#qtipoc art

[slave2freedom]

Evan Ifekoya in a page from Fear Brown Queers by Jacob V Joyce

http://www.evanifekoya.co.uk/

https://vimeo.com/evanifekoya

[evanifekoya-blog]

Iniva Performance Re edit audio transcript 

I had a performance all planned out and I was going to present it to you this evening, in this space. Last night, due to a culmination of events, I changed my mind. Instead, I am presenting you with this pre recorded audio and an opportunity to reflect. A transcript of what I am saying right now is available, if you would like a copy; they are on the desk, by the computer.

So you don’t feel completely cheated, firstly I’ll go through the work I intended to present this evening. The space and set up you can see in front of you is how the performance starts. It seemed pertinent for me to leave it like this.

To start, I’m reading a poem ‘Delete and Enter’ by Maud Sulter, from the book ‘Passions: Discourses on Black women’s creativity’. You can see me doing this via the webcam projected onto the wall. The audience can be seen behind me. A passage from the text appears on screen - ‘We ain’t angry man, we’re mad, some mad, bad niggers that’s us …’. Then a video plays that I made for a hypothetical You Tube audience. Back to the webcam where I spend an extended period of time combing my Afro. I write the words ‘You are looking very African today’ onto the mirror you can see to the left of the projection.

The Gender song plays along with a video displaying to different versions of me. I practice the song whilst dancing in front of the mirror. ‘Swinging on the jungle gym, I can go as fast as him. Female, he male, she male, don’t matter!’ I’m not happy with the dance and try it out in a few different ways.

A Nigerian newsreel plays showing footage of the anti homosexuality bill passing. I finally address the audience with the song ‘History lessons’ – Did they teach you at school, about the place you were born, about the history that spawned you? Back to webcam; social media anxiety, end.

I’m standing amongst you in the audience, perhaps you recognise me but maybe you don’t. I say this to emphasise our togetherness. We are here in this room together; something about this event has brought us together. Perhaps it’s the evening of emerging art that sold you, maybe you are a friend of one of the performers or perhaps you have come as you respect and support the events that this institution puts on.

So why I am not performing the work as planned? I changed my mind for several reasons. I won’t go into specific details here but what I will say is that it has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. A taste so bad that the thought of performing my original work in this space, at least without some kind of preface, feels like a lie. I would be doing it to tick a box, to entertain or to give the audience what they want. This is the opposite of what my performance work seeks to do.

I see art as a space to reflect on one’s truths so I hope that those who have invited me here today will allow me the space to reflect on mine.

As an artist, I’m often thinking around the artwork – the conditions it operates within and where it should position itself. Here we are today in what seems like the perfect position for an artist like me. But what use is the perfect position if a concrete pillar blocks your view? In a roundabout way, I’m saying that I’d like to address the issue of misrepresentation.

I don’t know who exactly will be joining me in the audience for the performance this evening but I imagine a fair few of you will be from ‘diverse backgrounds’. We know what it means to be misrepresented so I won’t use this space to define it.

It’s frustrating, exhausting and maddening. We all know how it feels. I arrive at this performance feeling all of those things. Do I suck it up, put on a brave face and smile through gritted teeth to get through it? If I did, it would be lie and would go against what my performance seeks to do.

I have been in a few situations recently where I have felt that my work and I have been misrepresented. My words apply to all these situations, this just happens to be the platform for the issue to be raised. Perhaps my hopes were too high, but I came into this expecting more from an institution like Iniva. I’ve been disappointed.

What relationship do I want to have with the institutions and organisations I work with? I’m still figuring it out, but I would hope for one of mutual respect where my voice can be heard and is listened to, where ‘emerging’ artist doesn’t mean insignificant or disposable. Emerging practices do not need to be facilitated but they do need to be nurtured and supported.

I’m sharing these words with you now because I won’t perform just for the money, the ‘opportunity’ or the ‘platform’. I make art because I need to do so to survive in this world that would rather people like me not exist, let alone flourish. This makes me a specific kind of artist, a QTIPOC (queer, trans*, intersex, person of colours) artist as supposed to just ‘artist’. It’s important to make the distinction. My experiences of navigating the world impact and influence my art; in fact they are the artwork. I thank my comrades Raisa and Raju, who I share this space with tonight for Collective Creativity – our platform to mutually support our own and other QTIPOC artists practice.

