Curious Festival 2022

@teamcuriousarts

@CuriousArts

An award-winning LGBTQIA+ Arts Festival across the North East curiousarts.org.uk

@curious_arts

1st—24th July 2022

Curious Festival is an award-winning annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture across the North East.

Back live and in-person for 2022, Curious Festival returns with our biggest ever programme of events throughout July.

Exploring and celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Instersex, Asexual + culture through the arts.

Festival Producers Curious Arts work in partnership with arts and community organisations across the region and beyond, to ensure LGBTQIA+ artists, creatives and communities are visible, represented and celebrated.

Be Curious and find out how you can get involved this July – we’d love you to celebrate with us.

The Curious Arts team.

Check out our social media for pop-up activity during the festival...

@curious_arts @CuriousArts @teamcuriousarts curiousarts.org.uk #CuriousFestival2022 2

All of Curious Festival 2022’s partner venues are fully accessible.

All of Curious Festival 2022’s partner organisations have attended Curious Arts’ LGBTQIA+ awareness training to ensure safety and understanding for all who engage with the festival and continue to visit their spaces beyond July.

Programme information key Location

Audience

Duration

Booking information

BSL Interpretation All times are approximate and details correct at the time of printing.

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HOME WITH THE NOIR NARRATIVE Friday 1st July Baltic, Gateshead, NE8 3BA

CURIOUS VOGUE BALL Saturday 9th July Dance City, Newcastle, NE1 4BR

PROTEST POSTER MAKING WORKSHOP Saturday 2nd July ARC, Stockton, TS19 1LL

SAGE GATESHEAD IS CURIOUS Wednesday 13th July Sage Gateshead, Gateshead, NE8 2JR

CURIOUS FAMILIES DAY Saturday 2nd July Baltic, Gateshead, NE8 3BA BALTIC IS CURIOUS Saturday 2nd July Baltic, Gateshead, NE8 3BA LIVE THEATRE IS CURIOUS: THE FUTURE IS QUEER Sunday 3rd July Live Theatres, Newcastle, NE1 3DQ ARC IS CURIOUS Thursday 7th July ARC, Stockton, TS19 1LL QUEEN’S HALL IS CURIOUS Friday 8th July Queens Hall, Hexham, NE46 3LZ

QUEER CHANGE SHOWCASE Thursday 14th & Friday 15th July Northern Stage, Newcastle, NE1 7RH SOUND CISTEM Saturday 16th July Northern Stage, Newcastle, NE1 7RH PROTEST PLACARD MAKING WORKSHOP Saturday 16th July Dance City, Newcastle, NE1 4BR NORTHERN PRIDE IS CURIOUS Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th July Northern Pride, Exhibition Park, Newcastle, NE2 4PZ MINI PRIDE Multiple dates, please see page 23 for more information WILDFLOWER Multiple dates, please see page 24 for more information

Did you know Curious Arts are a charity?

Make a donation: ko-fi.com/curiousarts 4

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PROTEST POSTER MAKING WORKSHOP Saturday 2nd July 10am–12pm & 1pm–3pm

Key elements of LGBTQIA+ history and culture, art and activism often join forces in the fight for progress and equality. Join Curious Artists Hedley and JJ to create march-worthy protest posters that express your hopes for change.

The posters created will be exhibited at ARC from Monday 7th–31st of July as part of Curious Festival 2022. All materials provided.

ARC Stockton, TS18 1LL 120mins All (under 14s accompanied by an adult) Free Book: arconline.co.uk

HOME WITH THE NOIR NARRATIVE

Friday 1st July, 1pm

The Noir Narrative is a platform and space for Black LGBTQIA+ creatives, artists and people living in the North. This event will celebrate our existence and champion the voices of Black LGBTQIA+ people living in Northern cities, from music to art, performances, arts and crafts, mental health support and more.

