Out for Revolution! – Friday Late (27th January 2017)


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
January 20, 2017

As many of you will be aware, 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. But how far have we come in the fight for equality?This month’s Friday Late aims to consider this question, under the rubric ‘Out for Revolution’.

We have been excitedly putting together the programme over the past few weeks and are now very pleased to be able to invite you to join us next Friday to: perfect your Polari in a lesson of language resistance; hear activists at the V&A’s speakers corner; revel in bold performance; and challenge traditional gender definitions by stepping into a 21st century Kinsey Scale to find out just how queer you are.

Details of the current programme are below. For more information see the Friday Late page.

Becca Human | @becca.human is responsible for the stunning programme cover design
Becca Human | @becca.human is responsible for the stunning programme cover design

Alexander Geist: DJ set
Grand Entrance
18.30 – 21.00
Hailing from Berlin, the very heart of the international demimonde, Alexander Geist spins an intoxicating mix of Morose disco-soul; wryly cinematic music for the dancefloor and the boudoir.
alexandergeist.com

The LipSinkers
Grand Entrance
21.00 – 21.20
With inventively outrageous outfits and unconventional song choices, this five-strong alternative drag troupe take you on a hilarious offbeat romp, lip-synching to a jukebox of pop-tastic tunes. Expect fast-paced choreography and even quicker costume changes.
thelipsinkers.com | @thelipsinkers

Alexander Geist: Performance
Grand Entrance
21.25 – 21.45
Stepping into the high-heeled boots vacated by gender subversive pop stars of the late 20th century, Alexander Geist combines classic-synth pop references with fan adulation. Inhabiting the dry wit of Morrissey alongside the soundscape of Moroder and the sensibilities of Manet to create a beguiling multimedia performance.
alexandergeist.com

Speakers Corner
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 50b, The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery
18.30 – 21.00
Rolling programme of 15 minutes talks.
How far have we come in the fight for equality and what are the issues facing the global LGBTQ community now? Hear how activists continue to challenge contemporary laws and how you can get involved. Hosted by Dan Glass, speakers include; Amnesty International, TransMedia Watch, African Rainbow Family, Queer Strike, Article 19 and Lesbian and Gays support the Migrants. Accompanied by placards displaying past and present LGBTQ activist artwork and slogans by Uandnonu.
@DanGlassUK

How Queer is Now?
The Raphael Cartoons, Room 48a
19.00, 20.00, 21.00
Join The Amy Grimehouse and step into a 21st century Kinsey Scale. Are you androphilic or more ambiphilic or have you no idea what you are or what they mean? Are you a boy, girl, or something in between? With host Scottee, assume your variable position on our How Queer is Now? chart and help us to capture tonight’s demographic. You’re also invited to tweet, instagram, share your definitions of gender and sexy orientation #HQIN #FridayLate
@amygrimehouse

Bona to Vada Your Dolly Old Eek!
Paintings, Room 82, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries
18.45, 19.45, 20.45
Join artist Jez Dolan for a fantabulosa troll through the lost language of gay men. Simultaneously disguise and identifier, Polari was a form of resistance, a way of queering space (and time), and the expression of a shared culture and identity. Composed of back slang, circus slang, and broken Yiddish and Italian it was crucially, camp, and funny. Troll round heartface!
jezdolan.com | @jezdolan

Devils in Human Shape
Tapestries, Room 94
19.30 – 19.50, 20.30 – 20.50
Set within the shadows, three veiled gossips whisper. They are the malignant voice of society: intolerant and judgmental. Using court cases, newspaper reports and letters dating back to 1732, this immersive performance brings to life the final cases of sodomy. The piece is devised and performed by Tom Marshman.
tommarshman.com | @TommyMarshman

Fox Fisher & Owl Stefania
Learning Centre, Reception
19.45 – 21.00
Screen printing directly onto his nude partner in a unique performance, trans activist and artist Fox Fisher asks why do we gender objects? What happens when these objects can be categorised as androgynous or ambiguous?
foxfisher.com | @theFoxFisher

Salon Outré
The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
20.15 – 20.45, 21.00 – 21.30
Salon Outré presents a programme of dance performances. Join The Place and the London Contemporary Dance School, for a unique opportunity to see work-in-progress performances James Dream and Welcome created in collaboration with design students from Wimbledon College of Art and the University of the Arts London. Central School of Ballet and Ballet Central perform a male pas de deux Dracula.
salonoutre.com | @DanNouveau

James Dream
Can you be sure of what is real when you’re alone? James is alone for no reason, walking the line between his thoughts of reality and peculiar connections. Choreographer: Frankie Hickman, designer: Vanya Vaishnavi Singh, dancers: Ryan Burns and music editing: Frankie Hickman, Brima Fullah.

Welcome
Based on the dystopian vision of Kurt Vonnegut, from his short stories ‘Welcome to the Monkey House’.
Choreographer: Riley Wolf, designer: Sidony Taylor and dancers: Samuel Costello, Claire Hackston, Shawn Stevenson, Alessia Stradiotti, Maggie Vannucci.

Dracula
A male pas de deux from Christopher Marney’s ‘Dracula’ featuring the first encounter between Dracula and Harker.
Choreographer: Christopher Marney, music: Philip Feeney.

Delhi: Communities of Belonging
Leighton Corridor
Watch this short film and a selection of images by photographers Sunil Gupta and Charan Singhoffers, which offer an unprecedented portrait of LGBTQ people’s lives in India today. Focusing on the city of Delhi, Gupta and Singh chronicle the halting emergence of networks of men and women living in a country where anti-sodomy laws date back to the British Empire and homosexuality is still criminalised.
sunilgupta.net | charansingh.net

Non-Binary Portraits
Leighton Corridor
Jennifer Jackson’s ongoing photographic project documents non-binary people in their local community. Jackson’s intimate portraits seek to offer visibility and challenge the perceptions of how non-binary people look.
@nonbinaryportraits

Just Me and Allah: A Queer Muslim Photo Project
Leighton Corridor
Toronto-based photographer Samra Habib is a queer Muslim and founder of Just Me and Allah: A Queer Muslim Photo Project, an ongoing photography series that explores the relationship between religion and sexuality. Documenting stories, of both personhood and faith, these photographs highlight the struggles and often complicated experiences of queer Muslims around the world.
queermuslimproject.tumblr.com | @therealsamsam

Satan was a Lesbian
Lunchroom, Learning Centre
Join Late Night Library Club to create your own queer pulp fiction cover. Mine your deepest fantasies, imagine a title and realise your cover art to craft a new type of library! Draw inspiration from classic titles such as Satan was a Lesbian, Am I Ready for Chest Hair and We Three Queens. If you can come up with anything more outrageous, we’ll eat our quills.
@Latenightlibraryclub

Rainbow Flag
V&A Roof
Tonight we fly the rainbow flag above the V&A. The rainbow flag was popularised as a symbol of LGBT pride and diversity by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colours symbolise diversity in the gay community but also symbolised life (red), healing (orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), harmony (blue), and spirit (purple/violet).

About the author


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
January 20, 2017

I am an Assistant Curator working on the development of the new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. My interests are wide-ranging but subjects I have particularly enjoyed exploring for this project include:...

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I think it has been a long path and it is high time for acceptance, equality and empathy to take over. Everyone should be free to be themselves, to live the life they have been given the way they like to and to love whoever they choose to love!

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