The Meetings on Art return to the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale to explore some of the key themes of Adriano Pedrosa’s Exhibition.
The Biennale Arte 2024 has endeavored to bring greater visibility to gender non-conforming and queer artists in recognition of enduring fights for civil rights across the globe. This panel invites artist-activists and scholar-activists to talk about the challenges and strategies that have been vital to their own political praxis, and it considers the role of visual art in grassroots politics.
Introduction by Adriano Pedrosa and Leandro Muniz, assistant curator, Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP
Speakers:
10th Istanbul Trans Pride Exhibition Collective (Jiyan Andiç and Asya Leman), group of activists, artists, and scholars dedicated to trans* rights and preserving the memory of Turkey’s trans* movements. In 2024, in collaboration with DEPO/Tütün Deposu and other supporters, they created the exhibition DÖN-DÜNBAK / Turn and See Back: Revisiting Trans Revolutions in Turkey, showcasing archives, art, oral histories, and academic works. The government banned the exhibition after a few weeks. Speaking on stage are collective members Jiyan Andiç, curator and researcher, and Asya Leman, activist, visual artist, and film editor.
Luce deLire, ship with eight sails, lies down by the quay. As a philosopher, she publishes on the metaphysics of infinity but also on art, queer theory, anti-racism, postcolonialism, and political theory. In her performances, she embodies figures of the collective imaginary. For more, see getaphilosopher.com
Queers in Palestine (QiP) is an independent grassroots collective, established October 2023, to deliver the anti colonial voice and analysis of queer Palestinians from Palestine to the world, and struggle against interconnected systems of oppression, including imperialism, patriarchy and racial capitalism, striving towards justice, self-determination and liberation. Representing the collective is Maria Zreiq, a Palestinian artist and community organiser, born raised and based in Palestine. Working predominantly with text and image-making through various forms including photography, documentary filmmaking, and poetry, her work examines notions of memory, longing, and resistance during times of political and social upheaval. As an organiser, Maria’s practice centres on revolutionary pedagogy, culture production, and queer imaginaries.
Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, aka crazinisT artisT, is a Ghanaian multidisciplinary “artivist”, curator, philanthropist, and mentor. As a trans woman, her artistic and advocacy works focus on gender stereotypes, prejudices, healing, queerness, and identity politics. She has performed and exhibited globally. Her work has been featured in several publications and magazines.
