been running popular twice-weekly drop in sessions since October 2010, with an ever increasing membership. You can read more about us, including more on our aims and equal opportunities policy, on our website:

http://pedallers-arms.org/


WHAT DO WE NEED?

For reasons that are beyond our control, The Common Place is due to close on the 1st May 2011. This means that Pedallers needs a NEW SPACE. We have some ideas as to what this could be like and are hoping you might be able to help. We would really like it to be somewhere that could be ours, although we are definitely up for the possibilities of sharing with other groups (or bands, artists?) providing our needs and hours were compatible. We can pay but not loads.

Can you help? This is what we need:

Essential

- 55m^2 (600 sq ft) working space

- 10m^3 (650 cubic feet) for storage

- Access to a toilet and sink

- Light

- Reasonably central location

- Lockable


Desirable

- Enough space for a social area

- High enough ceilings to suspend bikes, frames etc above head height.

- City centre location


WHY DO WE NEED IT?

You can read more about why The Common Place is closing on the website: http://www.thecommonplace.org.uk/component/content/article/1-news-and-announcements/220-the-weekend-of-the-23rd-24th-april-will-be-the-common-places-last.html

The Common Place has been an invaluable space to us and countless other groups and individuals over the years, come and say goodbye on the weekend of the 22nd/23rd.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Do you know somewhere that might suit us? You can get in touch at info@pedallers-arms.org. Or please forward this email to anyone or any other lists that you think might know somewhere.

Many many thanks in advance

The Pedallers Arms

distractions from reality

For the main part I don't write personal stuff on this blog as it's not what it's here for, but sometimes I can't help myself from sitting in a silent rage about some of the nastyness I see in the 'community' that I am supposedly part of, one in which gossip and exclusion and segregation occurs that makes others feel like they can't even be a part of anything at all any more, or indeed even feel like they can leave the house somedays.

I shouldn't let it get me down the way it does. So in the dead of night on days when I feel like this I sit and watch music videos that feature stuffed toy animals and try to pretend that I'm fine and that everything's OK and that one day me and others will be 'allowed' back in the club, for what it's worth.


Here's some of those videos:

sara guindon interview

The interview I did with Sara Guindon of The Pin Pals has gone online at Pikland today. You can read it here: http://pikaland.com/2011/03/31/artist-interview-sara-guindon
I ♥ Sara!

section from interview in magnet

The latest Mecca Normal series in MAGNET Magazine has a section of an an interview I did with David Lester that first appeared in my zine 'With Arms Outstretched'. I'm really pleased that the interview is getting a new lease of life!

tales of the sissy

Aorta Magazine Presents! Tales of the Sissy: writing queer life in the city

25 April · 19:00 - 21:00
At: Million Fishes Art Gallery, san Francisco

San Francisco’s new queer reading series and open mic extravaganza!!

Please join us for the inaugural evening of San Francisco’s new queer reading series and open mic extravaganza: Tales of the Sissy. This cost-free evening of literary delights is sponsored by Aorta Magazine, and features the linguistic geniuses Jen Currin, Meliza Bañales, Amanda Davidson, and Anna Pulley. These writers, traveling far and wide from such exotic lo...cales as Vancouver, Canada, Los Angeles and Bernal Heights, will regale you with readings on this month’s theme: Writing Queer Life in the City.

The cast includes an exquisitely captivating poet, a zinester, film-maker, multi-media artist, social-media sass-master, and a spoken-word savant.

After the features, our audience will be encouraged to make sweet love to the mic. Stories, poems, flash-fiction, essays and maniacal rants which paint portraits of urban tribes, spin yarns of metropolitan adventures, lament the inability to avoid a seething hoard of ex-lovers as you navigate the concrete jungle, or otherwise interpret the theme in unexpected ways, are wholly encouraged. Sign-ups for the open mic portion of the evening are limited by time, and will begin at 6:45 before our
featured readers light up the night.

mary tremonte ♥

Mary Tremonte's Queer Scouts Patch and Poster Set sold over at Justseeds is pretty high on my coveting list today :)

reason 1004 of why i love maya hayuk

Maya Hayuk, GAZE, December 2010, 48' wall installation at SCOPE Art Fair, Miami, FL

mixed race the graphic novel

Thea Lim and Elisha Lim are working on an illustrated documentary about what it’s like to come from mixed backgrounds. We’re doing it because that's what we are, and if you are too, we’re curious to hear about, write about and draw about you.

