Young Queer Artists in the Classroom

JADE 26.1 (2007)© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd

7�Young Queer Artists in the ClassroomRoz Hall

This article describes what happened when two young queer artists, Danya Defraytus and Haroon Iltaf, presented their work in a classroom context. The responses from the pupils and the teachers are also reflected upon. These responses indicate something of the potential there is for work by lesbians and gay men to be utilised in classroom contexts. The presentations had various positive outcomes for the school. For example, the teach-ers involved noticed that Danya and Roonie’s work had useful impact on the pupils’ sense of how they might develop their own, distinct creative practices on the basis of their own unique experiences and perceptions. The students made connections with Danya and Roonie, and could identify with them, in a way that transcended any differences there may have been between them in terms of their sexual-ity. The approach is therefore being suggested as a model for introducing work that explores lesbian and gay experiences, in a meaningful, useful and amicable way, in a classroom context. The key elements that led to the success of the work are therefore outlined to indicate ways to apply such an approach.

Abstract

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Introduction This article, and the activities that have informed it, were developed to address the issue for debate directly. The extent to which work that references lesbian, gay and bisexual experiences and discus-sion of it is censored within mainstream secondary education. The article is informed by an event that was devised to raise awareness of the fact that section 28 of the UK Local Government Act 1988 no longer exists and no longer restricts the way we might talk about sexuality in schools. This article offers a case study that could be drawn upon and used as a model and outlines a project that took place in early 2006. It attempts to identify the key factors of the success for all involved.

The project was devised through conversations with three people with whom I have worked previ-ously, when they were ‘young people’, during a project entitled ‘Young, Queer and Safe?’ [1]. Of these people, Danya Defraytus and Haroon Iltaf (Roonie) were interested in being involved in a practical way and Chris Morgan was keen to provide me with conceptual input and feedback.

Danya and Roonie have pursued a creative pathway, through informal as well as formal contexts. They are both currently on BA Hons courses, but have also worked as project deliver-ers and have had work exhibited in spaces such as the Roundhouse in London. They are able to present their own work in an articulate way, as they have an explicit awareness of the value of the crea-tive processes in which they are engaged.

We decided that it would be interesting to explore the outcomes and impact of Danya and Roonie presenting their own work to a group of students. We approached the programme leader for art at City Academy Bristol [2] to find out if they would be interested in hosting the presentations. The art team responded so positively to the oppor-tunity. On my circulating the first draft of this arti-cle, Chris Morgan suggested that it would be inter-esting to find out why they responded positively. Jenny Betts, programme leader for art, told me, in response to this question, that the City Academy Bristol art programme team are always keen to get artists into the school, but that it often seems to be really quite complicated and time consuming to do so. She told me that their positive response was

mainly because of the simplicity, for the art team, in terms of planning and delivering the event. She told me that, because we had approached her with a clear outline of what would happen, a rationale, and set of potential outcomes that we thought might be of relevance to the students at City Acad-emy Bristol, all we needed to do was agree a date and time to do it. This limited the required time for the teachers involved, as we did not need to meet to plan the presentations, and so it made the reali-sation of the project feasible, even within a busy schedule [3].

Having worked with Danya and Roonie before, I was aware of the way in which they were likely quickly to gain the respect of the students, and the way in which the students might identify with them. This relationship I anticipated to be a poten-tially inspirational one for the students at City Acad-emy Bristol, as it might make certain aspirations seem more realisable or feasible.

Danya and Roonie have both developed prac-tices that explore various aspects of their identi-ties, including, but not limited to, their sexuality. Through the presentation of their work it would become apparent that Danya is a lesbian and that Roonie is a gay man. The presentations would thereby articulate how sexual identity can be explored through creative practice.

The rationaleThe scope of Danya’s and Roonie’s practice means that their sexual identity, as represented through their images, would be contextualised within their broader social and cultural experi-ences and identities. This contextualisation seemed to have the potential to ensure that students at City Academy Bristol might identify in some way, or have an interest in common, with Danya and Roonie. Furthermore, the presenta-tions would make the self-motivated nature of Danya’s and Roonie’s creative processes explicit. What promised to be of interest, therefore, was the potential impact of these presentations on the students’ sense of their own practice, and how they might be stimulated into working in ways that are motivated through their own concerns and priorities, and informed through their own cultural and social experiences.

