Instigate Arts presents a night of creative and artistic Do it Yourself, bringing together Manchester and Salford’s cutting edge, innovative and leftfield creatives, collaborators, collectives and spaces.
For De(Construction) artist directors of The Penthouse Debbie Sharp and Rosanne Robertson present a reverse sculpture that pairs raw materials of construction and the performance of destruction - reducing old hierarchical individualistic monumentalism to the communal experience of dust.
Over the past 5 years The Penthouse was born of and incubated by a piece of crumbling modernist architecture, we cooperated and revolted within its dust which we believe still resides within our bodies. Indeterminacy, ephemerality and moments happened within the dust of a previous era with cranes bringing the dreams attached to new concrete blocks all around us.
Boundaries between our bodies, structures, vibrations were destabilised.
The Queer female body within crumbling modernist structure has been an important yet non-formalised part of the experience with both artists exploring structure and the city on their own terms and inviting other artists to do the same.
The Dyke body forcing the destruction of built up Penthouse dreams and agitating ideals for an advanced and sleek future brings into force an ‘Other’ power. This power is more attuned to Mother nature who has the force to engulf all into the sediment layers of the Earth.
The boundaries of the artists’ bodies and the materials of the spaces in which their practices exist renegotiated- De(Constructed) within a live performance.
This act is reflective of the ongoing cycle of creation and destruction within DIY and artist led culture- creating a space for freedom.
Newly commissioned videos by Mykki Blanco, Cheryl
Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija,
Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell premiering on World AIDS Day
2017.
ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th
annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project.
Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video
program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic,
commissioning seven new and innovative short videos from artists Mykki Blanco,
Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia
Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell.
In spite of the impact of HIV/AIDS within Black communities,
these stories and experiences are constantly excluded from larger artistic and
historical narratives. In 2016 African Americans represented 44% of all new HIV
diagnoses in the United States. Given this context, it is increasingly urgent
to feature a myriad of stories that consider and represent the lives of those
housed within this statistic. ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS seeks
to highlight the voices of those that are marginalized within broader Black
communities nationwide, including queer and trans people.
The commissioned projects include intimate meditations of
young HIV positive protagonists; a consideration of community-based HIV/AIDS
activism in the South; explorations of the legacies and contemporary resonances
within AIDS archives; a poetic journey through New York exploring historical
traces of queer and trans life, and more. Together, the videos provide a
platform centering voices deeply impacted by the ongoing epidemic.
This screening is programmed back to back with HIVideo by Balaclava.Q - A Global Exhibition of Video Art for World Aids Day. HIVideo is the moving image strand of Balaclava.Q- an international Queer Art Project and collective. HIVideo seeks to promote contemporary dialogue(s) on World Aids Day via video art from both a local and global perspective. HIVideo complements current discourse and the de- stigmatization / -criminalization movement by creating dialogue about HIV/AIDS via art – and the attendant aesthetics and politics.
HIVideo is A Global Exhibition of Video Art for World Aids Day. HIVideo
is the moving image strand of Balaclava.Q- an international Queer Art Project
and collective, better known as TACTIC 2. HIVideo seeks to promote contemporary
dialogue(s) on World Aids Day via video art from both a local and global
perspective. HIVideo complements current discourse and the de- stigmatization /
-criminalization movement by creating dialogue about HIV/AIDS via art – and
the attendant aesthetics and politics.
In 2016 HIVideo was
screened at Manchester’s LGBT Foundation and worldwide across Toronto (Canada),
Paris (France), South Africa, Puerto Rico, New Mexico and Oakland (California,
US) in galleries, safe spaces and sexual health centres. In 2017 The Penthouse present HIVideo at
their homeParadise Works on the
Manchester > Salford border. HIVideo brings together international artists
and venues across 5 continents to showcase art films which look at HIV/AIDS
with the intention of a more direct action approach with a specific theme for artists.
Films will be screened on World AIDS Day in Rome, (Italy), Manchester (UK),
London (UK), Berlin (Germany), New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Colombia and various
other locations across the UK, USA and Europe.
In 2017 Balaclava.Q is working in partnership with RAMP: Recycled
Medicine Campaign, LGBT Consortium UK and the global movement Prevention Access
Campaign.
The artist films create awareness and promote discourse
specifically about the Prevention Access Campaign, a global movement which
seeks to educate communities on current findings and statistics which state
unequivocally that Undetectable = Untransmissable or U=U as it has been branded
by www.preventionaccess.org. At the very core of this year’s screening is a
message about intimacy without fear of transmission.
This screening is programmed back to back with Visual Aids- a program of newly commissioned videos by Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell titled ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett. This event is part of
Manchester’s first Day With(out) Art programme from Superbia.
This year’s Greater Manchester serving of HIVideo 2017 is presented
by The Penthouse .
The Penthouse is an artist led Dyke|Queer
contemporary art project and space based in Manchester founded and ran by
artists Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp. Curatorial and research projects
are focused on Queer art, radical practices, Queer feminism, experimental and
raw art- we consider the power at the margins.
The Penthouse is currently based at Paradise
Works in a luxurious corner suite- a
fitting home on the border of Salford and Manchester. Paradise Works is a new
artist run initiative providing studios & project space to a community of
proactive, intergenerational, contemporary artists established 2017.
HIVideo is produced by Balaclava.Q : An international Queer Art Project and collective. Connecting,
promoting and Creating Platforms for Queer artists.