One Hundred Percent is an illustrated documentary about what it means to be mixed. Are you a mixed race person of colour? Answer our questionnaire!

http://onehundredpercentmixed.tumblr.com

i'm enjoying this today

international alternative press festival

From my inbox from the ace Jimi Gherkin:


International Alternative Press Festival 2011
27 May - 12 June 2011


Friday 27th May
Festival Opening Party!
The Miller, London Bridge

Performance by Resonance Radio Orchestra; an ensemble of musicians and actors from Resonance 104.4FM, London's independent arts radio station. Collaborating with live illustration by artists from home and overseas.

Saturday 28th - Sunday 29th May
Alternative Press Fair
Conway Hall, London

A fair where artists will be exhibiting and selling their self-published comix, zines, art books, prints, radical literature and poetry. Three rooms of workshops and talks including Andy Simons from the British Library, screen-printing workshops and a reading area with Zine Swap.

Saturday 28th May - 13th June 2011
Exhibition
Orbital Comics, London
Artists, workshops, talks and more TBC

Monday 30th May - 5th June 2011
Exhibition & Events
New Gallery London
Including a film night, storytelling, poetry and zine sleep- over! With a live printing event at the end of the week.
Artists TBC

Monday 30th May - 5th June 2011
Exhibition/ Live collaborative art project
Sassoon Gallery, London

shape & situate 2 - submissions open

[EDIT: The deadline for submissions has been extended until the end of April 2011]

Are you from Europe? Would you like to be part of Shape & Situate zine #2 by making a poster on an inspirational European woman?


Here's a mini-blurb explaining what Shape & Situate is all about:

It's a zine of posters made by artists and DIY creatives 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 bring women’s social and political history to life.


The deadline for contributions to issue 2 is the very end of March 2011, would you like to be a part of it?

If so, and you haven't already, please do send me your ideas for who you'd like to make a poster of so that I can check there's no duplications. There's been some brilliant suggestions and submissions so far - thanks so much!


What I'm looking for:

- A black & white poster (to be emailed as a Jpeg, or posted to me so that I can scan the original if that's easier for you)

- The poster will be reproduced in the zine at A5 size (in case that affects how you'd like to present your work?)

- The poster will tell the history of or share information on a radical or inspirational *European* woman (or women's collective) in poster-form. I'm looking at European women as a focus with this zine, as very often a lot of projects similar to this one have been so American-heavy and I feel it really omits a lot of amazing European women from being discussed (this is not to say that women outside of Europe are not inspirational, obviously).

- By 'woman' I mean female-identified.

- Where possible, the poster will take as it's subject somebody/a collective who isn't already readily documented within our history. I would love for the zine to raise awareness of amazing women (living or deceased) who have largely gone under the radar, or who are within our own communities.

- All the information you want to share about your subject must fit within the confines of your poster so that each page stands alone.



I hope this is something you'll be interested in being a part of. Let me know if so - I'd love to hear your ideas!


Love Melanie xox

(m_k_maddison@hotmail.com)


P.S: The latest news on where Issue 1 can be found: http://remember-who-u-are.blogspot.com/2011/01/shape-and-situate-zine-latest.html

dishin the dirt: a queer compendium

From my inbox from the always amazing Lex Non Scripta ♥ :


((Please forward and repost widely))



Announcing:
Dishin' the Dirt: A Queer Compendium
- a zine to be released in conjunction with Dirtstar 2011



You've just created the most delicious meal, an unbeatably brilliant tincture, the best new planter for your balcony garden, the greatest scheme for sustainable queer separatism, a spectacularly penned commentary on food justice. Ain't it a shame if you don't share it?

Yes.

We want your veggie recipes, ideas, illustrations, diatribes, project instructions, clever plots, homesteading pointers, critiques, and succinct discourses on growing/sustaining/eating. Queerly.

The zine will be:
-digest sized – 5 1/2 x 8 1/2"
-black and white, with a fancy cover
-sent freely to each contributor
-released on the night of Dirtstar's performance spectacular: June 19th.

Please submit ASAP, or by MAY 7th, 2011


EMAIL questions/submission to artxxlex@gmail.com
MAIL to: Dirtstar! / 2501 Bryant St / San Francisco CA 94110 USA

*Please also include a one or two sentence bio and your contact info, if you'd like it printed!*

***
About Dirtstar
Despite queer histories of seeking less harmful ways of living –lesbian lands, radical faeire lands, urban queer collectives- creative queer visions of sustainability are often missing in the current heteronormative ‘green’ movement.