The presentations promised several positive outcomes for all involved. For the school, first, it might inform the students of the possibilities there are for them to pursue opportunities in higher education. Second, it might stimulate the students to consider ways in which they could develop their own practice through focusing on ideas or issues that are significant to them. Third, it might be inspi-rational for the students to hear articulate and professional presentations, as these might also serve as an example for the students when talking about their own practice. Finally, the event also promised the opportunity for students using digital media at City Academy Bristol to extend their skills and their sense of what is possible.

Danya and Roonie were quick to identify the potential value of the event for themselves, and as a platform for them to reflect upon and think through their process and their practice. They also valued the opportunity to work in a facilitating way in a new context.

The event would also support students’ explo-ration of their own sexual identity through creative practice which might be meaningfully and usefully introduced in a classroom.

The eventDanya and Roonie presented their own work to the group, illustrating their artistic and professional development. They regularly use a range of media to produce their work, primarily traditional and digital photography. They talked about how they have developed their practice as young artists, and the things that have been important to that develop-ment. They explained how they conceptualise the images they produce, and the processes surround-ing that production. They presented older and more recent work, including images that Danya has made through exploring the practice of other artists.

Jenny Betts introduced Danya and Roonie to the year twelve class very briefly.

Roonie’s presentationRoonie began by explaining that he became involved in the arts through community arts work that took place at a youth group which he attended when he was fifteen. He told the group that he had left school with one GCSE, but that this had not

prevented him from pursuing this creative route. He explained what community arts is before show-ing and talking about one of his first pieces of work, entitled ‘Khoosra’ [4]. He outlined how the work had been motivated by his need to explore and resolve some of the conflicting emotions there were for him around religion and sexuality. He talked about the experiences of being a young gay Muslim man. Roonie explained in detail why he had made certain decisions about the work as he had made it, such as the reasons for the different colours of the text.

He then showed the group another early piece of work entitled ‘Pyar’ [5] and explained how the images had been made without any camera or scanner, but just using Photoshop to make digital paintings. He also talked about how the images were conceptualised, and how this process was about him exploring his emotions.

He then showed images made during project work for Greets Green magazine [6], and talked about how he learnt the potential power of crop-ping, and how what you leave out of the frame is as significant as what you decide to keep in it, and how the meaning of an image can shift dramati-cally depending on how it is cropped (see Figures 1 & 2). He emphasised that the cropping had taken place when he took the photograph, not after-wards, but through the lens.

Roonie then showed images he made when working at a snooker hall, and explained how he had made these images at a time when he was not very happy and how he thinks this is reflected in the images (see Figures 3 & 4).

The next set of images that Roonie discussed were ones that adhere to the conventions of fash-ion photography. Roonie told the group that he had made these images because he wanted to ensure skills in a vocational use of photography, as he was aware of how hard it is to make money as an artist. He then showed the group other examples of his portraiture.

As he was showing the above work Roonie talked about his images, both in terms of the tech-nical aspects of the work, and the conceptualisa-tion. He stressed that ‘it is the ideas that are impor-tant’, and that ‘you don’t need loads of expensive equipment or materials as long as you’ve got a good idea’.

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Roonie then talked about ‘Man shall not lie with man’, an image he has made since being at univer-sity, first explaining how it was made, and then explaining the meaning it has for him (see Figure 5). He told the group that he had been briefed at college to buy an object, for a fixed sum of money at a specific shop, and to use this in an image by transforming it.

Roonie chose to buy a church candle because he is interested in the aesthetics of religion. He explained this to the group and then told them how he had made a piece of text, out of metal, which he inserted into the wax of the candle. The text is in Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, but is a quote from Christian texts. The text that is quoted in the image is ‘Man shall not lie with man’ [7]. Roonie explained that he chose this to reflect

the wider British religious context in which he grew up, and wrote it in Arabic to reflect his own family’s religious experiences. He explained how, for him, all religions have this belief, that being gay is wrong, and so for him there is always a tension that means he cannot be a part of any organised religion.

Roonie then explained why he chose to place the candle in ice, then melt the ice and the candle, and photograph the constructed scene as it melted. He said that ‘the ice represents culture, wax represents religious institutes and metal the word of God’. Roonie highlighted how the candle, representing the way religion is presented, can be melted down, reduced or transformed, but that the beliefs that it embodies, as represented by the text, won’t melt down. The ice, representing culture, is the easiest to melt away. The metal text, however, remained whatever heat was applied. In other words, Roonie said, ‘You can melt away social constructions like homophobia, but you can’t melt away the words of God.’ Roonie

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Opposite page: Left Column

Figure 1 Haroon Iltaf; marriage 1

Figure 2 Haroon Iltaf; marriage 2

Right Column

Figure � Haroon Iltaf; Snooker Hall 6

Figure � Haroon Iltaf; Snooker Hall �

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Figure � Haroon Iltaf; ‘Man shall not lie with man’

explained what homophobia is, for those present who might not know.

