Go Find Me · Black Trans Interactive Archive
with Danielle Brathwaite Shirley
Go Find Me is a digital archive of Black Trans people designed by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley. Inspired by Online game (MMORPG’s) we want to record the missions and quests black trans people go through when exploring the internet: Looking for representation, looking for Hormones, looking for their history, creating groups to hold space for others, combating trolls, etc.
This open call is for any Black and Trans person. Your experience is enough. You do not need to be an artist or have any sort of artistic practice.
You are more than enough.
We are looking for 10 Black Trans people to be a part of this project. You will be involved in a short series of workshops starting in September. From the workshops, an archive will be made. All participants will be paid to be involved.
To join, please send an email to: daniellebrathwaiteshirley (at) gmail.com
Context
Black Trans people have a history of being erased. Archives have failed to collect any first hand recordings of our histories. Often the way trans people are archived reinforces or centres the violence we experienced whilst living. An archive that holds a Black trans experience needs to be careful about not recreating and centering trauma. Archives created by Trans people for Trans people can enable us to more accurately record our existence. Creating our own archives allow us to use different methods of archiving to more fully record a Trans perspective.
I believe in the power of fiction and sound to record elements of our existence that otherwise cannot be recorded. We are done putting the power of our lives in the hands of those that cannot understand our existence and tend to only focus on our trauma. Accessing archives is also something that I think about often. How can we make archives accessible? How do we limit the access if the intentions of using the archive are bad? Creating an archive that takes into account the identity of the person using it, as well as how they use it, can enable people to learn from their own experience and how it differs from those they are hearing from. The aim of this project is to create an interactive fantasy archive that records conversations around black trans online spaces, organizing, bringing trans inclusive spaces offline and care through fiction.
Through a series of workshops we will design avatars to represent those involved, conduct interviews, create a soundscape for the environment. The end project will be an interactive archive that can be hosted both online and physically. Different areas and conversations within the archive will be accessible depending on your identity and choices within it. Not all the archive may be accessible to the viewer at any one time.
Go Find Me is part of Oyoun’s curatorial focus: EMBODIED TEMPORALITIES