Publication of our text in the book “Mas que Visibles”
A text about our bisexual artivism has appeared in this anthology edited by Carlos Castaño and Ignacio Elpidio Dominguez and published by Egales. The book deals with issues such as the fight against biphobia and monosexism, mental health, and includes articles on gender violence, asylum seekers and the coexistence between different plurisexualities.
Performance with Majorettes/Agroqueer talk at Rihihiu
As part of Rihihui, a festival (based in the town of Santa Barbara in Cataluña) which celebrates local popular culture with a feminist perspective we will be carrying out a festive parade and participatory ceremony of excess in the company of the majorettes of Santa Barbara. We will be accompanied by the municipal band, Unió Musical Jaume Balmes, and Luzbel de Montiel, a local drag queen.
Later on we´ll also be taking part in a discussion with Luzbel and Laia Gimeno about their concept of Agroqueer and looking at how the use of traditional cultural practices by sexual and gender dissidents can create new, more original and inclusive queer or “strange” ways of life.
TranSisters: Clara, Rampova & Me
TranSisters, directed by Jacobo Julio Roger, is a musical and poetic portrait of the relationship between Graham, Clara Bowie and Rampova, members of the legendary subversive kabaret group Ploma 2 who revolutionized the Valencian scene with their proto-cuir shows in the 80s and 90s, and the radio waves with the first LGTB program in Spain: La Pinteta Rebel. The role of the Travestidora (onstage costumier) is played by Anna Maria.
Graham and Rampova have performed together since 2004 in spaces such as Pepica la Pilona, Mayhem, SGAE, Totart, Espacio Oximoron, Centro Octubre, IVAM, CCCC and in festivals such as Cabanyal Intim, united by their vision of cabaret as a form of radical and transforming social criticism. The Transisters in the title refers to a sisterhood that exists between queers and trans people, a form of queer affective relationships outside the patterns of the heterosexual family.
#EcoQueerPlanet – EXHIBITION
The #EcoQueerPlanet exhibition is based on an analysis of the ecological crisis and our situation here and now: Europe 2022. Result of a series of workshops where participants sewed and drew together which are displayed alongside works by related artists including Thierry Alexandre, Agrocuir, Anne Barton de Mayor, Aitana Cerdán Campos, Toni Cordero, Mery Favaretto, Institute of Queer Ecology, William James, Martin Kámen, Bea Millón, Azul Macas Moreno, Cristina Polop, Fran Quiroga, Marco Ranieri, Lourdes Santamaria, Chiara Sgaramella, Pilar Soto, Anna Maria Staiano, Beth Stephens y Annie Sprinkle, Samantha Sweeting, Edward Vicens Luna, Graham Bell Tornado y Chris X.
An article about the exhibition (read it in Spanish here) came out in CulturPlaza and the translation is on our press page.
BRILLIANT GENERATION – EXHIBITION
Anna Maria is very proud to participate in the jewellery exhibition “Generació Brilliant” commemorating 20 years of the EASD School of Art and Design in Valencia which opened on the 24th of May at the Center of Artesania of the Valencian Region on occasion of the Valencia World Capital of Design 2022. #art #design #jewellerydesigner #ValenciaCapitalofDesign #EASD
More info and photos: https://www.makma.net/generacio-brillant-celebra-los-20-anos-de-valencia-a-la-cabeza-de-la-joyeria-en-espana/
EXTRAORDINARY AWARD TO BEST PHD THESIS
After the ceremony had been delayed because of Covid, finally Graham finally received an Extraordinary Award by the UPV, Valencia Polythecnic Universit, for their PhD Thesis “Natural Histeria” on 20th May 2022.
Eco*trans*formaciones workshop
In this theoretical/practical workshop we gave a brief introduction to the concepts of ecotransfeminism and queer ecology, and showed the video collage About Architecture without Architecture by William James. The workshop included a collective practice of creation in textiles and drawing (creating a series of “grotescuirs” using the technique of the “exquisite corpse”) for the exhibition #ecoqueerplanet which will be in the Sala Biblioteca of the FFBBAA, from May 30 to June 17, 2022.
