#Christeen Francis

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A Bodily Autonomy Decorative Sunday

These gorgeous posters are a selection of work from Our Bodies Our Resistance, published by the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative in 2023 in an edition of 150. The collection was curated by Molly Fair, a multidisciplinary artist, member of Justseeds, and a librarian (huzzah!). The thirteen risograph prints, cover sheet, and colophon were printed at Cowboy Press in Richmond, VA. They come wrapped in green hanky, screen-printed by Mary Tremonte at Lavender Estero in Pittsburg, PA. The green bandana is a symbol of the Marea Verde (“Green Wave” or “Green Tide”) an abortion rights movement that began in Argentina in the early 2000s and has since swept across Latin America. The design for the hanky was “cut from one piece of paper” by artist Devon Cohen, and “uplifts grizzly bears and three plants -- tansy, rue, and pennyroyal -- that have documented use over the centuries as abortifacients” (from the colophon). 

Some of the posters are also available as digital download here, for use in organizing work under an Attribution NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Check out our photo captions for artist attributions.

Featuring art by Devon Cohen, Alec Dunn, Molly Fair, Sarah Farahat, Christeen Francis, Sanya Hyland, Kill Joy, Josh MacPhee, Fernando Martí, Andrea Narno, Saiyare Refaei, Jessica Sabogal, Meredith Stern, and Mary Tremonte.

60% of the proceeds of this portfolio will be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds’ Collective Power Fund. This fund redistributes “direct abortion funding to 28 member abortion funds across more than 20 states. Funding is concentrated in the South and Midwest, where it’s often hardest to get an abortion. The Collective Power Fund supports the cost of an abortion, transportation to a clinic, childcare. lodging, and abortion doula support.”

-https://justseeds.org/product/our-bodies-our-resistance-portfolio/

Check out more Decorative Sunday posts here.

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern

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I moved home to my heart city of Montreal! So much has happened! I am setting up a winter studio in a cozy and comfortable place with my now husband Ryan Backer. And I am so grateful to have free health care again!

I was in a show just as we just arrived, curated by fascinating Franco millennials. I went to the finissage at le Cheval Blanc and got to meet Sophie Latouche and my wonderful curators Eli Larin and Alexandra Tremblay. It was the first show I was ever in that was named by emojis only – no text!

🍆😂🤳 [Emoji d’aubergine/Emoji de visage riant aux larmes/Emoji de bras tenant un cellulaire]

After this show I was in Festival Phenomena for my second time curated by D. Kimm on the Rialto main stage!

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We created the first Montreal edition of FAKE ORGASM CHOIR. Betty Pomerleau, Ryan Backer and I created two new songs in addition to the song the Berlin choir created.

The iteration of the choir starred Ryan Backer, Eva Crocker, Ruby Kato Attwood,Christeen Francis, Sunny Doyle, Susie, Seagrid Patterson, Ash, Kelly Rea and the amazing Betty Pomerleau. Thanks to Shayo Detchema for documenting!

Earlier in January my partner Ryan, my best friends Winnie Superhova and Natasha Hargovan, and my gay husband Troy Davis created another successful Queer Healing Event. The next one will be at an accessible venue in November– we hope! More info on the event here. Please contact any of us if you would like to be involved in the next one. I feel this event is deeply linked to my social art practice in many ways.

      BEFORE I LEFT BERLIN…

I managed to pull off two massive curations on the weekend of August 17 and 18th. One was a video curation, and the other was a performance curation.

Description: Coral Short deconstructs privilege within the genre of film. Videomakers decipher the notion of luck as privilege within our white cis supremacist society. This is unpacked through landscapes, ideas of heteronormative “beauty”, as well as signs and signifiers for luxury. Anti- authoritative aesthetic strategies are implemented to question the often unquestioned status quo. In this brand new program full of world premieres, playful political performance art unravels ideas, and film artists infuse old medias with intention to speak in new visual languages. From covering colonial statues with piss, to performance princesses, a wide range of different focuses emerge and visually unfold.

  Thank you COVEN for such a packed and smooth event. And to artists Imogen Heath and Tami T for coming out!  Other filmmakers on this bill included Claire Arctander, Divide and Dissolve, Sab D’Souza, Daniel Embree, Shon Faye, Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, BB Gunn, Winston Hacking, Virginia FiveNames Joseph, and Yasmeen Nematt Alla.

