Our board is made up of Non Executive Directors who are unpaid advisors who support the governance of Andro and Eve, contributing expertise to the organisation’s development, sustainability and reputation.
You might be sat reading this not sure what being a board member actually involves, so in today’s blog one of our board members Morel O’Sullivan shares their experience…
I’m Morel and I’ve been a director of Andro and Eve since 2021. I am a Yorkshire-based drag king (Ding Frisby) and producer. When I started, I had never been on a board before, so now I’m going to share the ins and outs of exactly what this has looked like for me.
Board Away Day Every year we have a full-day board meeting in Sheffield. This is a great opportunity to get into real detail about our vision and strategy as an organisation, with plenty of hot drinks and a shared lunch. Most board members are based in Sheffield, but I take the train over from Huddersfield. I always enjoy our away days, and we often catch up over a drink afterwards.
Andro & Eve board away day 2022
Board Meetings Board meetings take place one evening every three months, either online or in Sheffield. We receive an agenda and related documents to read in advance, then check in with each other, review the past three months and discuss upcoming opportunities. I usually leave board meetings with a few small tasks to take on.
Getting creative with the board away day creative visioning collage session in 2022!
Day to Day In between meetings, I set aside a few hours each month to work on these tasks; recently this has included looking over some new policy documents and assisting with recruitment processes. We often also need to respond to time-sensitive updates and questions via email or in our directors’ group chat. Generally, we’re always on the lookout for new ideas, contacts or ways of advocating for Andro and Eve!
Events and Opportunities Being a board member also comes with a range of new opportunities throughout the year. In past years, I have represented Andro and Eve at the Queer Arts North network meeting – a brilliant chance to meet producers from other queer arts organisations, followed by a group visit to a contemporary dance festival. I was also part of a test audience for new content for our Gender Awareness Training.
And of course, the highlight is getting together to attend Andro and Eve events and celebrate everyone’s work. I can only recommend getting involved, so click on our recent board recruitment call out to find out more about becoming a non-executive director and what skills we’re looking to add to the board.
We hope this blog has demystified the role of our board members, but if you have any other questions, our FAQ’s on the recruitment call out may help, or feel free to reach out.
The deadline to apply to join our board is being extended until 19 May 2025.
As part of our longer term collaboration with Right Up Our Street we’ve been working in Doncaster since October 2023 on a project for the local LGBTQ+ community.
Right Up Our Street is a community-led Creative People and Places arts programme funded by Arts Council England. In 2023 Right Up Our Street’s Community Advisors suggested and voted for the Priority Community groups they wanted to see the programme work with. The LGBTQIA+ community was one of the three groups selected by them.
Working with Finn Warman, artistic director of Andro and Eve, the project has encouraged different generations to explore themes of Pride and what that means to them.
For the first phase of the project Finn facilitated creative writing workshops with LGBTQ+ people of all ages and their contributions were collated into a beautiful zine, Reyt Proud designed by Yorkshire based designer, Jazyra Christou. Read more about Jazyra in this Meet the Artist blog.
Reyt Proud Zine – Andro & Eve / Right Up Our Street 2024
In the second phase of the project, artist Lady Kitt is making an installation, titled ‘Visible Rest’ to be shared at Doncaster Pride on 10 August. This work has been inspired by reflections, ideas and stories from LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster, in workshops facilitated by Kitt.
Ahead of Doncaster Pride on 10 August, we caught up with Lady Kitt to find out more about their work and artistic practice.
Can you tell us about your practice and any previous projects you’ve worked on?
Hia, I’m Kitt, I call the way I make art ‘Mess Making As Social Glue’, which probably says quite a bit about my practice, and my personality! I’m a Disabled sculptor & drag king. I work on long term, collaborative projects always driven by insatiable curiosity about how art can be useful. All my work is with other people in some way; I’m not an hours-alone-in-the-studio-solitary-kind of artist! I work most regularly on creative projects with my Newcastle based drag family DGA and my two children who are 9 and 12.
Home Rearing, Credit – Lady Kitt (2022)
With DGA I’ve been working on a project since 2021 called Drag Declares Emergency. It started through a residency with the wonderful Craftspace in Birmingham. The project asks: How can LGBTQIA+ communities use our crafting skills to support the wellbeing of queer people and the health of planet Earth? Over the next few months we’re running workshops at Festival of Thrift (Billingham), MAC (Birmingham) and Queer Circle (London).
Me and my children have just collaborated on a commission from curator Sue Loughlin and The New Bridge Project to create a written, drawn and audio review of the exhibition MOTHEROTHER. The exhibition explores the relationship artist mothers have with themselves, their children, society, politics and the artworld- so we all had quite a lot to say about that! There is a link to the audio for MOTHEROTHER here for anyone who might be interested:
What inspires you as an artist?
All sorts of stuff! At the moment: Strictly Come Dancing, going swimming, Joe Lycette, shrines, professional mermaid / man / folk instagram accounts, learning more about The Levellers (political movement during the English Civil War, who campaigned for equality, religious tolerance & suffrage), my local LGBTQ+ Group “NSG”, my sister, my children.
