CUANDO AMAR EN ÁFRICA LO PAGAS CON LA VIDA

On Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October, Toxic Lesbian presents the When Love in Africa Costs Your Life project with a series of actions based on live experimentation with Video/DJ sessions, the interaction of visual pieces with sound and music, and live creation growing out of improvisation based on prepared works, images and sounds. Toxic Lesbian presents its work through a series of ephemeral actions generating new works that reinterpret available materials on each occasion: videos representing the concept of exile, video creations made in collaboration with lesbian women seeking asylum, visuals of urban art works created with various artists, excerpts of films and documentaries about the reality of Africa and specifically its women... All submerged among music by African women, rhythms from that continent and phrases in the languages of their countries of origin: real testimonies of persons who have abandoned their home lands for reasons of gender or sexual orientation. These suggestions transport viewers to an unknown, unexplored reality. Migrant Sub-Saharan women, women who love other women in African countries, where love can cost you your life. These women, as well as mediating organizations with these groups, are the agents sought by Toxic Lesbian to create process art, a collaborative project with a public format, continuing with our work over the past several years. On this occasion, we propose a reflection on experiences of migration and asylum from the perspective of gender and sexual orientation. Friday 30 September, at 11 p.m., a concert will be offered by Les Femmes ZiZies, a Belgian group with rock, pop and electro influences, fighting for recognition of queer rights related to genders and intersexed identity. Saturday 1 October, at 1 p.m., Toxic Lesbian will give a performance held on the group's TV channel, www.toxiclesbian.org. Lasting 30 minutes, the piece will propose a symbolic action about emotional separation, the difficulties we face when we have to confront radically different situations, and the psychosocial consequences that can have for us. Thus, Toxic Lesbian aims to situate the viewer with regard to what it can mean for a migrant person to leave their city, their surroundings, and face a new situation where their lives are at risk, such as a journey to an unknown destination, the migratory process. During the broadcast via the Internet, various excerpts of video creation pieces will be shown on the Web produced for this project by Toxic Lesbian. Saturday 1 October, at 8 p.m., a live session will take place with a Video/DJ. The piece created live will be the result of an improvisation based on prepared works, images and sounds. With the collaboration of DJ Lolli, a reggae-dub DJ originally from Italy, a member of Madrid's "Migrantes Trangresorxs" group. When Love in Africa Costs Your Life (Cuando Amar en África lo pagas con la vida) is put together with the participation of many organizations and individuals on the project. General human rights or LGBT NGOs including Amnesty International Switzerland (Queeramnesty), Women's Link Worldwide, Merhaba, ILGA, Migrantes Trangresorxs; civil organizations such as El Keller La Tabacalera Madrid; artists including Joëlle Sambi, Les Femmes ZiZies, Borondo, Yeti, Dj Lolli and Zanele Muholi; and persons from the academic fields of feminism and sexuality including Esther Ortega, Carmen Romero Bachiller and Leticia Rojas will contribute a variety of perspectives. About Toxic Lesbian
Toxic Lesbian conceives its production in the context of process, public, and activist art with new author-creator models, from the perspective of gender and sexual orientation. They collaborate with public institutions and organizations that integrate civil society in each project developed. Their projects are realized as a process, instead of aiming for the creation of final pieces. They use performance art, the Internet, and digital media. They maintain their own online TV channel, www.toxiclesbian.org, where their actions are broadcast. They carry out intense activity on social media, which is generating a growing virtual community they are in contact with daily. They propose new models of contemplation and definition of the "art work" with ephemeral, live sessions. Their works are protected under Copyleft licenses that explain their position as to their copyright. The will continue developing the When Love in Africa Costs Your Life project in collaboration with Matadero Madrid through a residence at El Ranchito from 1 October through 31 December.  Project links:
Repository at the Toxic Lesbian website: videos, documents, research...
Toxic Lesbian channel on You Tube with videos of pieces created and documentaries in Spanish, English and French
Toxic Lesbian High Definition channel with video creations produced by the group
www.toxiclesbian.org
www.myspace.com/lesfemmeszizies