INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

During the nineties, various feminist and lesbian authors, such as Judith Butler or Sue-Ellen Case, proposed a definition of gender in terms of performance in response to both the essentialist feminist idea of a natural truth and the concept of sexual difference as an imposed norm of certain forms of masculinity and femininity. Later, Eve K. Sedgwick and Butler herself, characterised gender identity as being a result of the "repetition of performative invocations of the heterosexual norm". This double critique which could be characterised as "performative reversal" has led to new interpretations of gender and sexuality in both political and aesthetic terms. This seminar - workshop aims to map out the rhetoric of gender to try to explain how the artistic and theatrical notion of "performance" came to be used in the nineties by "queer theory" to de-naturalise sexual difference. What are the links between politics and aesthetics in gender performance? Can sexual identity be regarded as a product of performative design? How to intervene in the production of this performative identity?

This seminar- workshop will study the origins of performance in American feminism of the seventies (Yvonne Rainer, Woman House Project, Adrian Piper, Meredith Monk, Martha Rosler, etc.); the crystallisation of "camp aesthetics" and "butch/fem" based on the stylisation of certain gender performances; and the utilisation of performance as a political instrument in contemporary "queer" activism (Act Up, Radical Furies, Annie Sprinkle, etc.). Finally, we shall examine the impact of the new performances of masculinity (Drag Kings) and their relation to processes (transgender) of body transformation. This investigation partly continues and partly breaks with, "queer theory", and we shall move towards proposing a definition of gender as "prosthetic incorporation".

The week long seminar will be made up of seven daily sessions, each lasting six hours, and a Drag King workshop in which the participants can explore the political and physical benefits of the performance of masculinity. As work leading up to the seminar, since November 2002, a lecture and discussion group directed by Maria José Belbel, Azucena Vieites and Fefa Vila has been working on various feminist, post-feminist and "queer" papers creating exchange and connection networks with participants throughout Spain.

PROGRAMME

PROGRAMME

Monday, 17th of March 2003
Sesion 1. Feminism and gender performance
· 10:30-13:30 h.
- Presentation of the seminar team: María José Belbel, Marie-Hélène Bourcier, Myriam Marzouk, Fefa Vila and Azucena Vieites.
- Introduction to the questions to be covered in the seminar: notions of gender performance, politics of identity, camp aesthetics.
· 17:00-20:00 h.*
- Introduction to the main discussions of the working groups in Spain by María José Belbel, Fefa Vila and Azucena Vieites. Open to the public.
- Showing of Not For Sale by Laura Cottingham, a film about feminist art and performance in the USA during the 70s.

Tuesday, 18th of March 2003
Sesion 2. Imitation, masquerade, parody - or how the social sciences are affected by the notion of "performance"
· 10:30-13:30 h.
Beatriz Preciado
· 17:00-20:00 h.
Beatriz Preciado

Wednesday, 19th of March 2003
Sesion 3. Gender performance and performative politics: the contribution of the "queer" theory"
· 10:30-13:30 h.
Beatriz Preciado

Sesion 4. Camp Aesthetics: pop performance and "butch-fem" sub-culture. Gender repetition or transgression?
· 17:00-20:00 h.
Beatriz Preciado

Thursday, 20th of March 2003
Sesion 5. Performances of masculinity: machos, dykes, daddies and drag-kings
· 10:30-13:30 h.
Beatriz Preciado
· 17:00-20:00 h.*
Judith Halberstam: New performative subcultures: dykes, transgender, drag kings, etc. (Open to the public)

Friday, 21st of March 2003
Sesion 6. Radical performances and post pornography: sex as performance
· 10:30-13:30 h.
Beatriz Preciado
· 17:00-20:00 h.*
Marie-Hélène Bourcier: Performative porno-politics, post-feminism and queer pornography. (Open to the public)
· 22:00 h.*
Showing of Not For Sale by Laura Cottingham, a film about feminist art and performance in the USA during the 70s. Sala Endanza. (Open to the public) 

Saturday, 22nd of March 2003
Sesion 7. Prothetics of gender: the material limits of performance and performativity
· 10:30-13:30 h.
Mª José Belbel, Azucena Vieites and Fefa Vila: Conclusions
· 17:00-20:00 h.
Beatriz Preciado

Sunday, 23rd of March 2003
Sesion 1. Drag King Workshop (10 hours)
· 10:00-20:00 h.
Beatriz Preciado + Myriam Marzouk ("gender stylist")
Sala Endanza. Admission by previous application 

* The afternoon and evening sessions on Monday 17th, Thursday 20th, and Friday 21st are fully open to the public. 