  The performance curation was a successful fundraiser for a 3 day event around the senses called Sensorium organized by Calu Lema, Caritia Abell and myself. Huge gratitude to all the amazing performers. Big thank you to Adi Brief and Alex Tsoli for producing this fundraiser event with me and also to everyone who came out! Included was a screening room dedicated to a magnificent retrospective of Eva Wo‘s life work.

Around this same time Angela Gabereau and I were in a show in Montreal with Future Visions yet again!

ELO 2018 PERFORMANCES Eastern BlocExhibition Uchronia|What if? 6 PM – 10:30 PM For ELO 2018, curator Lisa Tronca presents a selection of Uchronia | What if? artists, some exhibiting their work for the first time in Montreal. By proposing different modes of reception of hypermedia works, this exhibition questions the gaps and connections between physical and virtual worlds.

Salvador Barajas // Pippin Barr // Stéphane Degoutin & Gwenola Wagon // João Enxuto & Erica Love // Angela Gabereau, Coral Short & Visionaries // Skawennati

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Right now travelling in the bay area with Ponderosa people from Berlin. I gave a workshop on my new project Choir of Emotions and performed with the Fresh Festival. I am staying in San Francisco right now with an old friend/cultural connector who I have the most inspiring conversations with called Ernesto Sopprani.

Before I left to San Francisco, I was on the french radio being interviewed by the legendary Michelle Lacombe! I did my first ever interview in french. Click here to hear the interview. I am looking forward to being on another french podcast soon to talk about Queer Healing Day.

    https://www.mixcloud.com/radio_atelier/no-28-14-janvier-2019/?fbclid=IwAR0vVL2YuPqoRr1N8s-1kj5AQRxJt1IV5KzG8nh5tdBDEVI0U01DQw3nzBE

Back to Germany in the Spring…. I am the international cultural connector of Betonest in April! Please feel free to write to me to see if we can offer you a residency there just outside Berlin. You are very welcome to come for a week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks or the whole month! I am running a multi media residency with Caitlin Fisher called THAW April 23-May 3, but you are welcome in April. Please tell your maker friends who need time and space to work. I also hope to create a ritual residency there for October.

WWKA (Women With Kitchen Appliances) is reforming for VIVA. It will be our 20th year anniversary and we will be performing with 10 old and 10 new members in late September!! I founded this project in 1997(ish).

      My french seems to be flowing more easily this time around which I am grateful for. I adore my francophone feminist queer community around me . I am grateful to be home and surrounded by my old and new communities in Montreal, New York and the Bay!

    Coming home I moved home to my heart city of Montreal! So much has happened! I am setting up a winter studio in a cozy and comfortable place with my now husband Ryan Backer.

[howlcollectivemtl]

Howl! — Sam Shalabi + Stefan Christoff

mercredi, 3 avril, 20h @ La Sala Rossa, 4848 St. Laurent $10 (no one turned away) Montréal (event page) performances / work by a soundscape / projection by Christeen Francis. a concert of duets by Sam Shalabi & Stefan Christoff DJ set via XX Files Radio co-presented by CKUT 90.3FM

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I had a very busy end of summer pulling together the giant annual fundraiser Witch Rave successfully after a dramatic spooky lightening storm!  This year’s event was co-organized this year with best friends and artists: Alex Tsoli, Jean P’ark, Orion Twinkle and Winnie SuperHova. Together with the community we again miraculously raised thousands to provide an opportunity for many talented artists to participate in Murmurs. Thank you to the almost 1,000 people who came out to support this fundraiser. Murmurs was the first queer sound art residency in the world. With organizers and BetOnest director Yoav Adamoni – we were 31 that filled the art hotel! The largest event ever in the space and ColorBlock joined us for a big party making it the funnest party of 2018 at the new residency space.

The amazing artists who participated in the residency were:

Pêdra Costa

Ze Royale

Henry Wilde

 NeoNeoneo Hülcker

Hannah Levin

Lyd AD.

Gee

Zinzi Buchanan aka Zi Ro Buch

Lady Gaby

Mikatsiu Høres

Lori Elisabeth

Luiza Moraes

 Gambletron

Johnny Forever

Miriam Schickler

Vincent aka Consumer-Refund

Lulu

Aisha Sasha John

Lydia Miligkou

Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou

Maa Yaa

Alex Alvina Chamberland

Caitlin Fischer

Sherry Ostpovitch

Vera Hofmann

Sophie W. Pagliai

Here are some photos from the beautiful Murmurs residency:

—————————————————————————————————————————————–Two weeks later my partner Ryan Backer and I took the train to Amsterdam and biked around a lot in all sorts of weather. We went to the Art Deco Sauna to warm up and relax which was incredible!  Then I curated Genderclear at Transcreen.