Living Art, Participatory Rituals, Queer Ecology in the Age of Ecocide
A performative conference about Graham´s artistic practice including a participatory ritual “How to Heal the Albufera Natural Park”. The conference, held at the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) on March 4, is a presentation of the Ecogender exhibition project, the Natural Hysteria cycle of participatory rituals, ceremonies and installations-with-body and includes details of our collaborations on the ecosexual weddings of Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle.
TranSisters (Clara, Rampova & Me) in Vociferio
La Erreria (House of Bent) presents Graham Bell Tornado in TranSisters (Clara, Rampova & Me) directed by Jacobo Julio Roger. Produced in collaboration with the Carme Teatre for the festival of poetry Vociferio, TranSisters is a musical and poetic portrait of Graham’s relationship with Clara Bowie and Rampova, members of the legendary and highly subversive kabaret group Ploma 2 who revolutionized the Valencian scene with their proto-queer shows in the 80s and 90s, and the radio waves with the first LGTB program in Spain: La Pinteta Rebel. Graham and Rampova have performed together since 2004 in spaces such as Pepica la Pilona, Mayhem, SGAE, Totart, Espacio Oximoron, Centro Octubre, IVAM, CCCC and at festivals such as Cabanyal Intim, united by their vision of cabaret as a form of radical and trans-forming social criticism. The Transisters in the title refers to a sisterhood that exists between queers and trans people, a form of queer affective relationships outside the patterns of the heterosexual family. TranSisters (Clara, Rampova & Me) opens on Feb 24 at 8:30 p.m at the Carme Teatre, c/Gregorio Gea, 6 Valencia. A report on the show was shown on A Punt local tv station
La Ciskar returns for the AVVAC Gala
Queer Tangles and Transexpace in the AAAA* conference
In November Anna Maria presented the short film Transexpace and Graham gave a performative conference ending with a participatory choral action as part of the online symposium AAAA* (Art, Alliances, Affections and Something else) organized by the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche. The conference, based on the theoretical and methodological framework proposed by the zoologist and philosopher Donna Haraway, grouped under the acronym SF (science fiction, speculative fabulation, string figures, speculative feminism, scientific facts, so far) which articulates possible encounters and “rare kinships” from an interdisciplinary perspective. AAAA* is situated at the intersection of the field of artistic research with other fields of cultural studies such as political speculation (feminist, queer/queer, decolonial, environmentalist), the epistemology of fiction and visual studies in order to propose possible alliances and practices which reflect on technocratic, petrocultural, necropolitical, colonial and heterocentric regimes.
Erreria films go international!
This month there is a flurry of projections of our short films with Transexpace showing in Brazil as part of the Grito Queer Horror film festival (Sao Paulo), Lets get Ecosexy! screening in the queer shorts programme of the 10th edition of Queer Streifen festival in Regensburg(Germany) and Confinement Rap selected as a finalist in the 2021 feminist Dona’m Cine competition and screening at the awards ceremony on 21 de octubre in Barcelona
La Erreria in the Canaries
Feeling proud and grateful to the amazing “Encuentros en el Mar” festival in the Canary Islands for honouring us with the 2021 Star Award in recognition of the Erreria (House of Bent)´s work promoting (and creating!) queer art. The festival was an amazing experience during which we opened a P.I.N.Q. (Post Industrial Natural Queer) Park in the botanic gardens of Vallehermoso on the beautiful island of La Gomera. The ceremony included a colaboration with a “silbadora gomera” whistling in the language which is unique to the island. We also participated in a round table discussion on camp moderated by Soberbia Drag with the writers Carlos Valdivia, Daniel Maria and Carlos Barea.
Territoris Invertits
We are participating in the collective exhibition Territoris Invertits (MUCBE, Benicarlo June-July) which unites work related to the experience of sexual dissidents/ queers living in the Mediterranean. Curated by Andrea Corrales, the exhibition includes Anna Maria´s film Solitaire, Graham´s altered book El Renaixement Mediterrani Queer (The Mediterranean Queer Renaissance) alongside work by giulia perla tempesta, Mery Sut, Felipe Rivas, Bajo Rufian, O.R.G.I.A., Lucia Egaña and many more.