My kids and I often work on commissions together. We also use art in our day to day lives to share enthusiasms and navigate complex emotions.. We use creativity and making to express and process our feelings, to connect and (most importantly) to make mischief together – all of which I find inspiring.
We Have No Monarchs In These Trees, Lady Kitt (2023). Credit – Sarah Li
Physically, the shapes and textures of the fabric, rope and paper sculptures I make, reference Anglo-Saxon objects found in my home counties of Durham and Northumberland and scrunchies! The intricately woven patterns in things like the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Bamburgh Bird were created (in part) to provide protection from evil spirits. Objects using these tangle of forms were often placed around buildings to catch and confuse bad magic in their writhing mesh! When my sculptures are commissioned, I ask people I’m working with ‘which part of your event, space or work most needs protection or care?’ The answer often informs where the work goes.
Your work often involves large scale installations with recycled materials, how did this approach evolve?
I’ve always loved really massive, immersive installations- I’m a huge fan of contemporary installation artists like Joana Vasconcelos, Ramesh Nithiyendran and Jonathan Baldock, who really create distinct, immersive atmospheres with their work. And I’ve also always been absolutely obsessed with folk art celebrations and shrines. I got taken to lots of these as a child in Portugal.
Story Shrine, Credit – Lady Kitt (2021)
Folk-art traditions and shrines have this amazing way of being maintained and developed over decades (even centuries sometimes) to fulfil a variety of functions for the communities who look after them. Shrines quite often invite votive offerings of handwritten prayers, devotional objects and bouquets, which is a tradition I really draw on in my own work- aways incorporating invitations for visitors or audiences to add to an installation over time.
I like the idea that a place isn’t just made by or for one person, but collectively conceived and preserved. I like that shrines provide somewhere to meditate on how individuals feel at a given point in their lives. They also offer an outlet for creative expression and emotional regulation by physically making things like ritual objects or flower arrangements. Folk practices, like Morris dancing, offer regular opportunities for communities to get together and be creative. As well as occasions for expression, these gatherings make time for emotional and practical support to be expressed, sought, and shared, a process I call ‘building creative intimacies’. To me, this is the same with queer cultural gatherings like Pride or regular local drag nights. I think of drag as a form of contemporary folk art.
Folk places, objects and ways of doing things are inevitably formed through, document, and support the lives of the people who create them. All this stuff is often referred to as ‘intangible’ heritage. For me, it is also ‘emotional heritage’. I’m interested in how I can collaborate with other people to create space for our queer emotional heritage to happen and to be documented, so a lot of my installations are about creating time and resources for people to experiment with this.
Art Confirmed. Credit – Lady Kitt (2022)
The recycling elements of my work come from my having climate anxiety and wanting the things I make to be as environmentally un disastrous possible! In 2021 I made a Culture Declares Emergency pledge. ‘Allotmenteering’ is a central part of that pledge. It’s about building commissions around available resources, as opposed to planning work & then having to gather new materials. I grew up on allotments and the phrase references the way sheds are always made from parts from older sheds! I document and organise my allotmenteering through Materials Lists-tables with 4 columns titled:
Materials Quantity Origin What’s happening to the materials(s) after this?
I have one for every commission, project and event I do. I also publish them via my website & use them to catalogue the materials I have available to reuse / recycle in my next work.
Can you tell us a bit about your drag king character?
I don’t really have one specific character. I sort of use drag as a tool to really scrummage around in a specific theme or idea. I will develop a different character to explore each new theme I’m interested in. At the moment I’m really fascinated about the connections between desire, danger and consent, so I’m playing with a character who is part of me navigating that fascination.
I have a recurring merboi character who crops up in performances about the mythologising (and with that either denying or eulogising) of othernesses. To me this seems particularly insidious around Disability / Disabled people being the focus of ‘inspiration porn’ while simultaneously being disbelieved, ignored and denied our basic rights. As the merboi lives out of water he uses crutches to get around the landlocked world with his tail. This is also a way for me to be able to incorporate crutches (which I sometimes need to use) into my performances as part of the story as well as my mobility aid as a performer.
WIth that character I’m also interested in how this myth-ing or othering applies to bi / pan sexualities, gender fluidity, and non-monogamy. These aspects of my life are often viewed by others as inspiring or utterly fabricated. When in fact, my experience of them is that they are part of the everyday fabric of my life- holding within them multitudes and very occasional extremes, but generally just pretty normal.
What’s your experience of being a queer creative in the North of England?
It’s mint and it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because of the vast inequalities between a lot of places in the south and a lot of the North. This spans health, jobs, education, opportunities, infrastructure and of course arts funding. There are still very London centric systems, structures and cultures in the arts , or creative industries or whatever we call the business(es) of being creative and it’s crap.
EDC Workshop, Lady Kitt. Credit – Rachel Deakin (2023)
But…It’s mint because there’s great stuff going on here, amazing local LGBTQ+ arts organisations (like Andro and Eve and Curious Arts) doing brilliant things and supporting communities, artists and audiences. In my experience there is a lot of mutual support between Northern, queer creative communities so I feel really part of, and helped by, lots of connected groups of super local and more North-wide meshworks.
What are you excited about with the Visible Rest project?
ALL OF IT!!!!!