This is one of my favourite bills of my life. It was carefully juried by friends Angel Ka, Anna Helme, Nabeela Vega, Raven Davis, Russell Louder and Ryan Patrick Backer.

Jespa Jacob Smith, Anakin Tora,Brettley Kai and Wyatt Riot were in attendance which was such a total delight. This program was funded by Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa

Video artists on the bill: Jespa Jacob Smith, Justin Shoulder & Bhenji Ra, SATURN, Mitch Mitchell, Erum Khan, Anakin Tora, JJ Levine , Brettley Kai and Wyatt Riot, Namita Aavriti, Thirza Cuthand, Buzz Slutsky, Kinga and Winnie Superhova, Max Rocha, Kübra Varol, Isaiah Lawrence, Lene Ricarda Vollhardt and Luce Delire and HYENAZ

After trip the next weekend this Ryan Backer and I had an ecosexual commitment ceremony/ ritual in the light rain in a forest led by my platonic wyfe performance artist and porn star Sadie Lune. This event took place at Quecke with our 20 closest Berlin friends in attendance followed by a giant feast.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–While gardening at the Tauenblau estate in October, I got to spend some time back at BetOnest with some great artists from New York, Glasgow, Montreal and Philly that I have had the joy to work with before: Hannah Levin, Ben Owns, Nash Glynn, Stephanie Creaghan and Evie Snax! Also I got to meet and listen to inspiring stories from Yoshiko Chuma for my first time.

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I worked at the Berlin Porn Film Festival in October 10 hours a day again running the Spektrum Venue with Alex Tsoli for almost a week. I curated the last of the Berlin Series of 2017 called FEAST on loop in the lobby of the Spektrum – art science community. Many of the artists were here for the festival Theo Meow, Candy Flip, Lori Elisabeth, Cybee Bloss and AORTA films which was exciting.

FEAST An experimental short film curation on loop Coral serves up the best in food porn mixed in with a sprinkling of high art for you to devour. These hedonistic video artists gorge on fruit, picnics, bodies, hot dogs, cakes, candy, and last but not least gallons of milk. Get some food to go and come sit at the Spektrum to spend some quality time chewing and swallowing these beautiful and visceral videos in between screenings. Headphones will be provided for this sumptuous overindulgence. A generous helping of thanks to Zachary Hutchinson, Cybee Bloss, Anna Luisa Petrisko, Nabeela Vega and Ryan Backer for ideas and support with this curation. This delicious experience is free of charge!

Kailey Bryan and Pepa Chan Eat Your Heart Out .56 Over four hours they feed each other a seven course meal. Gestures range from smirking and silly to hurtful and aggressive. Attentiveness gives way to laziness; resentment builds. As carelessness action becomes malicious, the performers feel the weight of their own callousness. Tenderness re-emerges. With each bite they contend with their impulses and suffer the emotional consequences of their actions. Sometimes we hurt each other out of ignorance. Silly, attentive, callous, malicious, and sorrowful, this durational performance is a quiet but high-octane emotional ride. World Premiere

D.S. Chapman Mending 4.01 Through a reflective performance, the artist alludes to the reparative nature of transitioning their body. Confronted with a subtle, visual break with reality, the viewer is asked to navigate and mitigate their relationship to the perceived trauma that has been done and is being subsequently undone in the video. European Premiere

Claire Arctander Feeding Time 2.25 Feeding Time is a pithy, sexy video that feels raw but is ultimately G-rated. The artist plays an intentionally ambiguous role – is she top or bottom, commanding or commanded? European Premiere

Asaf Aharonson, Chih Ying, Josephine Beckers, Kasia Wolinska, Konstantine,Martin Hansen Asia Tickler: on fruits and phantasy 3.26 Human and fruit relations enjoy a long and entangled history with notions of the erotic, from ancient Greek hedonisms to subliminally suggestive works of European art from the Middle Ages to twentieth century performance art. Most honourably, fruit nourishes our bodies. Asia Tickler draws attention to the tactile limits of human bodies with fruit, exploring pleasure in various encounters of absurdist ‘waste’. European premiere

