Day 1
Mapping gender, queer and AIDS activism in the UK past and present, the first day looks to Stuart Marshall and Neil Bartlett’s original work Pedagogue. The workshop makes use of talks, readings and video clips as a starting point to re-contextualise the 1988 video in relation to current debates around the Gender Recognition Act (England) and the Gender Reform Bill (Scotland), which discourage teachers from ‘promoting transgenderism’, echoing homophobic Section 28 language. Facilitators Conal and Neil set the scene to explore the role of agit-prop video, queer theatre, drag performance and street protest as forms of AIDS and LGBTQI+ activism.
Day 2
On the second day, the group will be invited to remake Pedagogue using The Wardrobe (a gender-inclusive clothes bank) as a set and prop store. Together you will be introduced to drag and video techniques, with a focus on the interview form, playing with the ‘show and tell’ suitcase used by Neil in the original video.
No prior knowledge of Stuart Marshall’s practice, performance and video making, drag or Section 28 are required. The context and starting points will be set out by the contributors, and there will be a chance to watch Pedagogue and hear from performer Neil Bartlett.
Participants will film together on day two and you will be invited to try out new characters and perform on camera.
You will be in control of your own image and can set boundaries about what you feel comfortable testing with the group. You will be able to withdraw your image at any time in the workshop.
Contributors
Artist and curator Holly Argent‘s work is research-focused and collaborative, finding shape through a variety of activities including writing, custodianship, workshops, performance-lectures, librarianship, video, sculpture, reading groups, commissioning, screenings, and publications. Holly founded Women Artists of the North East Library (2017-).
Neil Bartlett is a theatre director, performance artist and author. His adaptations and translations of Camus, Dickens, Dumas, Genet , Kleist, Labiche, Marivaux, Moliere, Racine and Wildehave been performed around the world, including productions by The RSC, The National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Glasgow Citizens Theatre, the Manchester Royal Exchange, the Abbey Dublin and the ART in Boston, USA.
Kaan K works with poetry, performance, publishing and drag king-ing. Their practice is rooted in community organising, building solidarity, dreaming and creating ideas in collaboration with other people. They are a facilitator and train activists in creative facilitation, storytelling and campaigning.
Conal McStravick is a queer, non-binary artist, independent researcher, moving image programmer and writer. Since 2012, McStravick has worked with the archive of UK artist, film maker and AIDS activist Stuart Marshall (1949-1993).
The Wardrobe is a clothing resource for trans, non-binary and genderqueer people. It collects quality secondhand clothes and provides a safe space to try them on. It is run by a group of volunteers as a resource for the community, driven to create something useful and positive in the face of transphobic rhetoric circulated in the press.
