Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

By Julieta Nuñez for la diaria 

Photo: Mariana Greif and SAT

The third edition of Trans Art Week (SAT) has begun, featuring both national and international artists. The 2019 edition of this art festival aims to continue its work to “understand the body and identity as political subjects.” “We understand this as a space of resistance not only to national fundamentalism, but also as a response to the Latin American geopolitical context, which threatens to roll back rights,” the artistic coordinators explain in the call for entries.

Featuring artists from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, and Uruguay, this edition is unique in its focus on the intersectionality that permeates trans and travesti bodies and identities. To learn about the artistic process behind this week's events, the challenges of promoting a trans art festival amidst actions against the Comprehensive Law for Trans People, and the role of art in resistance, la diaria interviewed its coordinators, Delfina Martínez, activist and cultural manager, and Leho de Sosa, activist and visual artist.

How was the preparation for this third edition of Trans Art Week?

DM: This year we started much earlier; in fact, we never stopped working: we did it on a volunteer basis the rest of the year because we believed it was something that couldn't be discontinued, that had to transcend the week itself. This is the third edition, and it's the second year that Leho and I have been in charge of artistic coordination and curating. The Montevideo City Hall (IM) put out a public call for this role, and we applied last year. We were selected then, and this year—with the experience from last year—we were selected again. This work is very intense because there are only two of us, even though we have the support of the team from the IM's Diversity Secretariat, who also work very hard on this. Furthermore, this has an activist aspect because we understand that there is a reality, and that art is also used as a super powerful tool for self-expression and for exchange.

Artist: Kevin Royk

LDS: As a team, we gradually solidified. The first time around, it was all about experimenting, because we'd never worked together before. The experience was very positive, both personally and professionally. This year was much more powerful because, in addition, we were invited to festivals and started traveling, going out, and having experiences in other places. We met trans and travesti comrades from São Paulo, as well as gay comrades and members of the queer . It's an artistic movement with its own discourse and resistance, because they live a different reality. Brazil is the country that kills the most LGBT people, and in particular, trans and travesti people. There's a concept of resistance from a political perspective: putting your body on the line to generate change. We wanted to bring that to Montevideo, but in a sisterhood and in dialogue with what we do here. There's something in this travesti-gay duo that I really like; I learned about the role that those of us who aren't trans or travesti should play in this struggle. We need to learn to use our privileges to drive change, and to step aside when we shouldn't be there.

[READ ALSO: Campaign to repeal Uruguay's trans law reached signatures for pre-referendum]

Is this what you feel you are doing now in your role?

DM: Yes, we also have to understand that there's a current political situation. There's the use of spaces, most of them public, which are supposed to belong to everyone but in reality they don't. There are also many spaces reserved for established artists and are confined to that category, without giving opportunities to emerging or underground artists .

LDS: It's something we've been working on, because we come from the periphery, from a different reality, and that unites us a lot when it comes to thinking about artistic concepts and the spaces we create and how we occupy them. Thinking about dismantling the idea of ​​art as a solemn place is fundamental, without neglecting the fact that the exhibitions and works are well-produced.

DM: queer movement is very trendy right now , but not all trans people are queer . Many don't even know what that means, because our history comes from a different place, not from academia. It's also good to break those molds from that perspective.

LDS: At SAT, we try to avoid making it a "hetero- friendly " space, because those spaces that are "gay- friendly " or "LGBT- friendly " are ultimately just for cisgender and heterosexual people to feel comfortable. The point here is different. The concept of trans art that we proposed at the first SAT organized by the IM was a super powerful initiative. Since then, we've come a long way; one of those things is why there's this constant assumption that trans people need us to provide them with information from the outside. We have incredible artists who think, who have theories and concepts that we don't. Even feminisms don't have these kinds of philosophical frameworks. This SAT is simply meant to be a week of reflection, a chance for us all to sit down together and listen. It's something Susy [Shock] says: "The world is the way it is because you governed it." Maybe if you let us organize it, we'll do it differently and things will go better for us.

DM: That relates to what Erica Malunguinho [trans congresswoman from São Paulo] said during her campaign: “For a fair and necessary alternation of power.” The discourse is about that; until now, the world has been dominated and shaped by white, heterosexual, cisgender, and phallocentric thinking. That's why this space for dialogue is so important. This isn't like Montevideo Rock , where you go and see shows and then go home and say, “That sounded great.”

LDS: Of course, this isn't a show, it's an art festival. It was a process: we had the contacts to bring in people from abroad, and a lot of allies, and we saw that this could be transformed into something else. Last year it worked according to that logic: to introduce the topic and discuss it.

Delfina and Leho, curators of the exhibition 

What makes this edition different from previous ones?

DM: In this edition, the main focus is on understanding identity not only from the perspective of gender identity, but also from an intersectional one. We are shaped by a multitude of variables that construct our identity and who we are; this relates to ethnic-racial identity, territorial identity, the historical identity of the moment we live in, and artistic identity. We need to see how all of this truly constructs a political subject in this society, which is why we felt it was incredibly powerful to have trans and Afro-Brazilian artists participating. Given what's happening there with Jair Bolsonaro, the significant setbacks in rights, and the fact that our bodies, those already experiencing the greatest inequalities, are the first to suffer the consequences… We felt this was a good space to give a regional voice, knowing what's happening now with the campaign to repeal the Comprehensive Law for Trans People, and that Uruguay is still an island amidst all these fundamentalisms that are growing and wielding power in other countries. It's not happening here yet, but we're in a year where that could start to change.

LDS: We need to understand that the same thing can happen to us. All of us who have dissident identities, in deconstruction, and women simply for being women, are the first ones they'll target when the shoe pinches. It's essential that we come together, see each other, talk and exchange ideas about what's happening, and develop strategies. This is a crucial moment for that.

Did anything change in the organization of the SAT when they found out that they had reached the necessary signatures to go to a popular consultation for a referendum to repeal the Comprehensive Law for Trans People?

LDS: We actively participated in the campaign and were quite aware that this was coming. The SAT is a true act of activism; we're convinced of it. We didn't think they'd come in with the signatures now, but it's happening, and the SAT is the place where the discussion needs to take place. There will be a lot of trans people who are writers, musicians, visual artists, politicians, academics; it's truly a breeding ground for intellectuals, and that demonstrates the struggle from that perspective. This fits perfectly because we'll be occupying some of Montevideo's most important cultural spaces for a week.

It's a unique experience on an international level. In a country considered "developing," they're changing the way trans artists are viewed. Is the idea to erase the concept that they are victims who need help?

LDS: That's what we intend to do this week; that's the focus of the work we've done. We're going to move out of that situation.

DM: We want to move away from affirmative action.

LDS: This is no longer affirmative action. It's a cultural movement with its own voice, and there are a lot of people who need to occupy these spaces. The artists are already doing things. It's hard to understand that this isn't a breeding ground for people who didn't know they were making art. They don't paint and compose just for this week; they do it beyond this. The SAT is fantastic because there are a lot of people who can be here because they already exist: we don't invent trans artists.

How do you imagine the SAT will be in ten years?

DM: I wish there wasn't a specific trans art week, that everyone, trans or not, could have access to these spaces without having to explain who they are. For now, it's necessary because many people comment on social media: "Oh, don't they want equality? Why have a week just for trans art if they want equality? When will there be a week for heterosexual art?" Well, the artists currently in galleries and most spaces are heterosexual: there's no need for a week of heterosexual art because that's the art that's everywhere. Until that barrier is dismantled, the Trans Art Week will be necessary.