The group then viewed photographs of Roonie’s Urinal piece. Roonie has made this piece of work by montaging images onto a urinal, which he had then photographed from various perspectives (see Figure 6).

Roonie explained that he had found the images on a gay men’s web site. He explained that gay men use the site to arrange to meet up to have sex. He talked about how the images are all the same, in that they are headless / faceless portraits, and how this troubled him.

He explained how he printed and montaged these images onto a urinal. He talked about how this process made him feel, and how making the piece of work was about coming through and getting through a time in his life when he realised he wasn’t comfortable with all of his own sexual experiences. He said that he had realised his own discomfort through the production of the work, and that it had been an important process to go through.

Roonie’s latest piece of work, which he made using prayer mats, was the final image that he presented to the group (see Figures 7 & 8).

He explained that the work is about how he has to be seen as a single young man to be accepted within his family’s religious context, and then having another side of his life, on the back of the prayer mat, which is hidden. Roonie said that he had chosen specific colours for the tears in order to represent different aspects of his identity. He told the group that the green tear is cried by the part of him that identifies as Muslim, because of the connection for him between the colour green and the Pakistan flag. He also explained that the pink tear is cried by the part of him that identifies as gay, because of the historical significance, and currency, of the colour pink within gay culture.Roonie concluded his presentation by talking about the significance of his time at university as an opportunity to refine his practice through focus-ing on it, and to develop work according to his own priorities and aims.

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Danya’s presentationDanya began by outlining her background. She told the group that she began her practice by doing a City and Guilds certificate in photography. She explained how her involvement in community arts projects led her to extend her photographic practice by using digital media. She also outlined how she has moved course, and why the first degree that she began was not right for her. She explained how this initial experience had led her to be more careful the second time she started a degree, and she told the group that she had looked into the course structure and content in great detail before deciding which course to apply for. She said that in the first degree course she hadn’t been taught in the way that she wanted to be taught, and the course didn’t cover the things that she wanted to learn.

Danya told the group that the first of her images that she would show them were made in response to work of Kempadoo [8]. Danya introduced the work of Roshini Kempadoo, showing the group a piece entitled ‘ECU: European Currency Unfolds (1992)’. The work is a series of banknotes from European countries which have been modified to comment on the colonial histories of those coun-tries. Danya told the group that Roshini Kempadoo was born in England in 1960, that her parents were from Guyana, and that she helped to establish Autograph, the Association of Black Photogra-phers. Danya explained how, in the modifications to the banknotes, Roshini Kempadoo’s criticism is aimed at the European countries’ colonial history. Danya quoted Kempadoo to clarify her rationale and approach: ‘I rework the photographs to produce what I call photo constructions, which are generated using a computer. I make use of photog-raphy’s unique power to play with notions of reality and representation’ [9]. Danya talked in detail about the different banknotes, deconstructing and analysing the images and text that are combined in the banknote images.

Danya then explained how, for her, although Europe is significant, it is what happens in Britain that is of most interest to her as it is her home. In response to Kempadoo’s images Danya decided to focus on ways in which oppressive and racist elements within Britain express their perspective.

Danya told the group that she began the work by visiting the National Front web site, and on the basis of conversations about what she had found there, she developed a piece of work entitled ‘Making a Submissive’. Danya explained, in case anyone had not heard of the National Front, that they claim on their web site to be ‘a political movement based on the principle of Racial Nationalism’. On viewing the National Front’s web site, Danya decided to develop a piece of work, in response to the question that arose for her, which was: ‘what would happen to the people I care about if the National Front came into power and put into practice their policy of forced repatriation?’

Danya explained that in ‘Making a Submissive’, she hoped to show how ridiculous the National Front’s arguments and policies are by quoting them directly, and juxtaposing this text with contradictory images. Danya explained in detail how the different elements of the images were decided upon and brought together. Alongside the National Front text are statistics from government websites, and other images, as well as some other quotes, which Danya told the group she chose because she strongly identifies with them. For example, in the last image Danya quotes Bob Marley, when she writes, ‘Until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more importance than the colour of his eyes – me say war.’