Working with folks in Doncaster has been brilliant. Finn (from Andro and Eve ) said at the start of the project ‘Donny always surprises you’ and that has certainly been true in the best possible way! The variety of experiences, perspectives, knowledge and skills folks have come to the sessions with has been very inspiring.
It’s great to work with Andro and Eve and Right Up Our Street. Andro and Eve was my intro to drag king-ing when I attended an event way back in 2019 I think. I‘ve also attended Andro and Eve drag king workshops and performed at an event too. Feeling supported as a drag king is very important as there is still a lot of sexism in parts of the drag world and Andro and Eve do a brilliant job of challenging this and supporting kings n things! Many drag performers (me included) as well as using drag as a form of creative expression, use it as a way to explore what gender means to us- having support to do this is vital emotionally as well as artistically (It’s back to those ‘Creative Intimacies’ I mentioned before!).
Reyt Proud zine launch. Right Up Our Street – (2024).
It’s exciting to make work for Pride. Commissioning artwork, particularly co-created artwork like this, at Pride events can generate conversations, understanding and support. There are sections of the LGBTQIA+ community who are still often under/unrepresented at Pride. As a Disabled person I have found some Prides really physically inaccessible for example. I’m definitely working hard to make sure this installation can be especially welcoming of and enjoyable for Disabled and Neorudivergent folks, which feels exciting to me.
Is there anything you’d like for people to experience if they come along to see the installation at Doncaster Pride on 10 August?
Calm, creativity, and connection (maybe with other people or maybe with materials, atmospheres or the themes of the work).
Given the theme for the zine we made as part of this project was being proud, can we ask – What brings you pride and joy?
My children, my sister, my brother in law and my drag family DGA. Being part of a queer community of both given and logical family is intensely joyous for me. I am proud of the way we support each other practically, emotionally and creatively. I’m proud of the love, art and activism we share. I’m proud of DGA’s fierce dedication to making queer spaces and events more accessible, care-filled and mischievous.
Our thanks to Kitt for their time in answering our questions. You can experience their installation ‘Visible Rest’ at Doncaster Pride on 10 August from 12pm. Visit Doncaster Pride’s website for further event information.
Ahead of the launch of Reyt Proud zine on 2 March, we caught up with designer Jazyra Christou to find out about their work and inspirations and what brings them pride!
Reyt Proud zine is a new zine that shines a light on stories from LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster sharing what makes them proud. It’s part of a longer term project we’re working on with Right Up Our Street for LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster, with the creation of artwork which will debut at Doncaster Pride which is this years’ UK Pride.
Jazyra is a Leeds based graphic designer whose practice revolves around playing with typography and lettering. Their work lies at an intersection between graphic design and illustration, often combining analogue with digital processes as well as exploring image making techniques.
Can you tell us about your previous projects / work?
Ooooooo a really fun recent personal project was this publication called Joyful. It’s basically a queer community cookbook. I really love cooking for people and hosting dinner parties. They’ve been a way to show my love and appreciation to friends as well as getting to know people better and deepen connections. So I wanted to capture this energy and encourage other people to try new recipes, to bring people together and maybe they’ll discover a passion for cooking too! The cookbook consists of people sharing family recipes, culture, comforts, cravings, culinary creations as well as poetry. All the contributions are so so lovely so I’m excited for its existence in the world.
Joyful zine (2024). Jazyra Christou
What inspires you as a creative / graphic designer?
Typography is a big source of inspiration like when I get to explore a new city one of my fave things to do is roaming around on the lookout for fun type. We’re surrounded by so much type it can be easy to not notice it but discovering a whacky shop sign or an unusual, super extravagant letter gets me real excited. Just walking down the street you’ll probably pass loads of things that use typography.
Seeing the work other creatives are making inspires me a lot. I need to give a shout out to Wooshy World, they are constantly pushing boundaries creating mind blowing work from fashion pieces to collage to exhibitions. Also Soft and Prickly is such a talented artist who does really cool stuff with natural dyes (and an amazing nail artist too!) I try to look outside of the realm my work lies in because I think that gives you new ideas and encourages you to create work outside your comfort zone.
What do you like about zines and how did you get into them?
Zines are just the best! They can capture an idea, research, stories, and explore very niche topics. And they bring people together who are into the same things that help to build these underground subcultures and connect with people. Then it’s something you kinda get obsessed with and fall in love with so you’ll be telling your friends about the latest zine you’ve discovered and it just grows from there.
One of my fave zines at the moment is called Filler, it dives into how food links with our mental health and explores community care, supper clubs, culture, colonialism, food ecosystems and nutrition. These are just a few topics, there’s so much good stuff packed into it! It’s really great, I’d recommend grabbing a copy. I also love when creatives use zines experimentally to explore more abstract work and play with a theme or even to showcase sketches / unfinished work that might not otherwise be seen. I could easily go on and on talking about my fave zines but I’ll leave it at that for now haha!
Previous examples of Jazyra’s work. Credit: Jazyra Christou
What’s your experience of being a queer creative in Yorkshire?
