Completing the Past: LGBT+ History and Creative Production

9th-10th September 2021

Updated: 1st September 2021

After a delay necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re excited to showcase the work of our very illustrious -- and patient -- presenters, which highlights the various roles creative productivity can play in better understanding the queer past. A programme is available below. Biographies of the creative artists, practitioners and academics contributing to the event can be found by clicking HERE.

In order to respect the various circumstances of our international group of presenters, Completing the Past will be an online conference. Registration is free and will allow for engagement with the programme, presenters and other registered attendees over the two-day event. Click here to register.

A free online workshop on ‘Writing LGBT+ Historical Fiction / Drama’ led by author and playwright Hilary McCollum will be offered on Saturday, 11th September, 10:00-13:00 BST, as part of Completing the Past. Spaces are limited. Click here for workshop information and registration.

We truly wish we could gather in-person for Completing the Past but look forward to a stimulating programme!

Programme (subject to revision)

Day 1: Thursday, 9th September

10.00-12.00 BST

Opening comments

Historiographic Metafiction and the Hush of the (Queer) Archive

James Brown, PhD candidate in Creative Arts and English, La Trobe University

Towards a Queer State: Joan Jett Blakk and Arthur Evans

Kevin Gaffney, Artist, filmmaker and PhD researcher, Ulster University

Distant Galaxies: LGBT Creativity in the Irish Queer Archive (1951-2008)

Elizabeth Kirwan, National Photographic Archive & Conservation Department, National Library of Ireland

14.00-15.30 BST

The Copla Musical: Escapist Songs for Marginal Collectives from the Spain of Franco to the Rest of the World

Alejandro Postigo, Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre, London College of Music

'Foul, Filthy, Stinking Muck': The LGBT Theatre of Project Arts Centre 1966 to 2000

Hannah Tiernan, Writer and visual artist

Nineteenth Century Street Ballads in Twenty First Century Teaching

Billie-Gina Thomason, Post-doctoral Research Assistant in History, University of Liverpool

19.00-21.00 BST

Patterns

Carleen Maur, Media artist and Assistant Professor of Media Arts, University of South Carolina

Bridging the Border Wars: Staging Female Masculinities in a Misogynist World

JulieMc (McNamara), Theatre director, playwright and actor

After Hours Chez Madame Arthur: Staging a 1970s Lesbian Bar

Jules Pidduck, Associate Professor of Communication, Université de Montréal

Stormé Weather: How Gen Z Students Developed, Acted and Danced the Stonewall Uprising and its After-Effects

Lauren Vachon, Assistant Professor of LGBTQ Studies, Kent State University

Day 2: Friday, 10th September

10.00-11.30 BST

Taking an Affective Approach to ‘Doing’ Queer Histories in Performance: Queer Dramaturgy as a Practice of Erotohistoriography

Alyson Campbell, Associate Professor of Theatre, University of Melbourne 

Sound Excavations: Exploring Audio's Unique Power to Excavate and Reconstruct Erased, Lost and Hidden LGBT Pasts

Don Duncan, Lecturer in Broadcast Journalism, Queen’s University, Belfast

Towards Memorial: Exploring Edward Carpenter’s LGBTQ+ Legacy through the Re-making, Gifting and Wearing of a pair of Sandals... with Socks!

Yeun Fong Ling, Artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Arts, Sheffield Hallam University

13.00-14.30 BST

Hear Us Out: Performance Techniques for a Queer Celebration of Age

Dinos Aristidou, Playwright and Artistic Director of 'Hear Us Out'

Using Performance Storytelling to tell LGBT History

Richard O’Leary, Visiting Research Fellow in History at Queen’s University Belfast and formerly Coordinator of the Northern Ireland LGBT Heritage Project

Zoom Service

Peter Scott-Presland, Writer and performer

15.30-17.00 BST

Vanguard of Then And Now: Intergenerational Dialogue Through Art Practice within the Haringey Vanguard Project

Veronica McKenzie, Manager, Reelbrit Productions

Queer Pandemic: Documenting LGBTQ Lives in the UK During Lockdown I

Moira Armstrong, Undergraduate student, Kent State University, and lead Research Assistant for the Queer Britian Pandemic Project

Queer Pandemic: Documenting LGBTQ Lives in the UK During Lockdown II

Molly Merryman, Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studie, Kent State University, and Research Director for Queer Britain

Questions about the symposium can be sent to outingthepast.conference@gmail.com