Art, Politics, Sex: Resistance in the Rebel Dykes Archive
Using the Rebel Dykes Archive at Bishopsgate Institute as a starting point, we will explore the themes underpinning the group. The underground radical scene was a place for learning, organising and making. From art, sex, and politics, we will go through radical writing, artistic interventions, and methods for social organising to connect the strategies of resistance underpinning all of these.
Who is this course for?
Anyone who is curious about community collections, the role of queer communities in social organising, and the ongoing strategies of resistance that might be used by their particular community.
Informal learners looking for an accessible and engaging introduction to 1980s London subculture, art and politics through original sources.
People who view queer politics as a way of life and want to draw a few threads from the archive to their daily life through artistic practice.
What can I expect?
This session will be taught through original sources, handouts, practical exercises and group discussion.
Image: Del LaGrace Volcano, London Pride 1988
Need to Know
You will learn
- To interact with sources and contemporary materials to see how DIY approaches to art, politics and everyday life have been transformative and impactful
- How queer cultural history interacts with wider political histories from the 1980s to the present day
- How to use these as a guide to create your own art, responses and organising
- The empowering stories of queer lives and subcultures that are now forgotten, including the unapologetic Rebel Dykes
Meet the Tutor
Maria Leonard
Maria Leonard is director of the Invented Futures platform based at Spike Island and visiting lecturer at University of the Arts Berlin. She teaches public learning workshops and seminars for cultural organisations, and she is an independent journalist for publications such as Qisetna: Talking Syria and Words Without Borders. Her writing has been performed at Soho Theatre Upstairs, as part of the Young Almeida, at ACUD Theatre Berlin and Omnibus Theatre. She has appeared in Modern Queer Poets published by Pilot Press and was shortlisted for the Women Poets’ Prize in 2022.
Dates and Times
Art, Politics, Sex: Resistance in the Rebel Dykes Archive
, 4:11 - 6:11
