The queer caucus at NSCAD University invites community members and allies to the inaugural activities of Severely Queer Gatherings on the Fountain Campus from November 26 to December 6, 2024. Conceived as an annually recurring series of events around World AIDS Day, Severely Queer Gatherings address sexual and gender equity, health, accessibility, and coalition building for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and groups within our institution and beyond.
MONSTRUM: Poetry Reading and discussion with Arielle Twist
November 26, Tuesday, 12–1:30 PM, at the Treaty Space Gallery (TSG) “laying claim to the dark powers of monstrousness.”
* Arielle Twist (George Gordon First Nation and Sipekne’katik First Nation, Cree) blends poetic methodologies and visual modes of creation to explore the realities and legacies of Indigenous and Trans womanhood. She is currently a student in the NSCAD MFA program.
ROSE BEEF: A Golden Girls Fandom Spectacular! by Mikiki
November 26, Tuesday, 5:30 PM & December 2, Monday, 7:00 PM (After Anna) at the Former Art Bar (FAB)
* Mikiki, NSCAD’s aging-outest Drag Queen, delivers a searing polemical sermon highlighting issues important to Contemporary Queer Realities.
Issue #1: Political Differences. The Golden Girls didn’t shy away from contentious topics yet stayed friends. Let’s tuck into some of the most dangerous conversations with a spirit of generosity, care, and rigour.
Issue #2: HIV/AIDS. The Golden Girls addressed HIV, more specifically AIDS in multiple episodes. Let’s see how progressive they were, and ask ourselves—where are we, compared to them, thirty-five years later?
Advancing Sexual Health with Chris Aucoin (Health Equity Alliance of Nova Scotia [HEAL NS]), Abbey Ferguson (Halifax Sexual Health Centre), Milo Gray (Healing Our Nations), and Mikiki
November 28, Thursday, 11:30 AM–1:00 PM at TSG
* This panel conversation and a Q&A, moderated by Mikiki, will address issues related to sexual and community health. Panel participants will reflect on their experiences as leaders in the frontline efforts to deliver sexual health knowledge and resources to residents of Kjipuktuk, share information on resources, and underscore the ongoing need for a comprehensive and rights-based approach to prevention, treatment, and care.
Day With(out) Art screening
December 4, Wednesday, 6 PM, at the Bell Auditorium, featuring information tables by Halifax Sexual Health Centre and Venus Envy
* A screening of seven videos commissioned by Visual AIDS (www.visualaids.org) reflecting the emotional spectrum of living with HIV today. This year’s program Red Reminds Me… features seven works by Gian Cruz (Philippines), Milko Delgado (Panama), Imani Harrington (USA), David Oscar Harvey (USA), Mariana Iacono and Juan De La Mar (Argentina/Colombia), Nixie (Belgium), Vasilios Papapitsios (USA).
Club Pedagogy Club disco(very) rave by DJ Cleopatryk
December 6, Friday, 5 PM – 8 PM, at FAB
* A special session of Pedagogy Club led by Patryk Stasieczek which extends their Classroom as Rave framework to NSCAD. Established during COVID-19 emergency learning conditions, this iteration investigates queer methodologies for embodied curricula, considering the affective relations that connect pedagogical labour to artistic research, community building, fulfillment, and a sense of belonging. To put it simply: they want to dance with their new colleagues.
Queer Bookstack display of publications on 2SLGBTQIA+ sexual equity, health, and history, at NSCAD Library
Late November through December
* In the words of Paris is Burning, “the library is now open.” Check out—then “checkout”!—a severe selection of NSCAD library’s queer collection, arranged for your visual delectation in the Duke Street vitrines. Because reading is what? “Fundamental!!”