As part of Digbeth First Friday, we are pleased to be hosting Listening to the Environment, from a Queer Perspective with Seda Ergul and Sophie Seita. This workshop will take the form of a sound walk, during which participants focus on listening to the environment, creating an immersive experience. The very short walk will take place along the Canal outside Grand Union Gallery, making various stops at its gardening sites along the way.
At each stop the participants will be given listening prompts inspired by Pauline Oliveros and Fluxus, do a short writing exercise, and engage in conversations surrounding topics like: queer ecology and community; biodiversity; perception and sensorial discovery; sites of memory; regional and local history; human and non-human co-habitation, and other related topics.
The workshop will draw on critical walking methodologies (asking who gets to walk where and how, what kind of publics are produced against the backdrop of well-being and health, but also legacies of colonial and environmental harm), in turn, informed by queer and feminist theory, decolonial approaches, disability studies, performance studies, and environmental activism. Drawing on their own expertise and personal experiences, the organisers will also bring a specifically feminist, queer, and migrant perspective to this workshop.
The workshop foregrounds a spirit of playfulness and curiosity. Participants will be invited to experiment with ideas around spontaneity and intuition, habits of attention and movement, slowness, presence, and embodied forms of listening. Following this workshop, Niva B will be performing Umbilical Stories, Navel Sensualities and Reproductive Desires by the canalside.
Please note that the gallery space has no step-free access and is not wheelchair accessible. But please don’t hesitate to contact us about any access requirements or for any further information. Please email info@grand-union.org.uk for more information.
No background knowledge or previous experience is necessary and all are welcome. However, booking is required – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-listening-to-the-environment-from-a-queer-perspective-tickets-726647150187?aff=oddtdtcreator
This event is part of the public programme of the bingenTV exhibition, which will take place at Mimosa House in London from October 26th to December 8th. The exhibition is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Council England, the Department of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London and produced by Queer Art Projects.
Organisers
Sophie Seita is a London-based artist who uses language as a material within and across performance, books, videos, sound, textiles, and installation. Her work has been commissioned, supported, performed, and published internationally, most recently, by the Roberts Institute of Art; the Hunterian Museum; Café Oto; Fonds Daku (Performing Arts Fund); Creative Scotland; Ma Bibliothèque; Queer Art Pro-jects; Canada Council for the Arts; British Council; UP Projects; Kunsthalle Darmstadt (Germany); JNU (New Delhi); the 87 Press; Stanford University Press; and others.
Seda Ergul is an artist, curator, and producer based in London. She is a founding member of Istanbul Queer Art Collective since 2012. Her art ranges from performance to video and sound art, subjects on which she has also published and lectured on. She is also a creative producer and curator at Queer Art Projects a company that organises art projects like exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks, and workshops, commissioning new work from queer artists on cutting edge contemporary issues.