Danya took her lead from the National Front’s ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section, the first question being, ‘What would you do with the non-whites that were born in Britain?’ The answer to this, on the web site, is: ‘All coloured people would be covered by our policy of phased humane repa-triation. This means that over a period of ten to fifteen years these people would go back to the lands which they, or their parents / grandparents came from. There will be no exceptions.’ This led Danya to think about her dad and all the other people she knew who would therefore be repatri-ated (see Figure 9). This in turn led her to wonder about herself, and other friends of dual heritage. She explained that she found her answer in the next question on the web site, which was ‘What about those of mixed race parentage?’ When she found the same repatriation process would apply, she then wondered about other people, and as she did so, the questions and answers provided by the


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Figure 6 Haroon Iltaf; Urinal 1 & 2

Figure 7 Haroon Iltaf; Prayer mat front

Figure � Haroon Iltaf; Prayer mat back

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National Front addressed her concerns. In this way the piece of work developed in an organic way from a very personal perspective.

Danya explained that the people who appear in the images are individuals in her life who would be forced to leave the country if the National Front were in power. Danya didn’t take new portraits specifically for the piece, as she wanted to use her existing personal photo album shots of people to reinforce the personal nature of the work.

Danya introduced the background images used in the pictures, and explained why she has used them. She showed the group the Arthur Drum-mond painting that she has included in the back-ground of the first image. She told the group that the piece was painted as a tribute to Great Britain’s reign over much of the world’s population. She explained that in the image there are three Afri-cans, two Indians, one Pacific islander and three Caucasian females kneeling before Queen Victo-ria. Danya explained that she included this image because it suggests a much longer and more complex history of relations than is indicated in the National Front’s literature. She also told the group

that she has included the nine of spades in the image as a reference to the racist term ‘black as the ace of spades’ and the number 9 as a reference to government statistics, which claim ‘9’ to be the percentage of ‘ethnic minority’ people in Britain.

Danya then introduced the second image in the series (see Figure 10). Danya highlighted how the policy of the National Front represented in the second image would mean that she would have to leave the country. She told the group that the image she has placed in the background is ‘Las Castas’ which was painted by an anonymous Mexican painter from the last quarter of the eight-eenth century. She said that the image illustrates sixteen of the fifty-three race / class categories invented by the Spanish-speaking elite of colonial Mexico. Danya explained that she had included this image to illustrate the way in which slaves were categorised like animals.

Danya then explained the third image in the series. In the third image, Danya considers the fate of white British people who would have to leave the country to remain with their partners (see Figure 11).

Danya explained the personal resonance of this for her, and the relevance of the background image, which is a cartoon by Gilray that depicts Prince William Henry, son of King George III, who served in the West Indies before becoming King. Danya explained that this satirical print, which ‘suggested more than simply international relations’, would have been the equivalent of the type of cartoon found in current day tabloids. She explained that the image was important in highlighting that there is nothing new about such relationships.

Danya then introduced the fourth image in the series, which is about lesbians and gay men, who would have to leave the country if they were to live their lives freely, if the National Front were in power (see Figure 12).

In the final image in the series, Danya consid-ered the fate of those left behind, as she began to think about what would happen to her white heter-osexual friends (see Figure 13).

She therefore included a portrait of a friend of hers who is a white heterosexual man, as the only person she would leave behind. Danya explained that he would be left behind because he happens to

be a white-British, heterosexual male, and so, the ideal candidate for the National Front, and just the sort of person they’d want to be left in the country.

However, as Danya pointed out, he is her friend, and therefore, obviously not racist, as is demon-strated by his inclusion in this piece. He thereby represents the fact that at this stage in the narra-tive, when the National Front have superficially gained their wish for an ‘all white’ Britain, under-neath the surface, it is far from the place that they hoped, as ‘white-British’ does not equal ‘racist’.

Danya summarised the work and underlined how she has used images to subvert the meaning of the text. She explained how the work thereby reclaims and subverts the meaning of the final words; ‘This is the most important struggle you could ever become involved in.’

Danya said that for her, what is enjoyable about the creative process is the fun of coding and decoding images.

Danya then introduced a piece of work that she made in response to the work of Lyle Ashton Harris [10], beginning by showing some of his images and summarising his practice. She told the group that

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Opposite page:

Figure � Danya Defraytus: Making a Submissive 1. Dad, R and K

This page: Left Column

Figure 10 Danya Defraytus: Making a Submissive 2. M and Me

Figure 11 Danya Defraytus: Making a Submissive �. Mom and L

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Figure 12 Danya Defraytus: Making a Submissive �. V, L, C, and I

Figure 1� Danya Defraytus: Making a Submissive �. A

Lyle Ashton Harris was born in 1965 in New York. She said that he is best known for his theatrically staged black and white self-portraits and photo-graphs of his friends and family members. She explained how his photography, although extremely traditional in form, was often provocative in content and made explicit his desire to make inter-racial homosexual desire visible without disguise.