In a third and final episode, Dirtstar 2011 will Take Root at the Tenderloin National Forest / Luggage Store Annex with a Visual Arts Residency. This show is about honoring the lived experience of queers, honoring our process of having to shift through the detritus of this culture to find ourselves, our herstories, our culture, and each other. It’s about how we sustain ourselves, our culture, our aesthetic, our spirituality, and the world around us. The work showcased will consist of artwork that utilizes found objects, re/appropriated imagery, and recontextualized traditions—in the process revealing the way that this work pushes queer culture and art forward.

With how-tos, tastings, rituals, and closing Performance Night, Dirtstar 2011: Take Root will continue to showcase and share essential sustainable living skills that expand the world queers have been creating for decades.

http://dirtstar2011.wordpress.com

oxford zine fair 2011 - apply for stalls

From my inbox:


Hi,

I'm contacting you because I thought you might be interested in having a stall at a zine fair I'm helping to organise in Oxford on Saturday 9th April. The fair is part of 'Editions Of You', a month-long exhibition celebrating DIY musicians and handmade releases, and there's a bit more info on the webpage here: http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/event/editions_of_you_at_the_o3_gallery_2011

I really hope you might be interested - if you are then let me know and I'll send you a booking form. Price wise - a 2x2ft stall at the fair will cost £10 (as cheap as we can make it, I'm afraid, without losing more money than we have), 4x2ft and 6x2ft stalls are available on request (probably about £15 and £20 respectively).

Also, I would be really grateful if you could help spread the word about this in any way.

Best,

Ellis (ellisjones@gmail.com)

born in flames: the publication

Wow! Jenny Woolworth's Women In Punk Blog just brought me the news of the 'comic book' version of the film Born In Flames that's being made by Kaisa Lassinaro.
It looks all sorts of amazing!!
They need financial help to get it published though, so you can pre-order and learn more about the project here: http://occasionalpapers.org/?page_id=1175
They're looking to raise £3,727 by 15 April 2011, in order to get the book printed by June 2011

pikaland's fundraising for the japanese relief efforts

http://pikaland.com/2011/03/16/japan-earthquake-tsunami-fundraiser

i-sho shout out

From my inbox, from Emma Thatcher:


Attention all Feminists that are Artists! Performers! Writers! Activists!

We are looking for submissions for our art show....
As women we create and claim our own challenging art. Send us questioning and incisive women’s art, feminist art, images of how you critically see the world; conceptual art; dialogues about feminist art; art critiquing patriarchy. (Haven’t you, like us, seen enough sexualised images of women?)

I-SHO will present a exciting feminist gaze, as we are all formed by the images we create as well as those we consume.

73 Women are women artists using all art media to address issues affecting women and girls worldwide.

I’S, SHES, HERS AND OURS will be in Stoke Newington (London, UK) during JULY 2011

Deadline for submission is 5pm, 4th April 2011.
Please send up to 3 JPG images Under 1MG with a short statement (100 wordsmax), saying why your work is feminist/ challenging the notions of gender/identity and 100 words about you/as artist.

email to 73women@phonecoop.coop

Costs will be shared - the gallery is paid for
http://73women.webs.com

thirtynothing

Brooklyn Arts Exchange Presents:
thirtynothing
Written & Performed by Dan Fishback

April 8-9, 2011 @ 8:00 pm
April 10, 2011 @ 6:00 pm

Dan Fishback’s thirtynothing is a multi-media solo performance exploring the generation gap between gay men who died during the early years of AIDS and gay men who were born during those same years. A sort of “performance zine,” the show incorporates images of work by lost gay artists, images and drawings from Fishback’s own childhood, and stories from the lives of various gay men who lived, died, and grew up during the 80s and early 90s. Fishback underscores this monologue-based piece using small instruments like casios and ukuleles to paint an intimate, mournful and quirky portrait of gay life during and after a catastrophe. Marking both the 30th anniversary of AIDS and Fishback’s 30th birthday, thirtynothing memorializes the fallen while posing critical questions to all who survive.

Tickets: Advance (online): $12 General | $7 Low-Income
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/163045
At the Door (30 minutes before showtime): $15 General | $8 Low-Income

Direction Consultant: Stephen Brackett
Technical Director: Ardi Kuhn
Production Intern: Steve Drum

thirtynothing is being developed through artists residencies at Brooklyn Arts Exchange and Yaddo, along with a grant from the Franklin Furnace Fund. This grant was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Major support of the Franklin Furnace Fund was provided in 2010-11 by the Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, and Jerome Foundation.