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BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead, NE8 3BA 60 –120mins 16+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult) Free Book: curiousarts.org.uk

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HADRIAN & ANTINOUS: SCULPTURE WORKSHOP Saturday 2nd July, 11am–3pm

Celebrate LGBTQIA+ love through sculpture.

Inspired by the love story of Emperor Hadrian and Antinous, Artists Richard Bliss and Bethany Stead will lead a drop-in sculpture workshop, where everyone can create their own representation of contemporary queer love with clay. All of the sculptures created will form a community co-created exhibition at BALTIC for the day!

Saturday 2nd July, 10.30am–3pm A day of colourful, creative workshops in partnership with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Part of Hadrian & Antinous: A Gay Love Story, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

ZINE MAKING

Saturday 2nd July, 1pm–3pm Join artist Melody Sproates for a fun session of zine making activities. From creative writing, to collage and illustration, explore the key elements of expressing yourself through the art of Zine-making! Create your own to take away or contribute to our collective Zine celebrating everything that’s great about family.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead, NE8 3BA 180mins (drop-in) All ages (under 18s accompanied by an adult) Free, no booking required

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead, NE8 3BA

FAMILY PORTRAITS

120mins All ages (under 18s accompanied by an adult)

Saturday 2nd July, 10.30am–12.30pm Create your own family portrait in bunting form with Artist Amy Langdown.

Decorate your family members and connect them up together where they belong!

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead, NE8 3BA

Free, no booking required

60 –120mins All ages (under 18s accompanied by an adult) Free, no booking required

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BALTIC IS CURIOUS Saturday 2nd July, 7pm

An evening exploring gender and non-binary narratives through Film and Performance.

Queer Shorts

Experience a thought-provoking programme of short films by women/non-binary people of colour, exploring LGBTQIA+ life and experiences, curated by a panel of QPOC creatives.

Mapping Gender

Anders Duckworth Maps carve borders through landscapes.

Clothes are maps for the body. Mapping Gender is an exhibition of performance, image, sound and research. It’s an invitation to see the parallels between cartography and clothing, to explore how society controls, shapes and demarcates both landscapes and human bodies – all told through the lens of non-binary experiences.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Gateshead, NE8 3BA 120mins 14+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult) £8–£12 Early bird £8 (ends 24th June) Booking: curiousarts.org.uk

LIVE THEATRE IS CURIOUS: THE FUTURE IS QUEER Sunday 3rd July, 6pm

An exciting showcase of new work exploring LGBTQIA+ life, through the ideas and voices of 11 to 25 year olds.

In celebration of Curious Arts’ Queer Creative Challenge, join us for an evening of performances and presentations by young creatives from across the North East.

Part of Live Theatre’s Make Hope Possible weekend.

Live Theatre, Newcastle, NE1 3DQ 75mins 11+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult) £3–£6 Booking: live.org.uk

YOUTH GROUP TEES VALLEY Every second Saturday of the month, 10.30am - 12.30pm Middlesbrough Town Hall, TS1 2QJ

12-17 year olds

Supported monthly meetups for LGBTQIA+/gender non-conforming young people. Meet new friends, go on trips and take part in fun creative activities.

supported by

Get in touch…curiousgetinvolved@gmail.com

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@teamcuriousarts

@CuriousArts

@curious_arts

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QYOUTH UEER

MUSIC

Weekly workshops on Tuesdays, 5.30-7.30pm at Dance City, Newcastle.

A new group for LGBTQIA+ Musicians and Aspiring Producers . aged 12-18 Meet fellow music fans

Have jam sessions Develop your songwriting Work with professional Musicians Learn more about the music industry Put on gigs + choose the line-up for events and festivals!

Sign up: curiousarts.org.uk

ARC IS CURIOUS

Thursday 7th July, Films from 12pm, Launch 6.30pm, Cabaret 7pm Join us for our annual ARC is Curious cabaret, an evening of live performance, film and exhibition celebrating LGBTQIA+ culture.

