menu

Exhibition of rare books at Jubilee Library

A display of rare and fascinating books is on show at Brighton’s Jubilee Library until December 31.

Jubilee Library
Jubilee Library

Curious V showcases some of the works in the library’s rare books collection.

Items on display include a copy of the world’s first comic book, The Looking Glass, published in 1825, and one of the world’s first pictorial textbooks for children, Visible World, published in 1658.

Other exhibits include Slave Songs of the United States, a 19th century collection of African-American slave songs, recording the daily misery of slavery and dreams of escape and freedom.

Also on show is one of the first books printed and sold by the Kelmscott Press, which was established by William Morris. The volume, The history of Godfrey of Boloyne published in 1893, was given to Brighton Library by William Morris’s widow.

The exhibition is on show in the Tony Miller Reading Room at the Jubilee Library in Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE, and is open during library opening hours.

To view a video about the rare books collection, click here: 

The rare book and special collections are made up of more than 45,000 volumes, dating from the 13th century to the 20th century. Many of these rare books and manuscripts have been donated to the city’s libraries over 150 years.

The Curious V display contains just a small selection, others can be viewed by appointment by joining the library’s free rare books membership scheme.

To join the scheme, click here:

For Jubilee Library opening hours, click here:

 

Trans woman petition signed by more than 115,000 people

More than 115,000 people have signed an online petition protesting about the plight of Tara Hudson, a trans woman who is serving out her sentence in an all male prison in Bristol.

Tara Hudson

The petition calls for Tara to serve her time in a women’s prison.

Tara was sentenced to 13 weeks in an all male prison in Bristol by Bath Magistrates after pleading guilty to an assault that took place in Bath last December.

An appeal is scheduled tomorrow, Friday, October 30 at Bristol Crown Court, Small Street, Bristol BS1 1DA.

The Bath Gender Equality Network and Bristol Pride have called a demonstration outside the court to bring attention to Tara’s situation. There will also be a protest outside the Ministry of Justice in London at noon.

For more details of the London Protest, click here: 

The national response to Tara’s case has been huge: more than 115,000 people have signed the petition; organisers of the campaign are constantly receiving more of your well-wishing letters; and more and more influential politicians, celebrities, and organisations are making their support known to the public.

Emily Senft and Sophie Tyler, two trans-women from the Bath Gender Equality Network have been working tirelessly on Tara’s behalf.

They said: “The support shown has been nothing short of tear-inducing. It means so much to know that, despite there being constant injustice and transphobia in the world, over 115,000 people are willing to stand behind us and help fight for what is right in such a short period of time. You are all beautiful people, please remember that, and please don’t stop fighting.

For too long, we trans people have not had the opportunity to be heard – but things are changing.”

To sign the petition, click here:

Manchester Pride raise £137,000 for good causes in 2015

Sir Ian McKellen and Dannii Minogue help make this year’s LGBT celebration one to remember.

Sir Ian McKellen at Manchester Pride
Sir Ian McKellen at Manchester Pride

Manchester Pride announce their biggest ever charitable donation to LGBT & HIV good causes. The charity that delivers Manchester’s annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) festival, has raised £137k for donation to charitable causes this year.

Organisers also have £9k in unclaimed grants from 2014 which will be returned to the pot and made available again for LGBT groups and organisations to apply for, taking the overall total to £146k.

This year the charity introduced a number of projects and initiatives to increase engagement with the city’s LGBT community and create further opportunities for fundraising.

2016 saw the launch of Superbia.  The year round programme of culture from Manchester Pride presented events including Tram Trax USA, a live gig on a tram from Chorlton to Manchester Airport where one lucky passenger won two tickets for a weekend in Miami courtesy of Thomas Cooks Airlines, and Transcript, a panel event with top TV stars and writers including Bruno Langley, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Damon Rochefort from Coronation Street and Bethany Black from Cucumber and Dr Who.

The Manchester Pride Spring Benefit brought together the city’s business community and supporters of the charity at The Monastery to enjoy performances from Jack Pack and Dionne Bromfield.

Plus thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund Manchester Pride launched OUT!, a project that will include a digital platform created to explore the history of LGBT life in Manchester.

Mark FletcherMark Fletcher, Chief Executive for Manchester Pride, said: “We are very proud to be making this announcement today.  Last year we took the first steps in a new direction for the charity to increase our fund-raising capacity and cement our position at the heart of the LGBT communities. The continuation of our cost management strategy and and overall increase in income meant that we have raised our highest charitable donation in the history of Manchester Pride.