House of Bent TRAILER
“I may be masked but I´m going to tell you the naked truth about art snobbery and corporate robbery. This review is a piece of eco-queer-trans-femme-in-hist-ery!” from the virtual tour of the “House of Bent” queer and femme art installation which formed part of the “De Reüll: 1990-2020” exhibition curated by Rafael Tormo Cuenca in the CCCC (Valencia).
The TRAILER of The Unofficial House of Bent Tour is available at: https://youtu.be/0Vs7CXFe5C
MAKMA article
A great article by Jose Ramón Alarcón in the arts magazine MAKMA about our House of Bent installation of queer, fem and eco art which forms part of the De Reüll 1990-2020 exhibition at the CCCC in Valencia. You can read the whole article here and the original Spanish version here
Excéntrico in CHILE
We are taking part in the International Showcase of Critical Pornoography “Excéntrico” which takes place in Chile and online from the 24th to the 30th of January 2021.
Our short film “Let´s get Ecosexy!” will be shown in the ecosexual programme “Imagine the Earth as your Lover” curated by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens. More information: https://excentricofest.com/
In the Spotlight – on Instagram
Our “En el Blanco” (In the Spotlight) Instagram campaign to promote queer and feminist artists in the “House of Bent” installation has ended. You can visit this online gallery here: www.instagram.com/annamariastaiano.erreria/
The installationforms part of the “De Reüll: 1990-2020” exhibition which continues at the Centre del Carme in Valencia till 21st of February 2021. More info below.
House of Bent – CCCC Arts Centre
We are taking part in the exhibition “DE REÜLL: 1990-2020. Cultivate, share, practice…”, curated by Rafael Tormo Cuenca at the CCCC Arts Centre in Valencia, with the House of Bent installation in which we use a transfeminist and queer methodology blurring the boundaries between art, crafts and “handicrafts” in order to question the values of the art institutions and the art market.
House of Bent is an expansive and anatomical installation based on La Erreria, our house-museum in Xàtiva and its collection, which reflects another way of collecting, based on affectivity, story-telling and activism.
It features work by Aldo Alcota, Alice Roth, Almudena López, Amaury Grisel, Angela Dalinger, Annie Sprinkle y Beth Stephens, Balfourgisnacht Monster, Cabello/Carceller, Chris Korda, Divine David, J. Palacios, Joan Isobel Bell, jole, Jose Ruiz Segura, Macarena De La Cruz, Marquéz de Gea, Mery Sut, O.R.G.I.A., Prefix-poly, Rampova, Rapha Hu, Samantha Sweeting, Simon Murphy and Toni Cordero amongst others.
Tags: bent, baroque, minimalist, kitsch, ecoqueer, surreal, transfeminist, punk, post-porn, retro-modernist etc… More information: http://www.consorcimuseus.gva.es/centro-del-carmen/exposicion/de-reull-1990-2020/?lang=es
Gore Gore Gays – Video
It was a hoot colaborating with Gore Gore Gays on their new music video “Maledetto Spoiler” by cult director Toni Trash feauring Luis Miguélez and web stars RottenMind. It´s just fab!!!!!! Check it out on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVaYd2sJYIU
Fem Tour Truck in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country)
On the 18th of december this international festival of feminist videoart, took to the streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz with a selection of 60 videos inclyding our short “Confinement Rap”. More information: http://www.femtourtruck.com
FEMART EXHIBITION in Barcelona
“The field of art, by force, always exceeds the institution demanding from it, openness, transformation and insurrection in established practices and discourses. Art understood as a social practice, paradoxically, does not countenance any institution that wants to order and domesticate it.” FEMART
We are super happy that our video-installation “Construyendo Consuelo” is in the exhibition “La Institución dentro de mi” (The Institution within) organized by FEMART in Ca la Dona (Barcelona) till the 12th of February 2021. More info: https://la-institucio-dins-meu.hotglue.me/
The video installation documents a series of drag transfeminist actions carried out by Graham Bell Tornado from 2011 to 2014 in the role of Consuelo Ciscar, the controversial former director of IVAM (The Valencian Modern Art Museum), and includes press clippings and material collected for an alternative hysteria of 21st Century Valencian Art.
