Monthly Archives: May 2010

Feminist Voices in Visual Resistance #2: Feminist Politics in Art Institutions

Posted on by
Reply

Presented in conjunction with their publication Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hosted a symposium last Friday on Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now. Through multiple presentations and panel discussions, artists and curators of various specialties started to examine what effect feminist politics and gender specifically have in their work and curatorial practice.  They discussed the political impact of their curatorial choices as feminists, along with the extent to which certain feminist and queer images are silenced within larger art institutions (museums, biennales, art fairs, etc.).

Notable participants included curators Camille Morineau (Musee national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris) Ivet Curlin (What, How & for Whom Collective, Croatia) Catherine Lord (author of the forthcoming Art and Queer Culture, 1885-2005), and Connie Butler (Chief Curator of Drawings at MoMA) along with artist Sonia Khurana, and author Michelle Wallace, among others. Continue reading →

Roll hard. Roll fast. Roll right!

Posted on by
Reply

As an active sporty-spice, life-long tomboy, and lover of those who shed blood sweat and tears for the sweet taste of personal victory, i was recently informed of a new women owned/operated retail store.  My excitement erupted out of my mouth with a few expletives and exclamations that all mean “AWESOME” when i heard that the store is inspired by and caters to those who participate in Roller Derby!!!

Shop owners Bonnie Thunders and Danielle OMG WTF are both members of Gotham Girls Roller Derby and are using their experience/expertise to bring you the finest goods available for all your eight-wheeled speed smashing needs!

Their opening party was May 21st at their store location @ 30-90 14th Street in ASTORIA, QUEENS. Continue reading →

FEMINIST CLASSIFIEDS

Posted on by
Reply

Every so often, For the Birds gets e-mails from other rad feminist projects – local, national, and international. Today’s classifieds come from two New York-based groups: The Doula Project (“Supporting people across the spectrum of pregnancy”) and a local band, The Last Internationale.

1. The Doula Project is recruiting! The Doula Project is an NYC-based organization that provides free compassionate care and emotional, physical, and informational support to people across the spectrum of pregnancy. Applications are due June 1, 2010. Click here to apply!

2. The Last Internationale is looking for a bass player. From Edgey: I’m writing to ask you if you know any bassists who would like to join our band. We’re a radical, female-fronted garage rock/blues/punk/folk band… the garage rock/punk stuff in unreleased, in case you get confused when you listen to our songs.

WEBSITE COMMENT PHILOSOPHY

Posted on by
Reply

We, the birds, have recently encountered comments on our blog that, well, we aren’t so down with. While we are all for freedom of speech, we also seek to maintain a safer space with healthy and productive dialogues that will not alienate or offend. We also understand the internet is by no means a safe space, but hey, we’re trying.

So, in an effort to keep things as safe as birdly possible on this most open and public of forums, we have decided to monitor our comments. If we find your comment to be offensive, it will not be made public and will instead be replaced with this:

You are seeing this message because a comment was deleted. While we hope to facilitate healthy dialogue with a multitude of perspectives and opinions, we support the maintaining of a safer space for a discussion free of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other oppressions.

Let’s just be excellent to each other, huh?

FOR THE BIRDS & POC ZINE PROJECT PRESENT: AFRO-PUNK

Posted on by
2

We are thrilled to announce our first collaboration and co-sponsored event with POC Zine Project: a screening of Afro-Punk. This is the first event we’ve booked since The Big She-Bang IV last August and we couldn’t be more excited. The good folks at Book Thug Nation will be hosting us and there will be snacks provided by POC Zine Project. As part of their mission, they’ll be distributing free zines by POC zinesters, too! We hope to have folks stay after the film is over for a discussion about why we chose to screen the film and any general reactions or interactions from fellow community members & audience participants. You can RSVP to the Facebook event here.

SUNDAY, MAY 30 at BOOKTHUG NATION
100 N. 3rd St., Brooklyn // 7pm // FREE
For the Birds Collective & POC Zine Project present a screening of AFRO-PUNK

From the website: Afro-Punk, a 66-minute documentary, explores race identity within the punk scene. More than your everyday, Behind the Music or typical “black history month” documentary this film tackles the hard questions, such as issues of loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating and black power. We follow the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to the punk rock lifestyle. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community. Continue reading →