Yoshie Sakai Come one eat all 4.54 In the video piece Come One, Eat All (2007), I concoct my own cultural icon as an animated “adult-girl” doll child, whose only objective is to endlessly and tirelessly eat fast food (McDonald’s French fries and Kentucky Fried Chicken) and junk food (Lay’s potato chips, powdered donuts, chocolate bars, and M&Ms) at a frenetic pace, as moving images of amusement park rides sped up considerably cause a mesmerizing and nauseating sensation for the viewer. Along with the creepy soundtrack “Carnival of Souls” by Combustible Edison and screaming noises from the people on the rides, I attempt to convey the vicious cycle of dizzying consumption and the irrepressible nature of overindulgence unnaturally forced upon us by the marketplace. European Premiere

Devyn Manibo Sediment 002 5.34 Part of a series of durational, visual, and textural experiments which uses rice to explore the materiality of grief, memory, and accumulation World Premiere

Nabeela Vega Thahab-Papaya 3.33 Part of an ongoing project: “Visiting Thahab” Visiting Thahab investigates the identity of a Muslim American femme in the post 9/11 diaspora. It takes forms that are performative, collaborative, generous, vulnerable, and exquisitely beautiful. World Premiere

LAZY MOM Hungry Hungry Hot Dog 2.34 Based on the children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” this stop motion animation features a ravenous sausage wiggling its way through junk food on a coming-of-age journey. European Premiere

Glitter Hangover Rub 1.29 Glitter Hangover, acoustic Peaches cover band, presents their debut music video, Rub. We are frivolous, camp, and queer. Our work is about subversive pleasure and building temporary communities. It’s low-tech, DIY and offers space for revelry. German Premiere

Sister Mantos Last Night (Mirror Mirror Remix) 3.23 Video directed and edited by David Riley Photography by Benjamin Gallardo Set design by R. Kelsey Hall Shrimp headgear by Andytoad

Meow Meow Calamares 3.43 Slimy octopus dream sequence. Remember: You always eat the ones you love. Starring Candy Flip, camera by Theo Meow

Star Kim (aka Cho Mihee, aka Kimura Byol, aka Nathalie Lemoine) 2017-bap-bob Gender fluid made of bap (cooked rice) juice… bibiming (mixing) bap for bob … who is gender fluid. 1.40 World Premiere

Natalie Valencia Gluttony 1.26 World Premiere

Jacqueline Mary and Violette Dentata Girl with the Most Cake 1.13 Two femmes get wild with cake.

Cybee Bloss Squirt 30 seconds World Premiere

Sarah Hill and Hayley Morgenstern Eat THAT! Poison Apple 9.24 In Hayley Morgenstein’s performance of Snow White’s poison scene, she feasts instead of sleeps, gluttonously eating not one but several apples. My version of Snow White gorges herself on Poison Apples, gnashing and gnawing them into pieces, obliterating her potential destruction, letting apple pieces and juices stream out of her mouth, rendered defective, void of power. This gesture activates my own feminist refusal to be saved; to reject the position of having-to-be-saved, or participate in the heteronormative economy of “saving” European Premiere

AORTA films MILLK BURLESQUE 4.03 In MILLK BURLESQUE, Parts Authority, Erykah Ohms, and Ginny Woolf ceremonially edge us towards The OH Files’ climatic money shot. Honoring their cyborg sexualities with the consumption of MILLK (a white viscus substance used to fuel their post-human transition) the three begin to bend time with their erotic power, letting the wet, white viscosity flow freely forward, splashing down their bodies and dripping from their mouths. World Premiere

TOTAL 50.22

My performance work Guardian was in a book called Desire Change and in a talk. Photo by Lisa Graves. This image was taken at a contemporary art lecture at Concordia University in Montreal by Heather Davis. photo Christeen Francis.

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In new news Future Visions is in the Queer Arts Festival this June! And we are looking for new submissions if you or someone you know would like to make a minute future prediction by video and upload it to Vimeo or Youtube.

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Here is my newest submission call for this year’s 5 brand new video and performance art curations. Please check out the fb event here. I am curating with and alongside wonderful organizations and people again this year!

  Over the holidays I paid all the artists from last year who screened in the Berlin series I curated –  115 international video artists! I have transferred all the grant money out to these talented individuals. Thank you for being part of this epic project and to the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa for this amazing funding for all of us.

For my relaxed New Year’s Resolution I will be creating a video performance series with trees and plants. I wish to take some sacred time to be more still and intimate with and in nature. Follow me on instagram to enjoy this video series shot by myself and close friends.  I am going back to my performance art roots and building on ecosexual and earth art projects from the past that I created in the United States between 2011-2015.

  Venice, Berlin, Amsterdam! I had a very busy end of summer pulling together the giant annual fundraiser Witch Rave…