London’s gay arts festival launched this week
GFest, a festival celebrating LGBT arts in the capital, was officially launched at the Houses of Parliament this week.
The launch was hosted by MP David Lammy and attended by deputy mayor of London Richard Barnes, ministers and GFest artists.
It has also been supported by London mayor Boris Johnson and lesbian author Sarah Waters.
The event, now in its third year, is due to take place between November 9th and 22nd and will be held at various venues across the capital including Rich Mix, Cochrane Theater, McKenzie Pavilion in Finsbury Park and The Drill Hall.
It will feature visual arts, short films and performances.
Among the work being showcased is The Jack & Jill Snapshots by Corrine Bot, a photography series of a young couple’s daily routine in which Bot features as both the man and the woman.
Other visual artists include Matthew Stradling, Ozzy Yorulmaz and Sarah Ahmad.
The short films category includes Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide by Nathan Evans, From the Diaries of Two Breasts by Beldan Sezen and Boy by Joe Morris.
Speaking at the launch, MP Lynne Featherstone who is equalities spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, said: “This is the third year of the festival – which each year is growing like topsy and this year has several artists from all over the world, [which is] a testament to the organisers,Wise Thoughts.”
GFest artistic director Niranjan Kamatkar said: “The very next day of the delightful GFest 09 launch, we also had an ‘LGBT arts and Culture for All’ seminar sponsored by Equality and Human Rights Commission on October 27th.
“The seminar panel included experts from strategy and policy fields, organisation such as BFI and Arts Council England. It was great to see so many distinguished people supporting the festival, the artists and their ideas.”
For more information, visit the GFest website.
https://www.gaywisefestival.org.uk/index.php
