Gushing Curators by Christa Holka
Gushing invites PRIM and TRIBE to curate two queer performance evenings at the ICA this Summer centring LGBTQIA+ and global majority artists and audiences.
Gushing is a platform run by Gabriela Cala-Lesina which supports LGBTQIA+ artists via live radio, events, curating and commissions. Gushing to Perform is a strand that supports LGBTQIA+ artists experimenting with performance.
Why now?
Empowerment of queer, trans and global majority communities is more important than ever in a climate of harm to trans women in the UK in particular. Opportunities for experimenting with performance are ever more scarce in London with budgets cut, and funding for freelance artists increasingly precarious.
This project gives space, funding and time to create short, experimental performance pieces in a supportive environment. Performance can be as expansive as the artist would like – spoken word, live art, singing, poetry, drag – anything live in space.
Presented by Gushing to Perform
Streamed live by Montez Press Radio
In collaboration with the ICA
Both events will be BSL interpreted
Bios
Gushing is a platform founded by Gabriela Cala-Lesina (she/her) which champions and celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists via live radio, commissions and events, with a particular focus on queer photography, performance and nightlife.
PRIM is a storytelling platform for people of black ancestry – a library and creative agency offering book clubs, special events, art installations and digital archiving with a focus on Queer Black storytellers. Founded in 2019, PRIM has collaborated with British Vogue, Aesop, Burberry, Nike, Dazed and the BFC. K Bailey Obazee is founder of PRIM, a DJ and creative.
TRIBE is an experimental community space built around survivorhood and art. Oduenyi Nwike is a Nigerian Irish born Director, Curator, Warrior Poet and musician and is a core member of TRIBE. His work as an artist has developed towards making home in the uncomfortable, the grief of survivorhood and reducing hierarchy. Encouraging art as a tool of empowerment and liberation for all Black Trans and Queer people.
Montez Press Radio is an experimental broadcasting and performance platform. It was founded in 2018 with the goal of fostering greater experimentation and conversation between artists, writers, and thinkers through the medium of radio. This platform invites different corners of the art world to interact with each other in person and on air – a place where media finally meets flesh.
Event Programme
Gushing to Perform: TRU DA VEIL
Thu 25 Jun, 7pm
An evening of music and performance rooted in Black Trans experimentation, exploring identity, survival, and expression through sound, movement, and spirit. Curated by TRIBE, the event features Chloe Filani, The Prodigy Sisters (Munya Jani & Sakeema Crook), faith//agency, and TRIBE.
Gushing to Perform: IF I MAY
Wed 29 Jul, 7pm
Four artists working across voice, performance, and movement explore what it means to extend the self outward – and to stay present for what returns. Curated by PRIM, the evening features Nali, Sienna King, Sabrena Osei-Tutu, and Cash Nahuo.
