Queer Transnational Arts & Activism

Description

The third workshop, organised by the Queer Italia Network, took place at the University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, in July 2017, and was entitled 'Queer Transnational Arts and Activism. For this event the focus was on the ways that arts and activism intersect, build upon one another, and use their divergent and/or complementary strengths to create spaces, dialogues, and politics of queerness in an Italian context. Some questions that we sought to address were: 1. Activism and Performance: What is the relationship between queer activism and performance in Italy and how has this developed in recent decades? What kinds of dialogue are in progress and to what effect? 2. Performativity: How might theoretical approaches to performativity inform our understandings of queer performance or queer readings of performance? Might we use these same theoretical lenses when approaching Italian LGBTQAI activist movements? 3. Embodiment: What role has the body or the embodied queer self played in queer activism and performance? 4. Creativity and Collaboration: How significant is creativity in activism? How might this be developed through collaborative initiatives? 5. Transnational approaches: What role can/might transnational relationships and dialogues play in evolving creative and/or activist practices? Participants included international scholars, local activists, local PG students and performers. Indeed, the event included two evening performances (entered as separate events), but the artists also participated actively in the workshop discussion. Questions of precarity again came to the fore, in relation to embodiment, performative identities, socio-economic and political status and cultural events. Participants expressed the view that the event had deepened their understanding of queer theories, and of their potential applicability to a range of situations, and had enabled them to gain crucial insights into other perspectives and experiences.

Period	13 Jul 2017 → 14 Jul 2017
Event title	Queer Transnational Arts & Activism
Event type	Workshop
Location	Vercelli, ItalyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International