The video begins with Graham´s presentation at a press conference requesting the resignation of Ciscar, organized by the Valencian association of art critics (led at this time by José Luis Pérez Pont), and ends with the action they carried out at the Fin de Ciscar (End of Ciscar) Party, an occupation of the museum by representatives of the galleries, artists and art critics of the region. More info on the project: www.grahambelltornado.com/rituals/construyendo-consuelo/
DOCUMENTARY: borrador battonz kabaret
“The kabaret battonz opened up one of these spaces of freedom …” this is how Graham´s interview for the documentary about the borrador battonz ends.
The interview was carried out during the Covid lockdown, which heavily conditioned its form since the closeness and possiblity for dialogue we would have had in other circumstances was absent. The entire documentary “borrador battonz kabaret” can be viewed in the exhibition “Cultura Online” at the Centro del Carmen de Valencia and at this link: www.ideadestroyingmuros.info/kabaret/ and the interview with Graham, here: https://vimeo.com/487681977
It is perhaps ironic that the interview comes out the same week that we inaugurate a new video installation in the exhibition “L´Institució dins de mi” (more info in the post above) because we met ideadestroyingmuros- the makers of the documentary and the kabaret- in 2007 in Valencia and we have all been “de-formed” in the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UPV carrying out our Masters and Phds.
It would be interesting to trace the effects of the institution on our work there, especially with the political changes that have happened in the last few years. We have covered a lot of ground in the anti-capitalist and transfeminist struggle – sharing stages in the Muestra Marrana (Barcelona) the Cabaret Charivari and when Graham presented the borrador battonz in Ubik (Valencia), exchanging knowledge and practices in the transfeminist timebank, and when we invited them to impart their ecodrag workshop at the Ecotransfeminism Conference at the University of Valencia in 2012. So the interview could have lasted hours but here it focuses on the three questions they asked related to the kabaret and the decolonial approach of their current work.
In Bed with the ERRERIA
It was a great pleasure to participate in the Festival on Cultures and Humand Rights “Encuentros en el Mar”. We planned to present a live performative lecture in the Canary Islands in april 2020 but due to the COVID we had to settle for a virtual IN HOUSE encounter in november. You can watch this webinar at: https://erreriahouseofbent.wordpress.com/
Culture Online Exhibition
Our videos “Solitaire” and “Confinement Rap” have been selected as part of the section on sexual and gender dissidence in the exhibition #CMCVaCasa Cultura Online at the contemporary art centre CCCC in Valencia till the end of January 2020. More information: https://culturaonline.consorcimuseus.gva.es/es/cultura-online/
The shorts are also available online at the following links, clicking on the left handside column in the link: “Ver Obra”:
Solitaire: https://culturaonline.consorcimuseus.gva.es/anna-maria-staiano/
Confinement Rap: https://culturaonline.consorcimuseus.gva.es/es/graham-bell-tornado/
An article on the exhibition can be found at: http://www.sinergias4g.com/2020/11/el-consorci-de-museus-invita_2.html
And here you can listen to the podcast with the interview to Graham Bell Tornado about “Confinement Rap” on Radio Onda Cero: https://www.ondacero.es/emisoras/comunidad-valenciana/valencia/audios-podcast/la-brujula/labruj-comval0511_202011055fa449d19a1c4e0001700127.html
Exhibition Opening – Cultura Online
We are super happy to participate with two pieces of video-art in the exhibition “Cultura Online” which opens at the museum Centro del Carmen de Cultura Contemporánea in Valencia on the 22nd of October and will also be brodcast online till the end of January.
Exhibition – Balak 11 (France)
Great to be part of “The One Minutes” ecosexual film programme curated by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens and shown as part of the Balak 11 exhibition in the public toilets in Charleville (France) alongside artists like Ron Athey, John Waters, Sylvie Lehmers and Tom of Finland. More information on the project here: https://www.reseaux-artistes.fr/actualites/balak-11/
Film Festival Mostra Viva
Premiere of our short during lockdown “Confinement Rap” at the Mostra Viva del Mediterrani, as part of the FEM Tour Truck programme of feminist video-art, organised in collaboration with the International Biennal Woman & Film, at the Octubre Centre on Tuesday 13th of October.
