BLACK AS I AM QUEER AS I AM BLACK: A Black Queer Poetics reading session

A journey into black queer poetics through the music, poetry and performance works of self-identified black and queer artists from around the world.

Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale are two black queer cuties who have some questions about what constitutes so called blackness and so called queerness in the realm of poetics. How does identity sometimes operate as a doorway and, sometimes, a cliff? Is there a problem with falling? Is the falling The Poetic? And, most importantly, isn't all poetry GAY at the end of the day?

Join us for this guided reading session of pre-prescribed materials that evoke the poetic as we unpack what it means to us to be this black and this queer at this particular moment in history.

This event will take place on zoom - please register with your name, pronouns and motivations for attending here.

Here, you will find your pre-prepared playlist from Kopano and Maneo: Take some time to read the texts and listen to the music in your own time. Perhaps you’ve heard or read these texts before. What do they stir up for you? Where in your body do you feel the stirring?

About Maneo & Kopano

Maneo Refiloe Mohale (they/them) is a South African editor, feminist writer and poet. Their work has appeared in various local and international publications, including Jalada, Prufrock, The Beautiful Project, The Mail & Guardian, spectrum.za, and others. They’ve served as a contributing editor for The New York Times and i-D, among others. maneomohale.com

Kopano Maroga (they/them) is a performance artist, writer, cultural worker and co-founding director of the arts organization ANY BODY ZINE. They are currently living in Brussels, Belgium and working as a curator and guest-dramaturge at Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium. Instagram: @kopano.maroga

EMBODIED ARTS FESTIVAL

Curators, artists and cultural practitioners have been exploring identities, belonging and embodied memories through diasporic, decolonial and queer perspectives as part of Oyoun’s first curatorial focus: EMBODIED TEMPORALITIES. The outcomes, encounters and queries will be presented and celebrated during the EMBODIED ARTS FESTIVAL from 8th - 18th April. View all events here.

Contact us at hallo (at) oyoun.de if you have any questions.