Danya then showed the group the image she has made in response to his approach, which is entitled ‘Damned by Desire’ (see Figure 14).

Danya explained how in this image she has commented on the way other people see her depending on whether she has a white or black partner. She explained that she represented the fact that she is a lesbian through the use of the breast in her mouth. She said that the image is about how, if she has a white girlfriend she is demonised, but if she has a black girlfriend this is seen as somehow positive, and ‘natural’ / angelic.

She talked about the use of the coconut to refer-ence the way others identify her. She explained this, and how the use of the term ‘coconut’ (to imply black on the outside and white on the inside)

had at first confused her as she thought people were calling her hairy. The group of students found this very amusing.

The general atmosphere during the presenta-tions was very comfortable and there was relaxed laughter on several occasions, but only when Danya and Roonie had intended something to be funny, as in the example above.

Danya then showed a selection of other images she has made, mainly portraits, and spoke about them briefly.

The group then gathered around the laptop to look at the images again, as they had been a little bleached out by the projector. Students asked some questions during this, such as one girl asking Danya, ‘Which University are you from?’ and one boy asking Roonie if a gun that was in one of the pool hall images was a real gun.

Danya and Roonie followed up this presentation with a workshop where they supported the group of students to work on some of their own photo-graphic images using Photoshop, extending the students’ skills in new media. This work took place in the ‘discovery centre’, a room that houses a library

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and computers that are located four to a table, all of which are facing out from the centre of the seven such tables. Students work here independently as well as during lessons. The students stayed focused for the duration of the session, and most of the group stayed at their computers when we left.

The group already had photographs stored on the computers in their own folders. The students opened their images in Photoshop and Roonie and Danya worked with them on a one-to-one basis for the next hour-and-a-half session.

The students made images using their existing photographs, and with advice from Danya and Roonie about how to affect the images in the ways they wanted using Photoshop (see Figures 15–19). This process worked well and the students were keen to ask Danya and Roonie questions about their work and about university during the session. Several of the students also showed Danya and Roonie their sketchbooks and portfolios and asked for their advice and feedback. The students clearly felt at ease with Danya and Roonie and obviously valued their input and advice.

Post-event exchangeFollowing the event I had informal interviews with Danya, Roonie, Jenny Betts, and other City acca-demic staff; Claire Stewart: leader of learning – literacy; and Ed Batey: art teacher. Based on these discussions I have been able to identify something of the impact and repercussions of the event.

It seemed to the teachers involved that there were many positive outcomes. First, they thought that the presentations have led the students to think differently about the possibility of going to university. Second, the images that the students made after the presentations seemed, to the art team, to be more personally informed, and more confident. Third, there was a clearer sense for the students of the potential of Photoshop, and the images that Danya and Roonie showed acted as inspiration to them, most significantly in that these images were made to articulate an idea or opinion, rather than appearing to be using technology for its own sake. This notion of having a reason for using different applications and effects of the software, along with practical support in using the software, led the students to develop greater confidence in using Photoshop.

A few days after the event, one pupil, Sam, told Claire Stewart that Roonie, whilst he helped her to use Photoshop, had told her that she ‘just needs to think much bigger’. She said that Roonie had led her to realise that her work is hers and that it is about what she wants to do, not about what anyone else says she should do. She also said that university had been really important for Roonie in gaining his independence. She also said that she loved Danya’s presentation because the ideas were really clear and Danya knew exactly what she was doing and why, and could explain it clearly.

Another student, Maria Vyukhina, emailed Claire Stewart with the following feedback about the event:

I am doing art AS level, and in one of the lessons we had visitors, they were students from univer-sity, who picked art for their higher education. I have been chatting a lot to one of the students, Danya. She showed her work, and then she’s been helping me and other students, to work with Photoshop Studio. I never used Photoshop before, but when Danya showed me what to do, I started getting into it, and even included some of the work in my own project. Me and Danya talked about artists, and we found out that we got a lot of inter-est in the same art courses. So I really enjoyed it, and if I get to university and am going to have an opportunity to go and talk to students, as those student did for us, I’d definitely do that, because it is magnificent to find new things from people who are actually doing the same stuff, which you want to do in the future.