Reyjavik International Film Festival
Our short “Let´s get Ecosexy!” premiered at the Penis Museum in the Reyjavik International Film Festival, as part of Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle´s amazing ecosex programme alongside work by Linda Montana, Lady Monster and Joseph Kramer.Soon to be screened online worldwide!!! Watch this space!https://riff.is/event/imagine-the-earth-is-your-lover-the-one-minutes/2020-09-28/?fbclid=IwAR1Wy1F5wFuThj0x6EwjpyCl9dGw2UqsJ36WZZVvrgiEA27RfsAQ0xVovA8
LGTBQ+ History Cicle
As part of the LGTBQI cicle of talks at Muviment (Muvim, Valencia) with Liz Dust, presentation of Rampova´s memoirs about the historical trans revolutionary cabaret group Ploma 2.
EcoFutures(2020)
Curators of the Ecofutures project Giulia Casalini and Diana Georgiou have compiled this interesting guide which compliments their recent publication exploring queer, feminist and decolonial approaches to ecological debates. It includes a survey of artists such as Graham Bell Tornado who have participated in the project and a list of publications and other resources for further research. https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/resources/ecofutures-2020/
Queer Feminist Decolonial Ecologies
We are really happy to form part of the recently published dossier edited by Diana Giorgiu, Katie Goss and Sofia Vranou and coordinated by Cuntemporary Arts. It is based on the incredible Ecofutures festival they organised in London in 2019. The publication includes texts by Anna Tokareva, Amelia Goldberg and Amanda Monti amongst others and includes Graham´s article on The Participatory Rituals of Transgender Shaman Geyserbird. The dossier is available (free) online here
MUSEARI Queer Art AWARD 2020
La Erreria (House of Bent) has just received the 2020 Museari Queer Art Award for Collectives in acknowledgment of the “performative value of (their) art actions and all the projects which have made La Erreria a queer reference point internationally”.
It´s great to receive this award after over 11 years of promoting and making politically committed art with a feminist and queer perspective and representing the often invisible B and the T in the LGTBQI+ acronym. Thank you to everyone who has collaborated in our projects over the years, this award is for you too!!!
This year the Museari Awards have a special significance because our dear friend Rampova whose first solo show opened the Erreria in 2009 got the well deserved life-long award for their activism and art. More information about the awards in this Levante newspaper´s article here.
Mostra FEM ART 2020 – BCN
Our project “Construyendo Consuelo“, a trans critique of power and corruption in the arts, has been selected for the 26th edition of the feminist exhibition Mostra Fem Art dedicated to “The institution within me” which will take place in December 2020/January 2021. More information here.
Transnational Queer Underground
Graham and I won the 1st and the 2nd Audience Prize of the Transnational Queer Underground Photo Competition “Imagining Change“. Here a photo of the fabulous TQU goodie bags we received from Berlin as part of the reward.
FEM TOUR TRUCK 2020
Our new short “Confinement Rap” has been selected for the biennal Fem Tour Truck International Feminist Video Art Festival touring different cities in Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia (there are more countries to be confirmed) till 2022.
PhD Excellency Prize and more!!!
Fabulous news! The ever amazing Graham Bell Tornado has just been awarded the Excellency Prize by the Polytechnic University of Valencia for the PhD Thesis “Natural Hysteria – a queer response to ecocide” based on their investigation and performances in the field of queer ecology. So many years of hard work but it was worth it!!!
Two extra reason to be proud, in occasion of Pride day, theLevante newspaper published this article about Graham´s thesis.
And Extinction Rebellion has just published “Extinct or Alive“, an ecotransfeminist song that Graham recorded with Gran Tour. You can listen to it here.
