REEL: AXIS, NOT POLES & DYKE HANDS, QUEER SHORTS

Reel: Axis, Not Poles is a month-long screening programme curated by Languid Hands featuring experimental moving image shorts by five Black artists from across the diaspora. Inspired by Teshome Gabriel’s writing in Thoughts On Nomadic Aesthetics And The Black Independent Cinema: Traces of a Journey (1988), “these artists create work that is not purely reactive to cultures of oppression, nor hindered by the burden of visual representation”. Instead, they use their own references and approaches to creating a “visual, sonic, and textural language”, that moves “towards a liberated culture of art-making”. The artists included are Che Applewhaite, Dita Hashi, Kondo Heller, S*an D. Henry-Smith, and Kadeem Oak.

On Wednesday, 23 March, from 7pm, Languid Hands presents a selection of shorts from Cinenova’s collection, which are either made by or centre Black, lesbian, and non-binary people. This selection, screened over one night, is inspired by S. Diane Bogus’ 1989 book of poems and essays, DYKE HANDS & SUTRAS EROTIC & LYRIC. Artists included will be Jamika Ajalon, L Franklin Gilliam, and Sonali Fernando.

Reel: Axis, Not Poles runs March 10 – April 2, 2024 (Thursday-Saturday, 11am-6pm). Dyke Hands, Queer Shorts runs on the  March 23 from 7-9pm. More information here and here.