Arnolfini, Bristol 19 February to 12 June 2022 So the show’s already been at the Museum of the Home, London. How is the Arnolfini show different? Polly Braden: When the Arnolfini show opened on Saturday 19 February, there were queues to get into the space. It was jammed all day with people reading the text,... Continue Reading →
We recently spoke to Eveyln, who records under the stage name HappyHappy, about her latest album Psych Ward Chess Champion. Covering what is means to make music about mental health, her recent move from Rapid City, South Dakota to Indianapolis, Indiana, and whether being out as a trans woman will change anything. How is your... Continue Reading →
During lockdown last year Philippa ‘Phil’ Tomlin signed up for Inktober. When the drawing challenge gave her the word ‘Cheers’ as a prompt, she found herself having an idea that would eventually lead to her art show – ‘My Place in the Crowd’ – centred around the last gig she attended before Covid-19. “I wanted... Continue Reading →
Three days before I remember consciously registering the word “coronavirus” for the first time, I was at an art gallery. The space was a small, concrete pop-up in Merchant City that teemed with work from punk femmes. Physical performance interspersed the afternoon and artists mingled with audience members, chatting warmly about their recent projects. Perusing... Continue Reading →
In the basement of Alchemy Experiment there’s a film of a man crying. Over the course of 15 painfully slow minutes we watch him, the steady camera focused on the emotions in his eyes and the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallows. The film, ‘Unfeeling’, is directed by Babar Suleman and stars Omer... Continue Reading →
CONTENT WARNING: THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT RAPE, COERCIVE CONTROL, AND CONTAINS SURVIVOR STORIES
Birthday Boy, directed by Leo LeBeau and screened at this year’s Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF), perfectly captures this feeling of being on the “wrong” side of the gender binary. It follows the character of Alex, a transgender teenager attending an all-girl’s private school, played by Sebastian Emmerson - an out trans man himself.... Continue Reading →
David Ellington stands in front of a wall. He points to the sky, making a bird with his hands. The overlaid text says, “Two birds shoot and dart as one. Around a far, far tree. He runs the distance. And watches the other. Together.”Here, in his film Liberty, Ellington’s BSL is like a dance. Heart... Continue Reading →
Content warning: discussion of self-harm and HIV/AIDs “They need to make sense of this nonsense. Together”, says the voiceover of The Devotions, one of several short films shown as part of the Aspects of the Embodied Self event at this year’s SQIFF. SQIFF, the Scottish Queer International Film Festival, is hosted each autumn at the... Continue Reading →
If I’m honest, I don’t know how much hope or desire I have to work in the arts sector anymore. I’ve completed both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in art history and my love for the subject has not dwindled in the slightest, despite the amount of money, tears and mental duress that has gone into... Continue Reading →
Artificial Womb 