Festival Urban Body in Action
We are thrilled to be in the catalogue of the International Festival Urban Body in Action which has just come out. The video programme has been presented in various festivals and conferences in Brazil, Portugal, Spain and The Netherlands and includes our action “Queers Against Climate Change” which can be viewed here: https://urbanbodyinaction.wixsite.com/urbanbodyinaction and https://youtu.be/DBmB5thLfWE
RAMPOVA at IVAM
When we organised Rampova´s first solo exhibition in La Erreria (House of Bent) in 2009, we aimed to promote their work in all its facets to a wider public, which was hard due to the LGBTphobic climate of the times. Now things have changed and it´s FANTASTIC to see Rampova finally getting the recognition they deserve at an institutional level with a room dedicated to their artwork at the “Counter-culture. Resistance, Utopia and Provocation in Valencia” exhibition at IVAM till the 17th of May 2020. Don´t miss it!!! More information about Rampova´s exhibition at La Erreria: https://erreriahouseofbent.wordpress.com/rampova-cabaret/
The Editorial Imperdible has just published Rampova´s memoir “Kabaret Ploma 2. Let’s socialize the sequins”, conciding with the 40th anniversary of the group Ploma 2. The book has a prologue by Abelardo Muñoz, a text by Lourdes Santamaría Blasco and another by Juan Vicente Aliaga Espert that review Rampova´s comics and their graphic work. The presentation is at IVAMLAB on March 25, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
Presentations in MEXICO (2) Voces en Tinta
The second performative presentation of our books took place at the “Voces en Tinta” LGTB cultural centre in Mexico City on Saturday 14th December with a Mexican edition of our Cuir Zine. More information at: www.somosvoces.com
Presentations in MEXICO (1): La Cosecha
Graham carried out a performative presentation of a selection of our publications in San Cristobal de Las Casas (Chiapas) on the 23rd of November.
Bookshop Presentation Madrid: Berkana
We had a great time at the presentation of our publishing house last week at the LGTBQ+ bookshop Berkana in Madrid where wonderful hosts Mili and Mar made us feel very welcome! Amazon has put so many LGTB bookshops out of business they are one of the few that survive, so we are really happy to have them as our worldwide distributors!!!
You can see full details of all our books in our publications section. They are all available at Berkana´s online store.
Guided Tour & P.I.N.Q Performance
On August 1 at 19:30h Anna Maria Staiano and Graham Bell Tornado will give a guided tour of our solo work and the Erreria X installation within the Museari Queer Art exhibition in Las Naves Valencia. The installation marks 10 years of activity as La Erreria (House of Bent) and was done in colaboration with Mostra La Ploma
After the tour a participatory parade will take us to the adjoining lot where the 8th P.I.N.Q. Park Opening Ceremony will take place. The network of Post Industrial Natural Queer reserves has been created by La Erreria to protect diversity in all its forms – sexual, biological y cultural. Given that the route passes by what was once the site of the Brazilian Consulate we have decided to dedicate this parade to the indigeneous peoples of Amazonia and their fight to conserve their land from the corrupt and LGTBphobic government of that country.
RITUAL & Museari Awards
The event began with the projection of our short film “Invocation of the Wayward Saints“(2005) and the participatory ecoqueer ritual “How to Heal…” officiated by the shaman travesti Geyserbird (Graham Bell Tornado) in a special version dedicated to the activists of Stonewall,
It ended with the Premios Museari 2019 ceremony in which Nazario Luque, Ventura Pons, Juan Vicente Aliaga, Rosa Sanchis, Tatiana Sentamans and la Editorial Egales won awards for their activism.
Ecogender X/ Ecogénero X book
We are very happy to present our latest publication based on the (r)evolutionary project Ecogender / Ecogénero by La Erreria (House of Bent). The book has a prologue by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens and texts by Graham Bell Tornado, Verónica Perales, William James and Diana J. Torres (la Pornoterrorista).
La Erreria Xposé in Museari
The Erreria Xposé an X-centric conference- organised in colaboration with the Mostra la Ploma as part of the Museari Queer Art exhibition- reflected 10 years of cultural activism by La Erreria (House of Bent) with the following programme:
– 18h. Performative Lecture on La Erreria (House of Bent)
- 18:30h. Presentation of the (r)evolutionary project and book Ecogender X / Ecogénero X with Eugenia Rojo researcher on art and ecology.