“The team have worked incredibly hard to make 2016 such a successful year and to be able to donate £146k to LGBT and HIV causes makes it all worthwhile.  I’d like to thank Texas, Dannii, Ian Mckellen and all of our other performers and partners without whom we could not have made this happen.  We had a record attendance at the Manchester Pride Parade and tickets sold out throughout the Big Weekend.

“Our focus is now on the implementation of  the strategies for the years ahead. Planning for the 2016 festival will begin in January once we have held our next series of Listening Groups.”

Grant application will open early in 2016. Watch the Manchester Pride website for details.

Manchester Pride is a registered charity that campaigns for equality and challenges discrimination; creates opportunity for engagement and participation and celebrates lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) life.

For more information about Manchester Pride, click here:

PREVIEW: Homotopia events in Liverpool

Alien Sex Club is a major multimedia project by British artist John Walter.

Camp & Furnace
Camp & Furnace

It explores the relationship between visual culture and HIV, introducing serious health issues to a wide audience in a playful and provocative way, “as if Grindr had exploded into being a real building” [John Walter] and is part of the Homotopia 2015 Festival.

Using the spatial device of a cruise maze found in sex clubs and gay saunas, the Alien Sex Club installation is located at Camp & Furnace, 67 Greenland St, Liverpool L1 0BY, and brings together sculpture, painting, video, performance and installation to address the complexities of contemporary sexual health.

Visitors are immersed in a multisensory world where they are free to adventure, have their fortunes read by the tarot reader or share conversations over a drink at the gin bar. There will also be the opportunity for visitors to take an on-site HIV test administered by professionals from the Liverpool Community Health Trust.

Pub Virus
Pub Virus

Continuing Homotopia’s long-standing partnership with National Museums Liverpool, John Walter’s inflatable sculpture Pug Virus will be exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery throughout the festival. This pink, four metre-high inflatable head of Pug Virus is Walter’s attempt to re-envision the HIV virus, making it more accessible than representations of the virus popularised during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

Charlotte Keenan, curator (British Art), Walker Art Gallery, said: “Alien Sex Club draws on a rich legacy of artists, including Keith Haring and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, who have used art as a way of challenging social prejudice and misunderstandings about HIV and AIDS.

“John’s work responds to the virus in the 21st century, using gay and popular culture as a catalyst for discussions about risk, sexual health and drug use. We are delighted to be showing ‘Pug Virus’ at the Walker as part of this year’s Homotopia festival, where it can be seen alongside work by centuries of artists who have similarly used art as a way to open up discussions in society.”

The whole project asks audiences to consider sexual transmission risk in a broader personal and social framework and is the result of a collaboration with Dr Alison Rodger, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases and HIV at University College London supported by a Small Arts Award by the Wellcome Trust.

Also as part of Homotopia, at the Bluecoat, Walker Art Gallery and at Camp & Furnace, Alien Sex Club will present a free public programme of associated talks and events from artists, activists and health professionals aimed at providing audiences with a new vocabulary for understanding and talking about HIV and the factors contributing to its transmission.

♦      Friday, October 30, 6pm: The Bluecoat – Artist John Walter talks about Alien Sex Club.

♦      Saturday, November 7, 2pm: The Bluecoat – Artist Frances Disley demystifies the jargon, statistics and modes of dissemination associated with HIV and visual arts in collaboration with Dr Valerie Delpech.

♦      Saturday, November 14, 2pm: The Bluecoat – Artist Mark Scott-Wood creates new work for an event exploring props, tools, habits and rituals associated with HIV in collaboration with HIV nurse Janey Sewell.

♦      Saturday, November 21, 4pm: Camp & Furnace – A collaborative presentation using good old words and pictures from performance artist Susannah Hewlett and clinical epidemiologist Professor Sheena McCormack.

♦      Tuesday, December 1 – World Aids Day – 11am – 5pm: Tarot Readings by Barbara Truvada, Walker Art Gallery. The Alien Sex Club tarot deck gathers together images that allow reader and visitor to discuss subjects including sexuality and cultural transmission. Walter’s set contains 78 cards, with a Higher Arcana of 22 picture cards and four suits – the Bugchasers, the Giftgivers, the Barebackers and the Serosorters – which draw on the mythology of HIV. The tarot reader’s name refers to Truvada® the brand name of a type of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).