ARC, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1LL 90mins + Interval 16+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult) Pay What You Decide Booking: arconline.co.uk BSL Interpretation

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Journey through ARC, starting in the Cinema with Queer Shorts, a thought-provoking programme of short films by women and non-binary people of colour. Then help us to launch our community co-created Protest Poster exhibition as you make your way to the theatre for a night of Curious cabaret. Hosted by all singing, all raging, bona-fide performance legend David Hoyle, with performances from fierce one-person cabaret troupe RhyssPieces, hilarious comedy-cabaret performer Ashleigh Owen and more artists yet to be announced!

Can’t make it to ARC? Livestream our cabaret at home.

QUEEN’S HALL IS CURIOUS

Friday 8th July, 7.30pm Our annual Curious Cabaret is heading to Queen’s Hall for the first time!

Hosted by all singing, all raging, bona-fide performance legend David Hoyle, join us for a celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture with live performances from fierce one-person cabaret troupe RhyssPieces, hilarious comedy-cabaret performer Ashleigh Owen and more artists yet to be announced!

Queen’s Hall, Hexham, NE46 3LS 90mins + Interval 16+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult) £10 Booking: queenshall.co.uk BSL Interpretation

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SAGE GATESHEAD IS CURIOUS

Wednesday 13th July, 8pm An evening of queer cabaret, featuring a double bill of performances by highly acclaimed musician Beccy Owen and Birmingham’s ‘queen of disco’, Fatt Butcher.

Be sure to arrive early as Gladys Duffy will be DJing from 6pm.

Sage Gateshead, NE8 2JR 120mins 18+ £10–£15 Booking: sagegateshead.com

CURIOUS VOGUE BALL Saturday 9th July, 8pm

The ultimate celebration of North East LGBTQIA+ Culture is back. Join us at Dance City Newcastle for our 5th annual Curious Vogue Ball!

Community members, allies and professional vogue houses from across the North take the catwalk to serve unique looks and vogue the night away at the fiercest party in the North East.

Dance City, Newcastle, NE1 4BR 180mins 18+ £8–£32 Booking: dancecity.co.uk 14

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Thursday 14th July, from 7.30pm

Thursday 14th & Friday 15th July Experience brand-new performances by emerging LGBTQIA+ Artists, supported as part of QueerChange and QueerCore.

Northern Stage, Newcastle, NE1 7RH 16+ (Under 18s accompanied by an adult)

HOW TO BE A HOT MESS

AMBIVALENCE

Joy Cruickshank

Farrell Cox

Confessing on their 20th birthday that they do not feel comfortable with womanhood or adulthood, thankfully the HOT MESS manual is here to guide them (un)successfully through their twenties. How to be a HOT MESS is an exciting, fast-paced show blurring stand up, spoken word, drag artistry and theatre, challenging traditional storytelling and gender norms. £10 (with Ambivalence)

Ambivalence tells the autobiographical story of a woman’s journey as we are invited to hear her unsaid thoughts through pages of her diary. The piece uses stunning aerial acrobatics and movement depicting her emotional journey as she flies over a stark white bathtub. The piece charts her journey from rock bottom to top of the world questioning: what is worth living for? £10 (with How to be a HOT MESS)

£5 & £10 Booking: northernstage.co.uk BSL Interpretation (day one)

Thursday 14th July, 6.30pm

I’M A CLICHÉ Hip Reading

Join artists Jade Sweeting and Jenni Mac as they present ‘representation’ itself in a performance and exhibition about their durational project Hip Reading. Taking on clichés, categories, signals, whims, the old and the new, Sweeting and Mac toy with the stereotypes and trends in queer culture through the specific lens of the female gaze. £5

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Friday 15th July, from 7.30pm

TITS TO TATS Mo Svendson

A one person show that explores the process and the obstacles to transitioning in general with a specific focus on the trans-masculine experience. Through a mixture of memes, infographic data, and evocative performance, the show takes you through the emotions and real-world struggles of being trans, both socially and medically.

