Assembly Invitation: How Is This Remembered?

When, where, and what is this assembly?

Are we connected by HIV & aids?

From July 13 to 18, 2024 at BUDA Kunstencentrum in Kortrijk, “Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium” will host an assembly to practice spoken word as an archival tool between 13 people concerned with HIV & aids and impacted by serophobia.

We will gather around the question “How is this remembered?” which was coined in response to this project by London writer Juliet Jacques. Taking part in queer and feminist traditions of oral cultures, we will tell each other our present and future stories of aids, which aren’t stable but rest in transition. We invite you, with us, to recount stories intimately, in the absence of any other audience or documentation, contrasting with contemporary Western arts politics of queer visibility.

Who is this assembly for? And how will we be hosted?

Presence is reserved to transfagbidyke-queer people and cis straight women. Out of the 13 spots in the assembly, eight are still available. Most spots are reserved in priority for HIV+ people. Attending to some of the intersections of struggles around HIV & aids, additional spots are reserved in priority for BIPOC, trans people, and lesbians.

Each person will be accommodated in an individual room. They will receive 200 EUR to cover their presence and reimburse their travel costs. Ingredients for cooking will be paid separately by the project.

We will use English in group activities and translate in between us into other languages when needed and possible. The meeting room, its toilets, and some bedrooms are wheelchair accessible, but access to the bathroom and toilet in the accommodation requires assistance.

What is in the program?

People present are invited to collaborate in two group activities: self-organization and a daily spoken recap. The self-organization includes cooking, cleaning, scheduling our program, hosting group conversations, and overall getting organized between us. Each evening, during the spoken recap, one person will recount their story of the day, sharing with the group in about ten minutes how they remember their latest 24 hours.

There will be regular optional workshops throughout the assembly: on storytelling with nixie; on mass media HIV & aids representations with Roberto Tovar, founder of Número de Serie; and on canal boating with Castillo.

People present can join all activities or just some.

Who is the host?

“Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium” is the project to host two intimate assemblies in 2023 and ’24, self-organized between people concerned with HIV & aids and impacted by serophobia, as well as events with different audiences. It aims at devising processes to carry out projects on aids, archives, and arts made by and for people concerned with HIV & aids. We, Castillo, Emmanuel Cortés, and Talya, direct this project from our HIV+, transfagbidyke-queer, feminist, antiracist, materialist, harm reductionist, and intersectional community health political agendas. The project is coproduced with La Bellone, BUDA Kunstencentrum, Le Delta, erg: école de recherche graphique, Flanders Arts Institute, Kaaitheater, Nadine vzw, Sint Lucas Antwerpen, and Viernulvier, all of them in Belgium.

You can read about some of our 2023 activities here.

How to join?

Send an email by June 15 to kortrijkassembly2024@proton.me answering to these questions:

1) What name and pronouns do you want to use in our correspondence?

2) The assembly will run from July 13 to 18. We encourage you to be present for as many days as possible to share time together and build connections. We think that four or more days would be ideal. Nevertheless, we understand how differently we are available and can engage to be present. On which dates would you join the assembly?

3) We understand that being concerned with HIV & aids and impacted by serophobia involves a multiplicity of experiences, lived by HIV+ and HIV- people. Those experiences are marked by the biopolitics of aids, which are paired with homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, racism, colonialism, classism, sex-work-phobia… Presence in the assembly is reserved to transfagbidyke-queer people and cis straight women, concerned with HIV & aids and impacted by serophobia. Are you part of this group?
Yes/No

4) We plan to gather an assembly composed by, including organizers, at least two thirds of HIV+ people. Because it is harder for HIV+ people to access arts institutions, we are reserving at least five spots in priority for HIV+ people. Would you like to apply within this priority? (This information will only be used to allocate rooms. Your email will be read by a HIV+ member of our team and will be discarded after the reservations are finished.)
Yes/No

5) We know that HIV & aids are spaces of intersections of struggles. Attending to some of those intersections, we are reserving at least two more spots in priority for BIPOC, trans people, and lesbians. Would you like to apply within this priority? (This information will only be used to allocate rooms. Your email will be discarded after the reservations are finished.)
Yes/No

6) Is there anything else you would want us to know concerning your participation?

We will respond to everyone by June 20 and continue conversations with the selected participants to organize their arrivals. We will also establish a waiting list.

If you have other questions before applying, you can email viralmail@proton.me.

Image credit: Drawing by nixie