Maybe you think I am asking too much, that I should be grateful for what’s on offer. The thing is my work matters to me, and the way it is handled by other people matters to me too. If the issues I face in the real world continue to manifest and perpetuate themselves in the art world then I want no part of it.

Art is a form of self care for me and this is part of that healing process. I’ve said all I need to say on this matter for this evening. Thank you for listening.

[qtipoccollectivecreativity]

Navigating Emerging Practices at INIVA gallery

Navigating Emerging Practices - In Conversation with Collective Creativity  Evan Ifekoya, Raju Rage and Raisa Kabir will be holding a Collective Creativity session this week at INIVA Saturday 15th November 3pm - 5pm.

man•i•fest•ing 

(o)

to show plainly; reveal or display: to manifest great emotion.

(tr) to prove beyond doubt

(intr) (of a disembodied spirit) to appear in visible form

How do we Manifest our creativity as emerging practitioners? The session presents a Manifest-o of sorts that holds up the systemic barriers to the Institution as queer people of colour artists with a radical approach to creating, making and manifesting creativity. A performative presentation that takes a look at the way we've taken up space over the last year and half, created space for which to have these vital conversations, and ultimatly how our practice has manifested during these Collective Creativity sessions. Offering support, resources and space for other QTIPOC creatives and artists in London and further afield.

http://www.iniva.org/events/what_s_on/creative_collectivity_in_conversation_with_amanprit_sandhu

We invite you to come along and participate in this roundtable, please register on the above link.

[evanifekoya-blog]

The Gender Song, 2014

Video by Evan Ifekoya Music - Go go Riddim

[qtipocartsgroup]

I'm here today! Come, come, come! - Zinzi 

[qtipocartsgroup]

Starting my coffee adventures in Brixton today.... - Zinzi

[qtipocartsgroup]

You are invited to attend the QTIPOC Arts Group Opening party at Guest Projects, London. Join us for an evening of performance, an introduction to the project, DJ's, good food and friendly vibes. There will be a bar with range of reasonably priced refreshments available. Creative work by participating artists will be on display during the event. Dressing up is optional but definitely recommended! Full details of the rest of the month's programme will be online soon. Friday 5th of September, 7-11pm @ Guest Projects, Sunbury House, 1 Andrews Road, London, E8 4QL google maps Nearest Tube: Bethnal Green Nearest Overground: Cambridge Heath/London Fields Buses: D6, 26, N26, 48, 55, N55, 106, 388, 236, 254, N253, and 394 Guest Projects is fully wheelchair accessible. The QTIPOC Arts Group Project is a combination of residency and showcase of creative work. It is also an important community building event for artists, to network and maintain working relationships, continue them or begin new ones. For more information about the QTIPOC Arts Group project @ Guest Projects visit the website http://www.guestprojects.com/programme/qtipoc-arts-group-project/ and blog http://qtipocartsgroup.tumblr.com/

[qtipoccollectivecreativity]

Looking Back// Thinking Forward

The Incredibly Qweer Adventours Of SpykeGrrl and MissTer ScraTch issue 1, by Raju Rage, 2004

A Boi is . . . (video still) by Evan Ifekoya, 2010

The sessions so far have mainly explored the practice of other creative practitioners. For this session, we would like to share and reflect on some of our past work. Evan and Raju will begin by sharing past video works, comix and writing. We will then open up the session to discussion and support you in presenting any work you wish to show. Questions that arose from the last session that we will continue to explore: -What have our creative ‘career’ journeys looked like so far? -How to we consider and define ourselves as artists? -As qtipoc (queer, trans* intersex) artists do we face identity-based challenges in getting to where we want to go and does this affect the work we produce? -Do we feel supported by peers and creative institutions. what does that look like? and also - How do we critically engage with each others work? If we aren't getting the support we need, how might we support each other? How do we best work with the resources available to us? Please feel free to bring physical work and texts. There is also a computer and projector if you have visuals online or on a memory stick to show. Please get in touch with us at [email protected] with any specific requirements. As usual this is an informal gathering of artists,activists and creative people. We would like to keep this session intimate and allow for a nourishing, constructively critical and supportive environment.  Sharing of resources and refreshments is always welcome.