By Juliette Tang
Queer Arts Fest
The Sex Worker Fest
This is definitely a good month for worthwhile local festivals. The 6th San Francisco Sex Worker Film, Art, & Music Festival officially kicked off this past weekend and promises to be a thrill for both the intellect and the libido. Smart, kinky, and fun, the Sex Worker Fest is a positive and educational week-long extravaganza that occurs in tandem with the ongoing 12th Annual Queer Arts Festival, a whopping month-long festival featuring over 400 artists in over 100 performances taking place in 18 venues all over San Francisco. The only question at this point is how you're possibly going to fit everything into your schedule.
Michelle Tea
On Saturday, the Sex Worker Fest launched with a benefit at a. Muse Gallery (614 Alabama St) to support Radar Lab, a free queer writers retreat looking to accommodate 12 outstanding queer artists by this summer. Hosted by Ali Liebegott, whose IHOP Papers performs the feat of being at once witty and charming and a poignant lesbian coming-of-age novel, and Michelle Tea, prolific author and Guardian contributor whose novel Valencia joins rank with Michael Ondaatje's Divisadero in being good books named after famous San Francisco streets, the benefit featured appearances by literary luminaries Dorothy Allison, ZZ Packer, and Eileen Myles.
And because when we overload our brains on literature we can justify going shopping, on Sunday an 'all day shopping orgy' took place at the Center for Sex and Culture (1519 Mission St). More accurately described as a craft fair slash yard sale than an orgy, the so-called 'Belle Bazaar' featured live entertainment by local band Lipstick Conspiracy and a performance by Jessie Abraham, quite possibly the only sex-worker-cum-stand-up comedienne from Australia, pun unintended.
For those interested in the Sex Worker Fest, interesting and informative events are scheduled all week. Today, Monday June 1, the Sex Worker Fest presents SWOP Hospitality Day, a roundtable discussion for sex workers and allies hosted by the Sex Worker Outreach Project. For more details, including information on the location of the event, contact SWOP San Francisco at (916) 904-2058. Check out the official schedule of the Sex Worker Fest to learn more about upcoming events.
The theme of this year's Queer Arts Festival is "threads". From being the substance that binds the queer community together, to the divergent threads of history that have led to the creation of that community in San Francisco, to the threads of dialogue and discussion that contribute to an ever-changing and diverse community narrative, this theme is present in the works of each artist in this year's ensemble.
For those interested in attending this Fest, an event you should know about is This Many People: The LGBT Seniors Project. Taking place tonight (8PM) at The Garage artspace (975 Howard St), This Many People will feature performances by the OutLook Theater Project, an ensemble-based company whose work examines critical issues from a queer perspective, who "will perform excerpts of a world premiere play-in-progress focusing on issues of community and isolation in an aging LGBT population based upon the experiences and personal histories of Bay Area LGBT Seniors."
The OutLook Theater Project cast
2009 is the Queer Arts Festival's 12th year in San Francisco. Since its inception, it has showcased the work of over 2,500 individual artists. For more information on the Queer Artist Festival's upcoming events, | | | Comments (0)
