Rupture
Liv Wynter, RUPTURE: Photo Holly Whitaker. Courtesy the artist and Art Night
Liv Wynter, RUPTURE: Photo Holly Whitaker. Courtesy the artist and Art Night
Liv Wynter, RUPTURE: Photo Holly Whitaker. Courtesy the artist and Art Night
RUPTURE was an evening of live performance and music taking place on 7 July in London as part of Art Night. Interested in alternative methods of curation, Art Night sought to commission an artist to directly and independently curate an event. They approached artist and activist Liv Wynter, who programmed an event that embodied the spirit of uprising.
RUPTURE followed Liv’s highly publicised resignation from the Tate Education Programme earlier in 2018 and the idea for the event emerged from their thinking around systems of abuse and power, and around institutional appropriation and culpability.
There was a particular focus on the dramaturgical design of the night. Featuring work by artists whose practice exists as a form of resistance, RUPTURE began with radical poetry from Joshua Idehen, Bridget Minamore, Potent Whisper and Liv Wynter, followed by experimental performances from Liv Fontaine, Jacob Joyce, Last Yearz Interesting Negro and Rowdy SS. Finally, from midnight, there were performances featuring drag and dance and live music from Travis Alabanza, BBZ, Kevin Le Grand, marikiscrycrycry and XANA.
For Liv, these artists personify the social and cultural forces which must be brought to bear on institutions resistant to change. They said:
It was an honour to bring together a collective of artists that I have admired and grown alongside for since the beginning of my career. The artists I selected for this project are some of the most inspiring, engaging, and challenging creators and being able to facilitate us working together was a joy. The trajectory of the evening was intended to demonstrate a move away from language - starting in spoken word, drifting through performance, entering into cabaret and song, before finally descending into noise, chaos, and party.
RUPTURE took place in the nave of the Garden Museum, animating this historic space with a happening of artists, poets and performers and an atmosphere of urgency and defiance.
It felt impossible to try and essentially throw a squat party in a listed building, but I think we smashed it. It felt important and radical to offer an alternative to pride, where trans and gender non-conforming bodies were not only centered but celebrated.
RUPTURE was supported by Diversity Art Forum
Categories: Report
Date Posted: 25 October 2018