- 20h. Conversation between Rampova and Graham Bell Tornado about our first exhibition The World of Rampova Cabaret (2009).
Arteari Conference
We presented the publications of La Erreria (House of Bent), including Transexpace, Impure and The World of Rampova Cabaret in this conference organized within the framework of the exhibition of Museari with talks by artists and academics such as Tatiana Sentamans, Elia Torrecilla, Sebas Martin and Rosa Sanchis amongst others.
La Erreria Xposé in Museari Queer Art
This X-centric Conference organised in colaboration with Mostra la Ploma celebrates 10 years of cultural activism by La Erreria (House of Bent).
The programme is as follows:
– 18h. Performance Lecture on La Erreria (House of Bent) by our director Graham Bell Tornado.
– 18.30h. Presentation of the (r)Evolutionary book and project Ecogender with Eugenia Rojo researcher on art and ecology in the Valencian context.
– 20h.Conversation with Rampova about our first exhibition The World of Rampova Cabaret (2009).
The event will take place INSIDE the installation Erreria X in the annual exhibition of Museari Queer Art”
y con la colaboración de Mostra la Ploma
at Las Naves, Valencia, till 31st August 2019.
Queer-Zines at the UPV in Valencia
La Erreria (House of Bent) presents a workshop on Queer-Zines followed by an exhibition of the group work at the University Polythechnic of Valencia. More information: http://www.facebook.com/events/720493771645988/
Workshop: 30 October 2018 – Room B.0.4. – Faculty of Fine Arts, UPV
Exhibition: 3 Dec-6 Jan 2019 – Library – Faculty of Fine Arts, UPV
Transexpace at IVAM
Launch of the multi-media project and publication Transexpace with Anna Maria Staiano, Graham Bell Tornado (La Erreria House of Bent), Ximo Rochera (Ediciones Canibaal) and Eva Pez (Graphic Designer and Performer) at IVAMLAB on the 29th of April a las 12.30h, as part of the bienal Melting Point 2018 of Art Jewellery.
Transexpace: Galactic Revoltis an experimental project which has taken the shape of sci-fi body extensions, a performance, a short-film and a photo-novela, This high gloss science fiction fantasy subverts the stereotypical genre of the photo-novel in a universe populated by Amazonian warriors, androgynous diplomats and genderbenders.
Festival NosGusTrans – MACA, Alicante
On the 13th of April we´ll take part with the short “Transexpace” in the 1st Trans Film Festival in Spain which will take place at the MACA, the contemporary art museum of Alicante from the 9-14 of April 2018. A week full of Trans events. More info: https://nosgustas.com/Articulos/nosGusTrans.html
End of the Season – Opening
One day exhibition/event held in the La Erreria house-museum on 10/9/2017. In the period when the commercial and institutional art world begins its annual round of shows, we organized “End of the Season”, a guided tour that is the result of a summer spent reviewing our collection of queer art -both plastic and decorative. A unique and unrepeatable opportunity to visit La Erreria with its new look!
Punctuality is requested. Graham Bell Tornado will give a guided tour at 7pm which will be followed by live music in our mini-piano-bar by maestro Juanito Maraca (piano) with Rampova (voice).
HOUSE OF BENT HITS LONDON!
On Thursday 27th of April we took part in the symposium ‘Power, Subcultures & Queer Stages’ organised by CUNTemporary Arts at Queen Mary University which examined “the relationship between sexual identity and style, camp and spectacle, cultural appropriation and genderfuck, live art and activism.” Redressing the hierarchy between what counts as ‘high’ art and worthy of art historical inclusion, the symposium looked at the contemporary history of queer visibility and invisibility in public spaces, as well as current queer live art, club culture and drag performance. Throughout the presentations, the connections between the performance of sexuality and the performance of style were explored, as well as how communities of affect, dissidence and resistance have been preserved and gained visibility through the creative expressions of those that constitute them.