There’s so many queer creatives doing really exciting things. I don’t know where all the energy comes from but queers are relentless, they’ll find a way to make it happen even when the budget is super tight. And it’s a very DIY led creative scene. If someone wants to put on a club night, an exhibition, an art market and so on they do. It’s encouraging to see that. And Leeds is very close knit so once you start meeting people and going to their events you’ll find them rocking up at your workshops, buying your tote and supporting your work. It’s very loving.
What are you excited about with Reyt Proud zine?
To see everyone’s contributions! I don’t know Doncaster super well so it will be fun to get to know the people and hear their experiences. And the intergenerational aspect is great too. I feel like I am surrounded by people in their 20s and 30s so this is an opportunity to connect to the slightly older folks. They’ve really paved the way for us and I feel it’s good to have conversations about our experiences. And I think the zine will really encourage this.
2024 calendars designed by Jazyra Christou and Luci Pina
What makes you proud to be you? Or what brings you pride and joy?
I haven’t thought about this much before (I’ll probably do a journal entry after writing this). I guess self expression brings me pride. The last few years I’ve really come into my queer identity. There’s still plenty I’m exploring with what my queerness means to me as well as my identity and gender. But I’m getting more and more comfortable with my queerness and feeling closer to my authentic self.
In terms of my design practice, creating work for projects I believe in, for people who are doing what they love – which might be running a record label for example – that brings me a lot of joy. I’ve got to work for independent venues and DIY spaces, and people running their own club nights or events and that’s super special for me to be part of and feel connected with the local community. I’m also proud of hanging in doing what I love because freelancing isn’t easy and I’m working side jobs to keep me afloat. I feel like most creatives I know are in similar positions but being able to do freelance design work is a privilege and it’s still crazy that people approach me with their projects and put their trust in me. It’s a really lovely feeling and a pleasure to work with them.
If this has sparked your curiosity, come along to the launch of Reyt Proud zine on Saturday 2 March in Doncaster city centre. Join us for an afternoon of free tea, cake and creative activities! Plus get your free copy of Reyt Proud zine. Find out more via Right Up Our Street.
You might remember him from our online discussion with Festival of Debate last year, Drag Beyond the Binary, or if you’re a long term Andro and Eve fan, you might have seen him on our stages in 2018!
Ahead of The Kingdom Come, we caught up with him. As somewhat of a chameleon in the drag scene, we thought we’d dig a bit deeper and find out more about this amazing artist!
1. We first had you perform in Sheffield in 2018. How did you get into drag?
I always used to play the male roles at the all girls’ schools I went to, and that was my first approach to performing masculinity and being on stage. I didn’t perform for a while after that. Even though I loved being on the stage, I never felt any of the castings mirrored my gender or racial identity.
Then in 2017, I saw my first ever drag king, johnsmith, who just happened to be performing in Leeds where I used to live. That was when it clicked. I took part in your king workshop led by Adam All and Apple Derrieres a month later and that’s where Sigi Moonlight was born. Shortly following that I came third in Man Up! drag king competition at The Glory, East London and it swiftly took off from there; it felt like I was meant to have been doing this all along.
Sigi Moonlight Performing at The Kingdom Come, 2018
2. Can you tell us about the character of Sigi and how you approach your drag performances?
My drag name is a play on Ziggy Stardust and it’s an expression of everything that’s gone a bit wrong with masculinity. Sigi was born in 2017, the same year that Donald Trump became the POTUS, and to me that spelled the beginning of the end for humanity. Just like Ziggy Stardust, Sigi is a bit of an alien sent to earth, an empty vessel who embodies different types of masculinity in order to shine a light on the weird and terrifying extremes it has reached. My “Siginature” (excuse the pun) style is taking an overtly darkly masculine character and flipping it on its head to reveal a softer, more feminine interior in the form of striptease and comedy.
3. We last caught up with you in a Festival of Debate Q&A in May 2021, what have you been up to since then?
I’ve since joined PECS Drag King Collective, graduated from drama school, got an agent, starred in an HBO series, played on a West End stage, performed in a lead role in Mulan Rouge at The Vaults in Waterloo, and been on a Netflix tour with drag race queens performing at venues across the UK promoting new forms of drag to audiences who’ve never seen a drag king before!
4. You’re part of the Bitten Peach collective. Can you tell us a bit about that, and what you enjoy about performing with them?
The Bitten Peach is the UK’s only Queer Pan-Asian Performer Collective aiming to address the balance of Asian performers on lineups in cabaret and live performance spaces as well as showcase the excellence of Asian talent on the drag and cabaret scene. I have performed in as well as hosted shows with them since they were formed in 2019.
The best thing about performing with The Bitten Peach is the strong sense of community and identity that is served up to make each and every show really special and heartfelt. It doesn’t just feel like any old “gig”; everyone is committed to performing and preparing well, and the spirit in our rehearsals and final shows is very apparent. I also love our outside social occasions like hot pot dinners and sports day events. It feels like being part of one big loving family! I’ll next be appearing in The Bitten Peach Halloween Whodunnit Show on Wednesday 19th October at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington… keep an eye on their socials for tickets!
