I am/We are

In anticipation of the Queer Culture Year in Norway, Stavanger Art Museum presents “I am/We Are”, a film program which through an artistic perspective highlights issues concerning sex, gender, feminism, black identity, race, queer culture and HIV/AIDS.

The second in a series of three screenings takes place on Thursday March 10^th, 2022. The evening is dedicated to the experiences shared by queer men of colour during the HIV/AIDS epidemic through the films by Marlon T. Riggs. After seeing the two films "Tongues Untied" and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regret)", there will be an aftertalk led by Bassel Hatoum.

“I am/We are” is curated by Tommaso Speretta.

Marlon T. Riggs, Tongues Untied | 1989, USA, 55 min.

“Tongues Untied”, Marlon T. Riggs’s second length film, stands in between a documentary, an autobiography, and a film essay. Riggs gives voice to an array of openly gay men of color, whose contribution to the politics of black gay identity has been central to his personal formation as well as that of the community he belongs to. Riggs deconstructs the conventional language of mainstream television and creates a visual poem in which literature, music, performance, historical facts, interviews and autobiographical material coexist. “Tongues Untied” is one of the most powerful explorations of the representation of the queer black identity in an historical period characterized by racism, homophobia, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as Riggs’s experience and the seduction offered by the white gay culture.

Marlon T. Riggs, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regret) | 1992, USA, 38 min.

The film is an experimental documentary addressing HIV–related issues as they pertain homosexual men of color in America. Riggs centers his camera around short monologues performed by five key figures –Michael Lee, Joseph Long, Assoto Saint, Reggie Williams and Donald Woods– who share their personal experience of HIV/AIDS, hence become spokespersons for the collective struggle of the African-American gay community against homophobia and the AIDS epidemic. Even though the film relies on the talking head format, still Riggs betrays the mainstream documentary form and opts once again for visual poetry.

As in “Tongues Untied”, so in “No Regret” the black oral culture, its literary tradition and poetic musical arrangements are central elements, which tie together the different narratives performed by the five protagonists, and create a connection between the AIDS epidemic and the long time history of the African and African-American slavery.

Aftertalk with Bassel Hatoum, Sultan Hadaddeen and Manuel Pina

After seeing the films Bassel Hatoum, journalist, curator and leader of Queer World, will lead a panel discussing the impact of the films and their thematic's in today's society. On the panel is also Sultan Hadaddeen and Manuel Pina

Sultan Hadaddeen (she/her), also known as Queen Sultan is one of Norway's most famous influencers with more than one hundred thousand followers in her channels. She is a performance artist and activist and a public voice in the debate on being a double minority.

Manuel Pina (he/him/they/them) is a drag artist and activist, born and raced in Stavanger with a Dominican background, former leader of Skeiv Ungdom (queer youth) and active in the queer afro and Latino scene in Stavanger.