We presented an overview of the Erreria (House of Bent) projects alongside Daniel Lismore, Jonny Woo and Malik Nashad Sharpe. The keynote lecture was by Dr. Shaun Cole, Associate Dean and Course Director at London College of Fashion.
Then on Saturday 29th of April we hosted a participatory queer Coronation (our Coronation no. 5, more info here about the Coronation Project) at the Deep Trash: Royal Trash event in East London’s Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. Deep Trash is a one night only exhibition-cum-performance-club-night featuring live performances, installations, artworks, visuals and videos.
Finally on Sunday 30th of April we carried out the UK Launch of IMPURE, our high gloss coffee book for intellectuals and their admirers, at The Glory. It was a fun event, featuring live performance and videos of our recent live actions and gender bending shows.
IMPURE is an in depth documentation of the transdisciplinary art practice of Anna Maria Staiano in collaboration with a host of queer/trans/feminist artists, photographers, performers, writers, curators and activists. It´s a bilingual book (English/Spanish) which experiments with publishing techniques and formats fusing art with jewellery, performance with fashion and photography with literature.
The first presentation of the IMPURE project took place at IVAM, the Valencian Museum of Modern Art on Saturday 23 April 2016 by Ángela Molina (Curator, specialised in New Media Art). It was preceded by the performance based on the photo-novel Transexpace – Galactic Revolt with Ábel Báguena, Graham Bell Tornado, Carolina Boluda, Eva Pez, Jennifer Picken and Isaac Torres. More info on IMPURE.
ECO BDSM – FANZINE PRESENTATION
On 6th of April we will present the pamphlet/fanzine “Eco BDSM and extreme practices with nature” by Diana J. Torres in an event about Ecogender and decolonial feminism organised by the Anarchist Book Fair at the CSOA l¨Horta (Benimaclet, Valencia). More info: http://www.mostrallibreanarquista.com/
The text is part of the book EcoGender X / EcoGénero X by La Erreria (House of Bent) which will be published later this year.
SPANISH TOUR
During the Erreria mini Spanish tour in February 2017 we presented IMPURE in Barcelona at the Canibal bookshop where we were joined by Jennifer Picken, Eva Pez and Toni Cordero who talked about their experiences working on the project. The day after we made a visit to Davis Museum where we saw ashes from our 2014 P.I.N.Q. Park opening ceremony 2 on display alongside work by Yoko Ono!!
Later on that day we carried out an interactive fashion show in the fabulously kitsch bar Madame Jasmine with several of our top Erreria Models – some of whom had travelled with us especially for the occasion (Eva Pez, Manu ese Manu and IMPURE photographer Toni Cordero who made his debut as super vixen La Loba Gonzalez)- as well as some wonderful local talent (The amazing Hombre Perro and Chap Eros amongst others).
The next week it was off to Bilbao for another book launch at Hika Ateneo, then a night of our short films as part of the Zinegoak LGTB film festival. The projections were part of a carnival special in the fashionable nightspot Modesto, and were billed as the Antitainment Show. The programme included the premieres in spanish of Choose Your God/ess: The Reflux, Transexpace: Galactic Revolt, I know where Jack Smith´s dress lives, Peepshow, us-in-the-future and The Radical Ecology Manifesto.
On Sunday to top it all off we carried out the official opening of our latest trans national P.I.N.Q. Park in the post industrial neighbourhood of Zorozaurre. As part of the redevlopment plans for this huge area the canal which separates it from the city is to be extended converting it into an island so as part of the ceremony I carried water from the river Ría to the building site and doused myself and the newly launched park in it.
It was great to travel round Spain, getting to know so many interesting people and extending the network of affectivity which is La Erreria. Many thanks to Jesús at the Canibal, Rodrigo y Pat at Madame Jasmine, Pau, Oneca and the rest of the marvellous team at Zinegoak, Jimmy at Modesto and Rafa and Mario of the Palomar for their colaboration with us on the tour
For an archive of the Erreria first phase, visit our first: blog. For more information about La Erreria see our: facebook. For Anna Maria Staiano´s events, visit: https://annamariastaiano.com/events For Graham Bell Tornado info, visit: www.grahambelltornado.com
erreriahouseofbent.wordpress.com 