Sigi Moonlight, who loves a 1950’s or 1960’s rebel! Credit – Captured by Corrine
5. What or who inspires you either in the world of drag or queer performance or any arts and culture?
I look to the aesthetic styles of the 50s and 60s for many of my own fashion sense, poses and direction in my photoshoots and acts. The film rebels, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean, are and will forever be my idols when it comes to style and eschewing the boundaries between masculine and feminine performance onstage and onscreen. In terms of drag artists, I am in awe of the make up talents of Landon Cider, the prop and costume making skills of Oedipussi Rex and Marnie Scarlet, the charisma and voice of LoUis CYfer and Beau Jangles, and the clowning wonders of Fancy Chance. However, I’m also very amazed by the upcoming drag king talent who have emerged the last couple of years.
6. What would you like to see or make happen as part of a hopeful queer future?A mainstream show on a worldwide platform that rivals RuPaul but welcomes and celebrates drag kings. There are more and more talented kings on the scene each year, so I hope it’s only a matter of time before we enter the mainstream.
Read on to find out about their inspirations behind the work, and some honest discussion of their struggles as someone who identifies as neurodiverse.
During the various lockdowns and shift towards online events, I noticed more people becoming aware of social discomforts that they perhaps wouldn’t ordinarily notice in the lives they had become accustomed to. There were articles about how eye contact is actually quite draining for most people, or about the dysphoria of seeing yourself reflected back at you in a small window constantly, while you talk to others. I was also thinking about my own writing, and the discomfort I have inventing dialogue that sounds like real people, which matched up with the discomfort I feel performing normal personhood in day to day life.
Zoyander Street
I wanted to make a piece of work about that, and when I think about games and theatre that explore those feelings, Squinky’s* work is the first thing on my mind. So I wanted to collaborate with them and see what we could do together.
*Squinky is a queer new media artist and theatre practitioner based in Montreal, with a background in game development
I’ve made a lot of “games” that focus on interactive characters based on real people, so that you can just have a simulated conversation with them without trying to achieve anything
I’ve been working in indie games for just over a decade now, but until this project, almost everything I’ve made has been a single player experience, something that you interact with alone. I’m very interested in constructing a partner who you are interacting with, and I’ve made a lot of “games” that focus on interactive characters based on real people, so that you can just have a simulated conversation with them without trying to achieve anything.
I like the way that pacing and glitches affect the way you read that software partner, almost like the computer version of body language. I’m not often funny on purpose, and most of my work is kind of serious but chill – this piece is a big shift for me in that sense, as well as being the first theatre-adjacent thing that I’ve made!
I have wanted to get into theatre for a while, partly because I am fascinated by performance and the way that people can completely change the meaning of things just by altering their tone or posture. I’ve also had really moving experiences with improvised story games that are played in person, either around a table or in a theatre space. I want to be able to work with those dynamics that emerge between people and the narrative gaps that we all fill in when given a few very gestural directions. It’s been a real joy to get theatre residencies as part of the development of this project, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I get to explore next.
Our new zine, JOYFUL NOISE, is being designed and curated by experienced zine artist, Seleena Laverne Daye. This July some of you may have met her through our zine making workshops. But many of you won’t have. So we thought we’d do a proper introduction, so you can find out more about her practice and what brings her joy!
Seleena Laverne Daye is a self-taught textile artist, workshop facilitator, retail worker and zine maker who creates bright and playful works using traditional sewing techniques. Her work is centred around race, class, gender and sexuality.
How to make a 1 page zine – Seleena Laverne Daye
She makes zines about the things she loves and her identity, such as Without You I’m Nothing, Happy Alone and the Brown Girl zine series. She also co-hosts Poor Lass, a podcast sharing working class stories and aims to make art, crafts and creativity as accessible as possible.
How long have you been making zines? What is it that you like about them? I’ve been making zines around 21 years now. I really love the DIY aspect of them and they’re fun to make. There’s something about cutting things out and sticking them down that sparks joy! also really like that a zine can be about anything and everything, and each one is completely different. And that you get to hear from marginalised groups in zines, sharing their story in their own words.
Can you tell us about previous zines you’ve worked on or created? Most of my zines are about race, class and identity, oh and fandom; I love making zines about the things I love. I’ve made a couple of long running zines with friends, One was called Sugar Paper which was a crafty how to zine and another called Poor Lass which was all about working class stories. I’ve also made zines for and with organisations and groups with subject matters ranging from safety for sex workers to community activists.
You make things with felt too, how did you get into craft? I’ve been crafting since I was very small. Part of it is growing up with not much money, so having a DIY approach to most things in life has been passed on from my mum, and I just really enjoying making things. My mum taught me to sew when I was little and her dad, my grandad also made a lot of things. I did GCSE textiles at school but beyond that have had no formal training, more just a hobby that developed over time.
What’s it like being based in Manchester? Do you feel connected to other artists or creatives?
I really love living in a city, I think it’s influenced me a lot in what I make. My mum grew up in a village in South Yorkshire, so a lot of my family visits were there, but I think I was made for city life. I realise how lucky I am to have access to free art spaces and meet other creatives, which happens everywhere, but more so in a big city. And I’ve met a few artists in Manchester whose work inspires me and who I’ve collaborated with.
What other zines do you love? One of my all time favourite zines is Shotgun Seamstress by Osa Atoe, which is a zine about Black Punks, with reviews, interviews and more. I also love zines by Holly Casio. I am biased as she is one of my best friends and the person who was instrumental in me getting into zines as much as I did, She makes zines and comics about fandom and sexuality and life.
