This Society F*cks Me Over takes its name from a quote by the late trans writer, sex worker, activist, and artist Gani Met. When she says “this society fucks me”, the phrase works in two directions at once: it points to the literal sexual economies in which her body is exchanged and consumed, while also naming the structural violence of a society that fucks her over as a trans woman and a sex worker. The programme stays with that double edge. In Turkey, to be recognised as trans, queer, or Kurdish is never neutral. These identities are often re-recognised by the state, media, and moral majority as “terrorist”, “deviant”, or “public scandal”.
In collaboration with Iniva, we bring together film and video works by LGBTQIA+ and womxn artists from Turkey, including Nadir Sönmez, belit sağ, Nihat Karataşlı, Leyla Yenirce and Çiçek Kahraman & Zeynep Dadak. The screening asks how queer, trans, and Kurdish lives appear in public space, and what forms of recognition they can survive.
The screening includes a short introduction to feminism and gender politics in Turkey by Dr Ceren Özpınar, followed by a conversation with the acclaimed Turkish trans drag artist Kübra Uzun.
This Society F*cks Me Over is curated by Alper Turan and Platform Asia, and co-presented by Iniva as part of the Visualising Contemporary Art Histories project, supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, which is funded by the National Lottery.
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