During the early AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, many public sex environments (often including cruise mazes) were closed by law. More recently, cruising for sex has moved online with apps such as Grindr, Scruff and Hornet gaining in popularity. However, many men still want to meet in person and anonymously for sex, despite the risks involved.

Gay men remain one of the groups most at risk of HIV in the UK, with 3,250 new cases of the infection diagnosed in this group in 2013. Anti‐retroviral therapy (ART) helps HIV‐positive patients stay healthy with near normal life expectancy but the long‐term physical effects of ART are still unknown and its long‐term cost is of increasing concern. It is estimated that ART costs around £500,000 per person for a lifetime of treatment.

Popular debate around the medical and social implications of ART and HIV in this country is set to increase in the next year, as pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and self‐testing for HIV will become more available in the UK, changing how people think about risk and unprotected sex.

For more information about The Alien Sex Club, click here:

For more information about Liverpool Museums, click here:

 

 

PREVIEW: Rocky Horror Show at Theatre Royal

 

Since its first appearance at the Royal Court Theatre in June 1973, Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show has become the world’s favourite Rock N’ Roll musical.

Rocky Horror Show

It has been performed worldwide for over 40 years in over 30 countries and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Director Christopher Luscombe created a stunning new production to celebrate the 40th Anniversary and this critically acclaimed version of the classic show is back by popular demand, now embarking on a year long national adventure.  The tour opens at Theatre Royal Brighton on Thursday, December 17.

X Factor finalist and star of the stage version of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Diana Vickers will star in the role of Janet Weiss. S Club 7 star, Paul Cattermole, will play the role of Eddie and Dr. Scott. Emmerdale actor Ben Freeman, will join Diana and Paul, playing the role of Brad Majors. Following his huge success in over 900 performances of the 40th Anniversary Global Tour of The Rocky Horror Show, Kristian Lavercombe returns as Riff Raff.

This musical extravaganza features all of its famous musical classics including Science Fiction/Double Feature Dammit Janet and of course, the timeless floor-filler, The Time-Warp.

Rocky Horror Show was first performed on June 19, 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre and continues to break box office records around the world, currently selling out in Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Austria.

It tells the story of Brad and his fiancée Janet, two squeaky clean college kids who meet Dr Frank’n’Furter by chance when their car breaks down outside his house whilst on their way to visit their former college professor. It is an adventure they’ll never forget, bursting with timeless songs and outrageous outfits.

Directed by Christopher Luscombe, Rocky Horror Show is a guaranteed party, which famously combines science-fiction, horror, comedy and music and encourages audience participation meaning, of course, getting dressed in your most outrageous fancy dress.

Many stars, including Russell Crowe, Tim Curry, Jerry Springer and Meatloaf have appeared in The Rocky Horror Show over the past four decades. Ready to thrill you with fun and naughty moments, O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show is the boldest bash of them all.

Be warned, this show has rude parts!


Event: The Rocky Horror Show

Where: Theatre Royal, New Road, Brighton

When: Thursday, December 17 – Saturday, January 2 (no shows December 24-25)

Times: click here:

Tickets: click here: booking fees applies

Or telephone: 0844 871 7650

 

A confessional for your shame, a disco, and a show

Fire up your Halloween weekend as Traumfrau presents Inner Demons and Out There Bogeymen.

Traumfrau

A chance for you to exorcise your shame and fears via the medium of queer disco, at Envy, above Charles Street, on Friday October 30 from 9.30pm.

Dress up as your deepest fears, your most shameful secrets, your filthiest fantasies, your love-to-hate bogeymen and give into your perversions at this evening of shameless queers, featuring a confessional to spout your sins, and hellish tunes courtesy of DJ Jenny spinning all the hits, guilty pleasures and electro pop from 9.30pm; DJ Dolly Dollycore’s shimmery pop party from 11pm; and DJ Alex Spinks, who’ll be spinning your favourite diva disco classics from 1am.

If that’s not enough to whet your whistle then Sabrina Chap will be flying in from New York City to perform an exorcism via the medium of cabaret!


Event: Traumfrau: Inner Demons and Out There Bogeymen

Where: Envy, above Charles Street bar (venue fully accessible)

When: Friday, October 30 from 9.30pm–3am

Tickets: £6/£7

To book in advance, click here: 

X