What do you hope to achieve with Joyful Noise? To spread some Joy!!! The past 18 months have not exactly been filled with joy and I think we all need to allow ourselves space and time to experience joy. And as with most things I create, I hope to encourage people who aren’t always able to take up space, to TAKE UP SPACE!
What do you do to cultivate joy? Dance! I love dancing, it always makes me feel good. Create something, chat rubbish with friends and eat crisps. They’re the main ways I cultivate joy.
Finally, have you got any advice for someone wanting to make a zine? Just do it! I know that’s easy to say, but don’t overthink it. Don’t feel like you aren’t ‘artistic’ enough or whatever. If you have something to say or share just note it down, put it in a zine. You don’t have to show anyone when it’s done. There’s no right or wrong way to make a zine.
Thanks to Seleena for being interviewed. We hope you feel inspired to have a go, either to make your own zine, or submit something for JOYFUL NOISE.
Find out more about submitting creative work on the theme to our new zine by clicking here. Deadline for submissions is 24 September!
For our Reclaiming the Rainbow Photo Challenge we have assembled a brilliant bunch of South Yorkshire Creatives to judge entries. Read on to find out more about them and how they feel about the rainbow flag!
Reclaiming the Rainbow Photo Challenge is a way to raise awareness of the Pride flag as a symbol of safety, build connections, and celebrate the strength of the South Yorkshire LGBTQ+ community through this difficult time. You can find out more about it and on how to enter here.
First up is Zoyander Street (Pictured above). “I am a neurodivergent, genderqueer trans man living in Rotherham, and an artist-researcher and critic working at the fringes of indie videogames for over a decade. After becoming increasingly sensitive to the limitations of linear text, I began exploring interactive and tactile mediums of communication, because I want to surface ambiguity and allow mess to stay messy. Led by ethnographic and historical research, I create lo-fi glitchy games and custom hardware for festivals, galleries, and museums”.
Gilbert Baker said that he chose the rainbow for the flag because it is a “natural flag” that “comes from the sky” – it comes from the same place as the light that shines equally on everyone and sustains the myriad forms of life on earth. Just as you can never find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, you can never perfectly locate queerness or pin down the boundaries of our community; we exist as an expression of the beautiful variety of forms that exist in this world.
Zoyander Street
Next up is Nelly Naylor. “My names Nelly, I’m a proper Yorkshire lass, I live in Sheffield with my girlfriend and our cats Slim and Shady! I studied photography at Sheffield Hallam and in my final year I launched my business. I noticed that couples in the LGBT+ community were not represented at all! I knew I was the girl to fly the flag for our community so I become a LGBT+ specialist wedding photographer. 5 years on, a few awards in the bag and 150 5-star reviews online, I’m still championing equal marriage and documenting it in my unique colourful fun style!”
The rainbow flag to me was something I could identify with- for me the symbol if I saw it in a cafe, bar, or on someone’s website, I knew it was a safe space for me to be myself. I know it sounds cliche but I do wear the flag with pride, on clothing, shoes, umbrellas whatever it may be the symbol says to people this is me, I’m comfortable with who I am and this is my journey. I’m also really glad we now have a progress flag now, I feel every year we do progress in everyway.
Nelly Naylor
And finally, our third judge is Yuen Fong Ling. Yuen Fong LING is an artist and curator based at Bloc Studio, Sheffield, and Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. Ling has a socially-engaged and performance-based art practice that explores his biographical connections with omitted histories, people, places and objects.
Recent projects include: “Towards Memorial” (2019-ongoing) explores the remaking, gifting and wearing of sandals once designed and handmade by gay socialist activist Edward Carpenter (1844-1929), and “The Human Memorial” (2020-ongoing) explores the empty plinth to consider what monuments and statues we want in public space? What we stand for, and importantly when and where?
My relationship with the rainbow flag has been different throughout my life. There were times when I shied away from it, embraced it, was protected by it, exposed, made vulnerable by it, and even rejected it. What this has meant, is that it’s constantly evolving and changing symbol for me. Now, more than ever, do we need to reclaim, rework, make our own, these colours for our community
Yuen Fong Ling
We hope our judges words inspire you to think about your relationship with the rainbow flag and take your own photo for Reclaiming the Rainbow.
Next month we launch our new zine CENTRE, with a special online event, REYT QUEER NIGHT IN, to bring our community together. And of course queer culture will be served up front and centre!
Darren Pritchard
Part of our offer is a Vogue dance workshop with Mama Ghetto aka Darren Pritchard. Darren is a performer, choreographer, producer and director. He is also a celebrated Vogue performer and Mother of the House of Ghetto Manchester. We’re thrilled he can join us to teach some Vogue moves and flair via Zoom!
Darren says ‘Vogue is important to me, because it embraces my love of dance, my love of QTIPOC culture and allows me to be me and who ever else I want to be. Through the ballroom culture as a Mother I have seen people grow and develop and do things they thought they could never do’.
