Lea Robinson & Elizabeth Whitney
YES! Association / Föreningen JA! is very pleased to present THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT with and by Lea Robinson and Elizabeth Whitney at Kafé Copacabana, Sunday October 24, at 7 pm. (The presentation will be in English.)
Kafé Copacabana, Hornstulls strand 3, Stockholm
miscegenations.org kafecopacabana.com
Presentation of THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT: Writer/performers Lea Robinson and Elizabeth Whitney will discuss and present excerpts from THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT, an ongoing performance and digital storytelling workshop that explores intersections of identity with a focus on race, gender identity, and sexuality. THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT takes its name and inspiration from anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S.A. that prohibited interracial marriages—the last of these laws were removed as recently as the late 1960’s. Robinson and Whitney believe that this is a crucial moment to revisit anti-miscegenation histories as a platform to discuss relationships among racial discrimination and cultural battles over same-sex marriage and genderqueer identities.
Project History: THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT was developed as a digital storytelling workshop for colleges and universities. It was first developed as part of ARTSCAPE’s 2007 International Artist Residency on the Toronto Islands, where we recorded conversations with other artists about intersections among race, gender identity, and sexuality and created digital stories using film we took while in Toronto. THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT has been invited to workshop and present at The Femme Collective conference (Chicago), California State University Northridge, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, California State University Northridge, University of Massachusetts Boston, Imagining America Conference (Syracuse University), Public Memory & Ethnicity Conference (Lewis & Clark College) Broad Vocabulary Books (Milwaukee, WI), DramaRama Performance Festival (New Orleans), the National Communication Association Conference (San Antonio), and Gallery X (New Bedford, MA).
Artists bios: Lea Robinson & Elizabeth Whitney are partners in life & performance and were recently included in GO Magazine’s 100 Women We Love. For the past five years they have developed THE MISCEGENATIONS PROJECT, a performance and digital storytelling workshop that explores intersections of identity with a focus on race, gender identity, and sexuality. Together they have brainstormed pioneering performances of gender, such as the butch-femme country-western drag act, “Sissy & Cocoa Chaps: The Urban Cowdykes,” and the soon-to-be world famous hooping duo, “Bitches With Barrettes”. They are the originators and former hosts of the Works in Progress series at The Theater Offensive in Boston, and regular performers in The Femme Show. Their new performance SYRUP IN OUR SHORTS, AND OTHER SOUTHERN PLEASANTRIES was included in the 2010 July HOT! Festival at Dixon Place (NYC). Elizabeth and Lea live in New York City where they work as artists and academics. For more information on their individual projects see www.learobinsonactor.com and www.elizabethwhitney.com
