Gender

by Travis Alabanza

One of the first four titles in the first cycle of the Look Again publishing programme from Tate Publishing and Tate Britain, which will total twelve books published in three stages. These books have been developed and launched ahead of a rehang of the Tate’s collection in 2023.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Queer

48 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Travis Alabanza is a performance artist, theatre maker, poet and writer that works and survives in London, via Bristol. Their multidisciplinary practice uses a combination of poetry, theatre, sounscapes, projection and body-focussed performance art to scream about their survival as a Black, trans, gender-non-conforming person in the UK. Growing up on a council estate in the outskirts of a city, Alabanza prides themselves on a practice that is messy, abrupt, confrontation, atypical and self-taught, often using performance to provoke a strong emotion [and action] from their audiences. In the last two years Alabanza has cemented themselves as one of the most prominent emerging queer artists in the UK (As noted by Dazed, Prancing Through Life and MOBO) and has performed, talked and toured across numerous UK venues as well as internationally, to acclaim reviews.

First appearing in Poetry circles and becoming Published in the Black and Gay in the UK Anthology in 2015, Alabanza then toured and showcased their debut show ‘Stories of a Queer Brown Muddy kid’ across queer clubs and venues such as the RVT, Hackney Attic, Keble arts Festival and selling out Housman’s bookstore. In 2016 Alabanza continued to perform across multiple events and venues across the UK and abroad, touring lectures and performances to over 40 UK universities during LGBTQ+ and Black History month, as well as giving national talks on issues surrounding Blackness and Queerness at places such as the V&A and Bristol Watershed.
Their work was programmed at events such as Duckie, Bar Wotever, And What! Festival, Late at Tate, The V&A and Transmission Gallery. Alabanza also starred in Scottee’s Five Star, Roundhouse production ‘Putting Words in Your Mouth’, as well as becoming one of the 2016/17 Artist in Residences at the Tate Britain. In 2017 Alabanza is working on their solo exhibition ‘The Other’d Artist’ for Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, the sold out opening of their new show BURGERZ at Hackney showroom, supporting artists such as mykki blanco and aloe vaid-menon and has just finished completing a short US college tour with their work. Outside of making art, Alabanza enjoys discussing internet culture, memes, hair braiding, and dancing with other black people.

Reviews

[Fozz]

Yeah yeah, gender is a performance, Judith Butler, whatever but also like, gender *is* a performance, ygm?

[applepie :P]

"THE MAN and a weapon are never too far apart. A weapon becomes an extensions of THE MAN, almost as if it is impossible to be THE MAN without fighting something."


THE SCREAM I SCREAMED

[Mari C.L. Murphy]

A fun pushing of boundaries, essay as play (meant with a double meaning). Makes you excited to see the rehang of the collection, and better consider how gender is performed and understood in the art museum.

[A]

Rating: 4.5
A very interesting play-com-essays on the performativity and arbitrariness of gender that responds to artwork from the Tate Galleries. I enjoyed the inclusion of the artwork in the book as it allowed the reader to engage in the art as well and form their own conclusions. I agreed with Albanza's reading of the pieces at many points but disagreed at others. Despite being less than 50 pages, it is still a very solid discussion of gender and gender expression.

[Lola]

As I read this I could see it being performed in my mind's eye, gender is a performance and Travis Alabanza shows this by literally giving a performance. Beautifully written and a very interesting take on art and gender that left me thinking and looking in a new light.
"I believe art is also wrapped up in performance. I see a piece of art as a still of a performance in motion, a moment of drama, a snapshot, a glimpse into a spectacle - it captures a breath to be immortalised."

[Heather]

This was such an interesting little book, it very much felt like a thought piece and it did keep me thinking, I tabbed and underlined so much of this book. Whilst none of the contents was new to me (except some of the art being used) the way in which this put together these pieces and ideas within such a performance really captured my attention and was like nothing I'd ever read before. I would 100% recommend this and I will definitely pick up more work by the author in the future.

[Benny]

Short, sweet. A really interesting way of approaching and analysing gender in classical media, when this is so commonly a subject that sets people frothing at the mouth about imposing 'modern' constructs onto 'sacred' history. Love Alabanza's essays and this is no exception; their lighthearted voice here invites you to playfully interpret art without the burden of its assumed meaning.

[Axel Aranha]

A comforting short booklet to flip through when you need to be reminded that you are not alone. Gender is an annoying societal construct that we as human beings face every day when interacting with one another. I wish it wasn’t such a thing, but alas. I wish this book was longer, go more in depth with the intersectionality between gender and whiteness. But Travis Alabanza did a good job.

[Hana White]

An absolute joy to read. A tiny work of genius. Thoughtful, piercing, very funny!!! So original and creative, formally wonderful, a brilliant work made by a brilliant mind!!!!

[Eboni Louigarde]

4.5
that one exercise with the mirror had me in TEARS sobbing in the mirror