Manchester’s House of Ghetto have made their name in the Manchester Vogue ball scene with tight choreography performed solely by Black female dancers. House of Ghetto also feature in documentary ‘Deep in Vogue‘, which examines the North West’s Vogue ball scene, and which premiered at BFI Flare in 2019. Darren has produced Vogue Balls throughout the UK including Manchester’s first Black Pride Vogue Ball as part of 2019’s Manchester Pride. Read more about the House of Ghetto and Darren here.
Christian Adore will be leading a PARTY EYES makeup workshop! Photo. Ndrika Anyika.
Our REYT QUEER NIGHT IN is about having fun with your community, so before getting your vogue on with Mama Ghetto, we’re encouraging you to join drag star Christian Adore with his ‘Party Eye’s’ makeup workshop, for all genders. Because remember, makeup has *no* gender! Its bound to be an irreverent and joyful way to get ready for your queer party at home!
DJ Xzan will be performing a live DJ set!
Finally, we’re super excited that DJ Xzan, will be performing a live DJ set 9 – 11pm bringing the party direct to your front room. They’ll be playing a high energy set with plenty queer pop party anthems to help you share in the queer joy. DJ Xzan aka Xandice Armah is an open format DJ from London and co founder of Gal Pals, the LGBTQ+ dance party centring womxn and excellent pop music. Xzan has supported the likes of Big Freedia, JD Samson, Anna Clavi, MNEK and Mabel, as well as playing at Glastonbury on the Sisterhood Stage.
All those who pre order a copy of CENTRE will get sent a link to the DJ set for free, but if you want to join us from 7pm, you’ll need to get your ticket via Tickets For Good. Sliding scale prices to suit all budgets are available! We hope you can join us on the 10th October, serving your best party looks, and bask in the queer joy!
CENTRE will be available on our online shop for pre sale on the 1st October and posted out around REYT QUEER NIGHT IN on 10th October. The zine is a collaboration with artist Okocha Obasi and created using Arts Council England’s COVID-19 Emergency Funding.
With just over a month until our our Cabaret College, we caught up with award winning drag king and actor Lucy Jane Parkinson, aka LoUis CYfer who we’re collaborating with for this set of online workshops..
LoUis CYfer was the first Drag King to win the crown at Drag Idol UK and has gone on to become a well known performer in the UK cabaret scene. A regular collaborator with theatre company Milk Presents, they have performed in theatre shows across the UK, balancing their acting and writing alongside appearances as LoUis CYfer. Having led some drag king workshops for us back in November 2019 we’re thrilled they are back to work with us on the Cabaret College.
Lucy Jane Parkinson in JOAN. Milk Presents.
Q. Can you tell us about your past work?
As well some stints working in a Chinese takeaway and Morrisons, I have worked in in some of the best cabaret bars in the UK. I’ve travelled all over the world from Texas to Australia, performing both cabaret and theatre. I’ve run workshops which raise awareness around gender, masculinity and drag, alongside some of my favourite people in the whole world (Milk Presents). Together we cleaned up at the Edinburgh fringe a few years ago winning a Fringe First, a Stage Award and Spirit of the Fringe for our hit cabaret theatre show: JOAN. I’ve done lots of work with Milk Presents with shows such as BULLISH and video poetry projects like MY ENGLAND. Before lockdown I had just finished a restoration comedy at the Young Vic Theatre and a drama for the BBC.
Q. What is the character of LoUis CYfer like?
LoUis is like nobody I’ve ever met, he’s charming yet cheeky, he’s strong and masculine but delicate like a soggy dandelion. He’s a dickhead that you can’t help but have fun with.
Q. What got you into drag / cabaret and what do you like best about it?
I was an artist studying my masters and at the same time was having a complete identity crisis; LoUis was my way of processing my confusion. The best thing about cabaret is that the show isn’t someone else’s script, it’s all your own, and having a stage for your voice, (albeit to pissheads), feels like a great opportunity to create discourse in an entertaining manner.
Q. Is there anything about drag and cabaret you’d like to see change?
Drag and cabaret is always changing and is constantly in flux, if you want me to say I’d like to see more kings I’m not going to do that … What I would like is to be able to see more arts funding for this genre as lots of cabaret artists are living hand to mouth. It would be good if we could apply for funds to make our travelling performances more like conventional touring theatre in terms of having a team and budgets for lighting and sound. Being on your own and doing everything can be a real stress and sometimes you forget to enjoy it.
Q. What do you hope to achieve through the Cabaret College?
I want to improve the quality of the work on the scene. I’m sick of seeing people have to enter all these competitions to get recognition. It’s not a good start and doesn’t facilitate self – sufficiency and critical reflection for the artist. It is crucial to equip creative people with the tools to make good quality work.
Q. As someone working in the performing arts how have you adapted under COVID? What are you excited about working on in future?
I’ve gone digital baby!!! This includes working with my own avatar as a way to explore character and technology. I’ve started my own podcast called FANNY KLUB and have been working with my partner in crime Rebecca Banatvala on our queer theatre company Korupt Kabuki. We have been writing monologues for actors to perform to camera, writing our own comedy show BOXTICKERS and thanks to Daisy May Cooper we have been writing our first treatment for a TV show about how we met. It’s been all go here at HQ.. Before lockdown I was due to start 6 months at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in Twelfth Night so once things open up again I’m hopeful they will begin rehearsals and I’ll get my big break back!