* * *

Of the project, Dan writes: "thirtynothing" is probably the most rewarding project I've ever worked on. It's about queer history, and the unsung stories of gay artists who died of AIDS. In my research for this performance, I've encountered so many brilliant artists, I've talked to so many brilliant people, and I've witnessed profound footage of ACT-UP's greatest triumphs. The experience has been overwhelming and life-changing. It's an experience everyone should have, and they shouldn't have to undergo a huge research project to do so.

all-girl bands book

Julia Downes is seeking the final few writers for her all-girl bands book. She's looking for folks into writing a chapter about (i) punk, post-punk, (ii) 1950s & 60s girl groups, (iii) grunge and riot grrrl/ladyfest/girls rock camp.

Full details of the book project and the editorial brief for what she's looking for are on her blog, at: http://evencleanhandscausedamage.wordpress.com/books

girls who draw - magic show

Girls Who Draw invite you to their Magic Show, an exhibition of new artwork created for Solihull Gallery.

04 April - 11 June

Magic Show brings together a diverse group of women illustrators from the West Midlands and beyond including London, Leeds, Norwich and Edinburgh. Exhibitors are Jane Anderson, Mina Braun, Helen Entwisle, Ruth Green, Kate Hindley, Mary Kilvert, Sarah Lippett, Beth Morrison, Sarah Ray, Karoline Rerrie and Daisy Whitehouse, a mix of recent graduates, emerging and experienced illustrators.

Each illustrator has interpreted the theme of magic in their own distinctive style and created new work especially for the gallery. They have used the opportunity to explore hidden talents and different abilities which they don’t often get the chance to showcase when producing two dimensional illustrations. The group has stitched, paper cut, painted, printed and conjured up an array of unusual artwork to fill the whole gallery interior ranging from small artists’ books to hand sewn characters and large scale installations.

Magic Show accompanies the latest publication from Girls Who Draw, a group of women illustrators who have collaborated on a series of limited edition postcard books and exhibitions.

Magic Show Private View in the G1 Gallery Thursday 7th April 6.15pm – 7.30pm




Solihull Central Library and Arts Complex
Homer Road
Solihull
B913RG

www.solihull.gov.uk/gallery



Plus:

Illustration & Print Fair with ‘Live Drawing’ event at Solihull Central Library and Arts Complex Saturday 4th June 10am - 5pm
A chance to buy limited edition prints, books, handmade cards and other unique artwork from the exhibitors. They will also be running a ‘live drawing event’ where everyone is invited to come and participate in large scale drawing sessions throughout the day.

Plus:

Illustrators Afternoon Tea in the G1 Gallery
Thursday 14th April 3.30pm – 8.00pm

Join the Magic Show exhibitors for tea & cake. Networking event with informal open portfolio reviews led by London based illustrator Mary Kilvert www.marykilvert.com & local illustrator Sarah Ray www.sarahray.co.uk, an opportunity for attendees to share their work with the group, get useful feedback & encouragement.

kristyna baczynski interview for pikaland

The interview I did with Kristyna Baczynski has gone online at Pikaland today.
Kristyna is so totally rad and I loved doing this interview with her :)

old zines back on sale

I was just having a bit of a sort out/clear out and found a stash of old unsold copies of Reassess Your Weapons zine issues 8, 9 and 10 (2008-2009)
Reassess Your Weapons was a collective feminist/queer zine from Leeds, UK.

I've put them on sale for cheap at my etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/COTL?ref=si_shop

hexjibber's flash video lessons

Anybody wanting to learn how to make animations with Flash? The rather rad Andy Sykes, aka Hexjibber has recently revamped his website and there are now loads of video lessons for Flash, for free on there: www.hexjibber.com/learn-flash

devon smith interview for pikaland

The interview I did with Devon Smith has gone online at Pikaland today.
I heart Devon's work so much!

fragen project

A link to Red Chidgey's Feminist Memory blog, with info on the Fragen Project, a Europe-wide feminist archive initiative, covering 29 countries, aimed to select and digitise key feminist texts from the 1960s to now, making feminist texts free and available online: http://feministmemory.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/the-fragen-project

sigh, oh, that ocean thwarts me yet again

If I were there, I would like to be at these:

Looking at Music 3.0

Looking at Music 3.0, the third in a series of exhibitions exploring the influence of music on contemporary art practices, focuses on New York in the 1980s and 1990s.

