4 queer and trans happenings to wind you up or down beginning Jan. 28

What to watch, read, listen to or look this week

What to watch

Black History Month on Revry

Leslie Foster’s short doc Heavenly Brown Body screens on Revry.

Queer digital platform Revry celebrates Black History Month with an entire month of queer Black content. The network kicks off its programming with three documentaries beginning Feb. 1. The first, We Can’t Breathe from 2020, directed by Rocky Romano and Miranda Winters, addresses the social movement sparked by the death of George Floyd—captured through the lens of a queer Black woman. There’s also the 1989 film Voguing: The Message, directed by David Bronstein, Dorothy Low and Jack Walworth, traces the roots of the gay Black and Latin dance form and the ways in which it’s been appropriated in mainstream media and fashion. And Heavenly Brown Body, the short 2019 documentary directed by Leslie Foster, is a four-channel installation which uses the poem “Litanies to My Heavenly Brown Body” by Mark Aguhar as text for a queer liturgy. 

New content will premiere throughout the month, including series like Miseducated, Boys Hurt Too and His Story. Revry is also premiering original productions including the documentary film Linish, about the international trans DJ icon Lina Bradford. 

The Black History Month program is available on Revry for the entire month starting Feb. 1. 

What to read

Sticky Rice Magazine

The Montreal-based non-profit organization and e-zine, Sticky Rice Magazine, launched its second volume on Jan. 27. The virtual project focuses on Asian-Canadian experiences, with their latest centring on the representation of queer-identified Asian Canadians (which include the 16 contributors to the latest edition, who all identify as such). They address topics like Asian expressions of sexuality and sensuality, Canadian academia through a queer Asian lens, queer Asian invisibility in Montreal and more. The newest e-zine also features a poem by Sennah Yee and an interview with Toronto-based video artist Richard Fung.

The second volume of Sticky Rice Magazine is available to read on their website.

What to listen to

“Drip Gold” by Nick White

L.A.’s Nick White.

Los Angeles-based pop artist Nick White is releasing his first official music video for the single “Drip Gold” on Jan. 29. The self-empowerment anthem features rapper Danward Cozy and encourages listeners to take control of their self-worth and separate themselves from toxic people and places. The music video shows the artist equipped with flamethrowers as he transforms his bad experiences into confidence and vengeance. The singer has coined the term “polypop,” defined as multi-genre and multilingual pop, and is planning to release another version of “Drip Gold” translated into Bulgarian.

 

The music video for “Drip Gold” by Nick White will be available to watch on YouTube on Jan. 29. 

What to look at

Hi Libido: The Sex Show 

Toronto-based non-profit and artist-run centre Gallery 1313 is hosting an virtual and in-person exhibition exploring sex. Hi Libido: The Sex Show, curated by the gallery’s executive director Phil Anderson, runs from Feb. 3 to 14. The exhibit features work from over 25 artists that explore the ways individuals interpret and define sex, sexuality and what is considered “sexual.” 

Hi Libido: The Sex Show hosted by Gallery 1313 will be running online and in-person from Feb. 3 to 14.

Sarah Taher

Sarah Taher is a Toronto-based multimedia journalist. She is an associate producer at CBC News: The National. Her freelance work can be seen in Xtra and The Pigeon, where she typically covers LGBTQ2S+ arts and culture, intersectional identities, and religion. Sarah has a BA in Journalism from Humber College. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahftaher

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