LoUis facilitating a drag king workshop for Andro and Eve. Nov 2019
Can you tell us about someone that inspires you?
Without trying to sound like a dickhead, no particular person inspires me. I find moments and memories inspiring but to be inspired I feel like you have to see something in someone else that you aspire to be or have.. I don’t feel like I’ve had the opportunity to see myself in anyone yet. Having said that I wouldn’t mind waking up one morning to find I am Jodie Comer, Victoria Wood, Robin Williams, Cathy Burke or Daisy May Cooper.
To find out more and apply for a place on the Cabaret College course head here and complete the short application form. Deadline 30 July. You can find out more about LoUis CYfer by following him on Instagram.
Ahead of the launch of our new zine, Centre, we caught up with RACEZINE founder, recent graduate and our latest collaborator, Okocha Obasi (he/him).
Okocha is a graphic designer and recent graduate from Leeds Arts University. In the past three years, he has created an array of projects, characterised by bold designs and themes that are socially engaged and conscious. Obasi is the creator of the RACEZINE whose aim is to platform creatives of colour, and Okocha has produced many projects including a non-profit zine, performance events and colourful and infamous club night TONGUE N TEETH. (All whilst completing his Bachelors degree – crazy right!?)
Q: So, Kocha, what can you tell us about your previous projects?
A party-goer at TONGUE N TEETH, image courtesy of the artist, Okocha Obasi.
Okocha: I do a range of different projects ranging from styling, art direction to speculative focused critical design. I use whatever medium is needed to prove or communicate an idea. I like to blur the lines between different practices in order to create visually cathartic pieces of work, hence why I see myself more as artist, than ‘graphic designer’. Whether it’s a poster, club night, event, motion graphic or textile design, all my projects have purpose and direction for impact. For example, my brand RACEZINE COLLECTIVE was made out of the pain of being the Othered my entire life. I created a zine publication known as RACEZINE to share the voices of creatives of colours who tend to go unnoticed in the white dominated Northern art-spaces. Other projects include TONGUE N TEETH, a club night which welcomes those othered, in a temporary carnival-like space, offering moments of escape.
Q: When did you get into zines, and what is it you like about them?
Okocha: I have always been into zines, and since I was young have enjoyed looking through independent bookstores or zine libraries up and down the country. I like how they can take any form, style and narrative, allowing less-heard voices to become physically achieved and known. There’s something very timeless about how zines represent certain eras, highlighting different the social issues of different periods, provide commentary and can be a form of liberation or rebellion. I like the power of self-publishing things, which bigger establishments might view as too
‘risky’. Zines themselves are forms of protest against what is allowed or expected, which naturally makes them an expression of punk. And punk, has always been political and pushing the boat where’s it’s never been and that’s very exciting.
Q: What do you like about living in West Yorkshire/Leeds?
Okocha: What I love about Leeds is the definitely the club nights, as I have had many good (and messy) nights out! I also love that many people are very down to earth and genuine, it feels like you can breathe more so than London at times. There’s definitely been a surge in creative collectives which is always inspiring. I love the D.I.Y attitude that comes with these collectives, that often comes with being thoughtful about who and why they are creating spaces. On a personal level, I grew a lot in Leeds as well for a range of different reasons, which I will always thanks the city for. Overall as a creative it’s a good place to fail, learn and succeed, as it cheap and accessible for many different things.
Q: What do you find challenging about living in Leeds?
Okocha: I think there are a lot of white dominated spaces, which can feel very suffocating as PoC. I think also the mass amount of students made me very anxious as some people views definitely did not align with my own. I wish there were more regular art shows which are not inherently fine art and white. I think it’s great a lot of different art spaces are created by DIY collectives, but I wish there were more radical exhibitions and shows, led by established art organisations & spaces.
Q: What do you hope to achieve with Centre?
Okocha: I hope to represent all the voices meaningfully and create a loud, bold and visually cathartic zine publication. One which will be cherished by all those who get a copy. I definitely want it to be completely different to all my past work in regards to style….just expect every page to be visual ecstasy….that’s all I’m going to give away for now 😉
Q: Can you share with us someone that inspires you?
Okocha: My mother’s strength runs through my blood. Being completely resilient to any downfall what comes her way has always made me realise even in the darkest times we can rise. My mum taught me how to survive independently and warned me about every bad wolf in the world from a young age. I think that’s why I see the world the way it is and with that, find strength in using light to reveal the dark.
Q: I think it’s only fair to finish by asking you the same question we’re asking of all the artists who submit a response to Centre. Can you tell us, in 50 words or less, what matters most to you?
Okocha: Being unapologetic. I am young but feel like I’ve lived a long life due to a range of experiences, good and bad that have shaped who I am today. I have grown, broken myself and grown again, which has taught me now, more than ever, to be completely unapologetic in everything I do.
RACEZINE, 2019, image courtesy of the artist, Okocha Obasi
You can see more examples of Okocha’s work, and follow him on Instagram, here.
Title image credit: Okocha Obasi, photographed by @undinemarkus.
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Q. What got you into drag / cabaret and what do you like best about it?
