Queer Spaces.

In the third of a series on queer performance poets, Keith Jarrett talks about performance poetry as social commentary and the importance of safe queer spaces.

“There are places I feel less comfortable, where I feel less represented. Queer spaces redress that balance a little.”

June 25, 2014

The challenge of Pride to those who remember when it meant something! Polari Safari by David Shenton.

All My Love In Half Light.

Lady Lazarus, aka Melissa Sweat, talks about her fascination with composition and the healing that music has given her.

“I admired a good many solo artists like Cat Power, Smog, and Mount Eerie, who went under these poetic pseudonyms or project names. It conveys that the music is far bigger than just the individual.”

Genderqueer.

CN Lester talks about activism, what it’s like to be openly genderqueer in the music industry, and the issues facing the trans population today.

“Any industry where the goal is to shift product – ticket sales, album sales, product placement – struggles when the ‘brand’ you’re selling goes against cultural norms..”

Speaking Queer.

In the first of a series on queer performance poets, Laura Macdougall talks to Nick Field about blending physical theatre, music and spoken word.

“Think of all the parts of the world where we couldn’t do something like Queer’Say; why would we not make use of that opportunity when we’re lucky enough to live in a society that allows us to? Out of politeness?.”

Matisse: The Cut Outs [rating=5] British Folk Art [rating=3]

Tate Modern / Tate Britain, London • Until September 7 / August 31, 2014

Tate Modern’s blockbuster exhibition of Matisse’s Cut-Outs, and Tate Britain’s British Folk Art, are fascinating insights into different types of outsider art.

“As a summer exhibition this is perfection and I left feeling rejuvenated – it’s like being bathed in sunshine, cleansed by the sea and stroked by a cool breeze all in one go.”

[rating=4]
Released June 13, 2014
Ultraviolence is the sound of an artist being freed to fulfil her own creative desires. The sound is very different from what came before and also very much the same.

“Ultraviolence has just about secured Lana Del Rey’s status as An Artist to be Taken Seriously, irritating to many maybe but difficult to deny or avoid .”

June 18, 2014

Practice your Pride March look for 2014! Polari Safari by David Shenton.

Queer Words.

In the first of a series on queer performance poets, Laura Macdougall talks to Nick Field about blending physical theatre, music and spoken word.

“For queer artists in spoken word and performance poetry there are still challenges in getting heard and featured, even if the work is not necessarily queer focussed.”

Queer Voices.

The Queer’Say events celebrate the power of the spoken word. We introduce a series of interviews with performance poets, and consider why the medium is so popular.

“This is poetry that is populist and democratising, and contagious, as can be seen by videos of spoken word poets that have gone viral in recent years.”