Founded in June 2016 by Stiofan
O’Ceallaigh as a reaction to the Orlando, Florida massacre, Balaclava.Q is
a not-for-profit and relies solely on the passion, motivation and influence of
its volunteers, artists and advocates; an international queer visual art
project and collective that asks artists to look at tactics that disrupt,
activate, instigate and explore contemporary queer concerns. Currently
showcasing works by over 200 international queer artists, this project acts as
a platform and connector for artists and audiences.
This project is supported by a grant from Superbia. Superbia Grants provide financial support for LGBT events as part of Manchester Pride’s commitment to the quality and diversity of cultural events taking place throughout the year in Greater Manchester. https://superbia.org.uk
Queer Art Show 5: Revoke explores what it means to REVOKE- to invalidate, reclaim and reverse in the anniversary year of 50 years since partial decriminalisation of the homosexual act with the Sexual Offences Act 1967 . Curated by artist and director of Manchester’s artist & Dyke led project space The Penthouse Debbie Sharp - QAS5 brings together ideas of restrictions, criminalisation and fighting for freedoms within LGBTQ+ lives.
QAS5: Revoke- HUB
The site to Queery is opened up with a free and open space for LGBTQ+ artists to explore the themes, to explore themselves, to make a mark or just to be. Come as you are. Open to all whether self defined as an artist or a creative Queer or just interested.
- Free materials and refreshments.
- Wear clothes you don’t mind getting scruffy/paint on etc.
- Guidance and support available from artist directors Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp.
There is a curated space from the hub as part of Queer Art Show 5: Revolt - meaning works created during the hub can be included in the QAS5 exhibition.
Email thepenthousenq@gmail.com if you have any questions or access requirements.
—
Queer Art Show 5: revolt is supported using public funding from Arts Council England.
This project is supported by a grant from Superbia. Superbia Grants provide financial support for LGBT events as part of Manchester Pride’s commitment to the quality and diversity of cultural events taking place throughout the year in GreaterManchester. https://superbia.org.uk
A Queer Revolt- See our new video by film maker Sophie Broadgate of A Queer Revolt- an action by a bunch of riotous Queers occupying the city skyline with a rainbow smoke flag. Organised by The Penthouse as part of IMPOSE||LIFT as part of our curatorship of Bill Drummond’s Curfew Tower- paired with action in Cushendall titled Pinning Our Colours to the Mast in which we raised a rainbow flag at the tower and declared it a Queer space.
The passerby heard at the end of video shouted “Queers should die”.
The Queer Show was spurred into existence by artist Debbie (Elvis) Sharp because of a noticeable lack of Queer, DIY, artist-led activity in the city during ‘Pride’ paired with a collective dissatisfaction with the lack of engaging direct expression. This show aims to question and provide a counter platform to the culture being cultivated during 'Pride Festival’.
All family friendly, dog friendly, free, open, inclusive.
Friday 23rd - 6-9pm
Queer Art Show 4: Exist- launch
ft. artists Debbie Sharp, Gary Fisher, Sian Williams, Andrew Adshead, Rachael Field, Jez Dolan, Stephen Kelly, HOMOCULT, Coral Short and Homosexual Death Drive. As part of The Queer Art Show Rosanne Robertson will turn her studio into 'Such A Queer Noise’- inviting artists to join her in sound making and installation building.
(More artists tbc. Please note we are still accepting ideas from artists- email Debbie Sharp at thepenthousenq@gmail.com )
Saturday 24th- 3pm-3am
We have a temporary licence for this day so The Penthouse Pub will be opening its doors for your pleasure, so please don’t bring your own booze.
Jumble Auction 3-6pm (with plenty breaks for tea/cakes/drinks)
Jumble Auction!- hosted by our fabulous auctioneer Alison Kershaw. Everything must go. Bid for bric-a-brac. Bag a bargain. This jumble auction is the heart of The Queer Show this year- and stands at the centre as a reminder of how and why 'Pride’ started in the first place- as a jumble sale outside of The Rembrant for a local HIV ward. Proceeds go to a HIV charity (charity tbc).
(Jumble currently being dropped off at The Penthouse- please email thepenthousenq@gmail.com to arrange a drop off time if you can donate some jumble).
6pm Stirred Poetry
Stirred will be performing feminist, queer poetry Featuring Sarah Logan, Rebecca Audra Smith, Anna Percy and others tbc. stirred.poetry@facebook.com
7-9 pm Queer Noise in Suite 1 with Rosanne Robertson and invited artists.
9pm-12am Queer Show 4 gets the disco lights out for:
This panel discussion follows a recent horrific and disappointing move by 'Pride’ to book a racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynist and hateful act named Queens of Pop. The reaction to this and the discussion that has surrounded it highlights many reasons why the Queer Show exists in the first place. The booking of such acts has caused many to further question the relevance of Pride to a diverse and progressive community. Key individuals in the campaign against having racist, homophobic and hateful acts allowed to play our community events such as Pride are in the process of being selected. This event aims to give offline life to a very layered and important conversation and campaign that has been taking place via facebook, twitter, change.org and email campaigns. We hope to provide a platform to further orchestrate this campaign and strengthen community.
8pm onwards- film screening tba
Please note that all gaps will be very soon filled. Please note this event is being ran voluntarily. Please note this event is DIY and requires people to chip in.
Money raised via refreshments will go towards some modest artist and production costs- ALL other proceeds will be donated to a charity (currently being researched/decided). ALL proceeds from the Charity Jumble Auction go to >Charity! Please don’t be tight.
Beyond The Barriers- a great piece on alternative activities over ‘Pride’ wknd by @TheSkinnyNW featuring QUEER SHOW 4 curated by @iamdebbiesharp for a 4th year in a row- this year to be held here at The Penthouse. ___Announcement of line up and events to follow. x
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