Thursday 14th & Friday 15th July Experience brand-new performances by emerging LGBTQIA+ Artists, supported as part of QueerChange and QueerCore.

£10 (with Nite Life)

Northern Stage, Newcastle, NE1 7RH 16+ (Under 18s accompanied by an adult) £5 & £10 Booking: northernstage.co.uk

NITE LIFE FLOOD Theatre

Friday 15th July

MILK AND HONEY, 6.30PM Alex Billingham

It’s time to drink up all your milk dear. How do you be yourself when you don’t know what that is?

Let Live artist Alex Billingham drench you in trans crip desire. Celebrating the misshaped, misfired, misfits by awkwardly hurling their Frankenfixed body into space and time. £5 18

Nite Life is a verbatim, spoken word one-person theatre piece exploring bisexuality and it’s place in the LGBTQIA+ community, interrogating the queer club scene.

NEWCASTLE

11-15 year olds

YOUTH GROUP Every third Saturday of the month, 2-4pm

£10 (with TITS TO TATS) Supported by Homotopia, Curious Arts, Milk Presents and Arts Council England as part of QueerChange, an artist development programme, championing LGBTQIA+ artists from across the North East, North West and Midlands.

Supported monthly meet-ups for LGBTQIA+/gender non-conforming young people. Meet new friends, go on trips and take part in fun creative activities.

Get in touch…curiousgetinvolved@gmail.com @teamcuriousarts

@CuriousArts

@curious_arts

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NORTHERN PRIDE IS

Saturday 23rd July & Sunday 24th July CURIOUS ARTS STAGE AT NORTHERN PRIDE COMMUNITY VILLAGE, TOWN MOOR Featuring live performances by LGBTQIA+ artists and creatives from across the North East and beyond!

Part of UK Pride 2022

SOUND CISTEM

Full listings at northern-pride.com

Saturday 16th July, 7.30pm Plaster Cast Two transgender performers say ‘up yours’ to the gender binary, and invite you to their radical dance party! Under disco lights, over pulsing music, a queer celebration takes place. Set in nightclubs, Sound Cistem is a joyous verbatim show about the cisgender gaze on the transgender body.

This performance is captioned.

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60mins

PROTEST PLACARD MAKING WORKSHOP FOR UK PRIDE 2022

16+ (under 18s accompanied by an adult)

Saturday 16th July, 11am

£10 – £15 Booking: northernstage.co.uk

Join Curious Artists and create your own marchworthy protest placards that express your hopes for change. Take your placard home or collect it before the UK Pride 2022 march on 23rd July.

All materials provided. In partnership with LGBT + Northern Social Group.

Northern Stage, Newcastle, NE1 7RH

Dance City, Newcastle, NE1 4BR 180mins (drop-in) All ages (under 14s accompanied by an adult) curiousarts.org.uk 21

Celebrate everything that’s unique and wonderful about families at Mini Pride!

Take part in fun, creative activities from colourful arts and crafts to storytimes with our Curious Artists.

Summer Streets Festival, Sunderland Saturday 9th July Screen on The Green, Newcastle NE1 Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th July Darlington Pride Weekender: Family Picnic Sunday 14th August The Maltings, Berwick Tuesday 23rd August Billingham Library Wednesday 24th August Suitable for ages 3–7 and their families (under 18s accompanied by an adult) curiousarts.org.uk

What does it mean to be a Wildflower?

Blooming wherever you’re planted!

Join the Wildflowers as they ride by for a fun, floral pop-up performance.

Creating a welcoming environment where everyone can thrive!

UEFA Women’s EURO Fan Festival, Rotherham Sunday 10th July Tram Sunday, Fleetwood Festival of Transport Sunday 17th July SIRF, Stockton-on-Tees Friday 5th & Saturday 6th August Big Feastival, The Cotswolds Friday 26th & Saturday 27th August Family Camping Festival, Gibside Sunday 28th August

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@curious_arts @CuriousArts

Partners

@teamcuriousarts curiousarts.org.uk

Supported by