At MOMA, New York, February 16–June 6, 2011

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1147

- - -

WOMEN IN MEDIA WOMEN IN MUSIC PANEL

Mindy Abovitz (Creator/Editor Tom Tom Magazine) - Moderator
Kim Gordon - (Sonic Youth musician, Producer)
Marisa Meltzer - (Author of Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music)
Shirley Braha - (Producer/Creator New York Noise) & Smith alum!

Saturday February 19th @ 2pm
Smith College
CC Carroll Room
(NORTHAMPTON, MA. USA)

Free//Open to the Public

patty schemel documentary

Link to the kickstarter site which is seeing backers/funding for an upcoming documentary on 'The Life and Near Death of Patty Schemel': http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1311716422/hit-so-hard-the-life-and-near-death-story-of-patty



www.pattydoc.com
http://twitter.com/hitsoharddoc

towards new forms of queer belonging? manchester feb 25th

From my inbox, from Humaira, who is kicking ass, as per usual :) ...



Toward New Forms of Queer Belonging?
A day of workshops, 11am -7pm
Friday Feb 25th 2011, in Manchester

Following on from the Interrogating Queer Modes of Belonging reading series, these workshops will challenge the ways in which gay rights are increasingly being used in nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric and ask what possibilities there are for an effective queer solidarity.

At the LGBT Community Centre, Sidney St:
1100 Welcome, tea and coffee
1130-1300 Belonging: reading group follow-on discussion
1300-1400 Lunch (on donation)
1400-1600 Coalitions and Solidarity: discussion

At the University of Manchester, A113 Samuel Alexander Building:
1700-1900 Roundtable Discussion between activist researchers working on homonationalisms and anti-racist queer solidarities; with Jin Haritaworn (Helsinki), Suhraiya Jivraj (Oxford), Adi Kuntsman(Manchester), and Jennifer Petzen (Berlin).

At Trof Deaf Institute (basement), Grosvenor St:
1900 onwards - Social for an informal continuation of the conversation... with buffet (on donation), performance from Jaheda Choudhury and Col Bashir, and dj blackrainbow.

the workshop is free to attend and open to all but please emailracerevolt@riseup.net to register your interest so we have an idea of numbers.

Check www.racerevolt.org.uk/events/home.html for updates and further information; this event is a collaboration between Race Revolt ‘zine and Manchester Queer Reading Group.

Please forward to anyone you think might be interested.

shakedown

From my inbox, from k8 Hardy:


Hello!
I am writing to ask you to support Leilah Weinraub's documentary, Shakedown.
It is a feature-length video documentary about the history of LA's black lesbian nightclub scene and it's rad and hot and smart.
We need this information for the world. Leilah is doing the kickstarter thing where you have to get all the money pledged in time (February 7th).
Check it out: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1889777212/shakedown

:)

Agnes Barton-Sabo (aka Betty Turbo), you're making a whole lot of sense to me tonight :)

shape and situate zine - the latest

'Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women' zine



This zine is made up of of posters made by artists and DIY creatives 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.

Contributers include: Nina Nijsten, Jo Harrison, Flo Brooks, Molly Askey-Goldsbury, Sarah Francis, Stephanie Young, Erica Smith, Verity Hall, Jenny Howe, Red Chidgey, Deborah M. Withers, Siân Williams, Emily Aoibheann, Sarah Maple, Charlotte Cooper, Ralph Fox, Jay Bernard, Gladys Badhands, Isy Morgenmuffel, Rachael House, and Lauren Hutchinson.



The zine is available (if still in stock) from the following places:

Deny Everything Distro (Rome)
Ricochet Ricochet distro (UK)
Marching Stars Distro (UK)
Dear Soeurs Distro (UK)
Ms Valerie Park Distro (US)
Dead Trees And Dye (UK)
Ink Spot Book Shop (Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, Ireland)
Canny Little Library (Newcastle, UK)
Good Grief! (Manchester, UK)
Folksy
Etsy


Submissions to issue 2 of the zine are now being accepted. Please do get in touch and contribute a poster:


[EDIT: The deadline for submissions has been extended until the end of April 2011. Please see: http://remember-who-u-are.blogspot.com/2011/03/shape-situate-2-submissions-open.html for details on how to contribute]

pictoplasma berlin

I am beyond jealous of anybody at all who may be going to Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin in April. Waaaa!