I've been getting work ready for The Hidden Pin Up's next outing taking place as part of the Sexuality Summer School 23rd May at the University of Manchester.
The school is a five day event that discusses and debates queer and feminist sexuality studies bringing together researchers, international scholars, filmmakers and artists and I'm really thrilled that we are taking part in this year's programme.
The performance is taking place in the magnificent Victorian Samuel Alexander building which epitomises historic western ideals of beauty with it's neo-classical columns and sweeping architecture. I cannot wait to see our dancer and spoken word artist perform against this backdrop highlighting centuries of stereotypes and misconceptions of just what beauty can be.
I recently came across this brilliant short video made by BBC 3 and in this film alone we revisit ALL the preconceived ideas and fetishes attributed to women of colour that have already been touched on in my research for The Hidden Pin Up. The comments on this video in themselves are an education!
Taking this as a cue I have been adding new embroidered feathers to the hessian burlesque fans that Lenai from the House Of Ghetto will be dancing with. The fans already hold a number of embroidered true stories collected from women of colour about their experiences of stereotyping and marginalisation and soon one fan will be filled. Here's just a few of the new embroideries so far,
Myself and Darren Pritchard, the project's choreographer, dancer Lenai Russell and spoken word performer Justina Aina will be staying after the performance next Thursday to chat to audience members about the work and give you a chance to see the fans and related Hidden Pin Up artwork up close.
The performance is free to attend and begins 7.15pm. I recommend you arrive earlier to avoid missing anything and grab a good spot. Hope to see you there!
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