 

GUESTS

GUESTS

Beatriz Preciado
Philosopher and queer activist. After taking an honours degree in Philosophy from the University of Comillas, gained a Masters in Contemporary Philosophy and Gender Theory at the New School for Social Research in New York where she studied with Agnes Seller and Jacques Derrida. Currently doing a doctorate in Philosophy and Architectural Theory at the University of Princeton. Author of Manifiesto contrasexual (published by Opera Prima, 2000), acclaimed by the French critics as one of the most influential and provocative intellectual works of the new century. She is also a member of the Le Zoo group in Paris.

María José Belbel Bullejos
Took a degree in English Philology at the University of Granada and an MA at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Anti Franco militant in the seventies and active in the feminist movement since its inception. Has participated in collective exhibitions such as Transgenéric@s and 100%, with visual poems, fanzines, collages, posters and recordings by female punk and riot grrrl rock groups. Regular collaborator with Erreakzioa-Reacción and LSD.

Azucena Vieites
Artist, degree in Fine Art from the EHU/UPV, has participated in exhibitions like: Melodrama, Gaur, Hemen, Orain, Dibujos Germinales, Trans Sexual Express or Transgenéric@s. In 1994 founded the Erreakzioa-Reacción collective together with Estibaliz Sadaba and Yolanda de los Bueis. The role of the collective is creating a space for artistic/cultural/activist work in the framework of art and feminism.

Fefa Vila
Sociologist. Currently coordinates the Department of Projects and Investigation of FOREM Confederal in Madrid. Feminist researcher, writer, activist, cultural producer, anti-capitalist and "queer". Was the promoter of the group LSD during the nineties. Has participated in various artistic-political-cultural projects and written articles about a range of themes related to recent gender and "queer" theories for both Spanish and foreign publications.

Judith Halberstam
Professor of Cultural Studies in the Department of Literature at the University of San Diego, California. Her work is based around exploring the appearance of lesbian, drag king and transgender sub-cultures in the United States and Europe and their representation in popular culture. Her books, Skins Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters, Female Masculinity, and The Drag King Book (in collaboration with photographer Del La Grace Volcano) constitute the best example of a new interpretation of gender to come from the sexual minorities themselves.

Marie-Hélène Bourcier
French sociologist and "queer" activist. Professor of Communication Theory at the University of Lille. Founder of Le Zoo, the political French group on sexual minorities. Author of the book Queer Zones and numerous essays on "queer" theory and the representation of lesbians and transgender in cinema and the media. Currently working on a "queer" analysis of pornographic representation.

Myriam Marzouk
"Queer activist " and performer. With her characters "Victorio Cazzo L'amoroso" and "Jules" Marzouk she is one of the founders of the "drag king" culture in France Has collaborated in the organisation of numerous projects for lesbian and "queer" alternatives like Queer Food for Love.

 

INFORMATION / APPLICATION FORM

INFORMATION / APPLICATION FORM

Seminar: Application forms can be presented at the UNIA, until Wednesday 12th of March at 14:00. With the application form please attach a photocopy of ID, curriculum, and a brief explanation of your reasons for wanting to take part in the seminar. The number of participants is limited to 25. Selection will be carried out by the directorial team and you will be notified personally.

Drag King Workshop: The workshop is open to women or transgenders on the condition that they have taken part in all the seminar sessions (they must therefore be officially accepted participants), and are interested in being part of an exploration of the performance of masculinity. Participants must come to the workshop with a bag containing male clothing and any accessories that they deem necessary or appropriate for the drag king performance. The maximum number of participants will be 14.

Venue:
Universidad Internacional de Andalucía. Monasterio de la Cartuja: seminar and conferences.
Sala endanza: Friday 21st of March: Showing of Not for sale; Sunday 23rd of March: Drag King Workshop.