During the session that followed the event Jenny Betts gathered further feedback from the students on the basis of questions that I had suggested. Jenny asked the students what they remembered most about the session. Students responded in a variety of ways. One student said that there was an ‘interesting combination of history and culture in Danya’s work’. Another student highlighted that there had been ‘good guidance and training on Photoshop’ indicating how the different aspects of the event engaged different students. However, most students were interested in the content and commented that it was ‘interesting to see politics


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Figure 1� Danya Defraytus: Damned By Desire

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in art’, that it was ‘different than any art seen before, and good that it was based on their beliefs and lifestyles’, and that ‘the inclusion of religion was good’. Similarly, other students commented that they ‘liked Danya’s political content’ and that they ‘remember the personal aspects of Roonie’s work, his religion and sexuality’ and ‘the personal quali-ties of Danya’s work’. These last two comments underline once more the significance of the personal nature of the work for the students.

The various connections that the students made with Danya and Roonie were all of significance for the students: ‘I really enjoyed talking to Danya about Salvador Dali, she likes him as much as me.’Students also told Jenny Betts that through the presentations they ‘really learned how to “read”

images by looking more deeply into the content’. What is apparent here is that by talking about their images in the way that they did, Danya and Roonie demystified the process of conceptualising and making their work.

Jenny Betts also asked the students if the pres-entations had made them think differently about anything. One student commented that the percentage of gay adults in the UK was a shock. This was the only comment that pertained to the content of the work relating to sexual identity.

Other feedback in response to this question indi-cated that the students also realised the potential to develop their practice in ways that are not necessar-ily reliant on traditional notions of how to do so. For example, one student told Jenny that they had


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Figure 1� Sammy Channon: Stairwell

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Images made by the students during the session

Figure 16 Emdadul Islam: Chalk & Charcoal

Figure 17 Siretta Francis: Untitled 1

Figure 1� Stephanie Allen: Untitled 1

Figure 1� Siretta Francis: Untitled 2

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‘learned that you could go to university even if you don’t do well academically’, and another ‘that you don’t need to be able to draw to be an artist!’

However, the overwhelming response to whether the presentations had made them think differently about anything was that the students grasped the potential to develop their practice in ways that are defined and informed by their own personal experiences. For example, one student commented ‘that you can include personal ideas in your work’, whilst others similarly commented, ‘that you can develop work that is really personal and meaningful’, and ‘that work can be really personal’.

When asked if they would be influenced by the presentation, the students responded in various ways, with an emphasis on the practicalities of making, such as ‘I’ll use Photoshop more’ and ‘may consider using negatives in my work’. Similarly, another student said ‘It was a good experience using Photoshop and I will now use it more in my work.’Roonie’s emphasis on not needing to have expen-sive equipment also influenced one of the students, who commented that they ‘will think about the simplicity of equipment and not get too complicated’.

Again, the event led the group to consider the potential of higher education, with one student commenting that it ‘has made me think about the variety of art degree courses out there’, and other students also stating that it ‘made me consider a wider variety of courses’ and that they had realised ‘that some courses allow a lot of freedom’.

The personal nature of Danya and Roonie’s work was also identified as having influenced the students; for example, ‘It will make me think more carefully about my work and try and make it more personal.’

The next question that Jenny asked the students was if anything had been similar or different to what they are used to. One student told Jenny that Danya and Roonie ‘made me look at things differ-ently’. The students also identified the difference between Danya and Roonie and teachers, by stat-ing that ‘They had a different approach to us as students, they related to us more.’

Jenny Betts also commented that what struck her most about the event was how Danya and

Roonie related to the students, and how the students did not see Danya and Roonie as teachers. She said that it was because of this that the students felt immediately at ease with Danya and Roonie. She said that she thought the students could see and tell something about Danya and Roonie’s back-grounds that meant they felt at ease with them, and that they could appreciate what their work was about and understand their motivation for making the work. Jenny Betts also suggested that the loca-tion of the presentation, in the school, had helped to ensure that the students felt relaxed. She said that the students might not have felt so at ease if they had visited a gallery, or another context that may have been less familiar than their school.

Jenny told me that the presentations really had an impact on how the students think about their work and how personal it can be. She said that it has led them to consider how they can develop their ideas in a personally informed way, and that it has also given them ideas of how to talk about or present their work to others. She said that Danya and Roonie had explained everything very clearly and simply, making a real connection with the group.

Jenny also explained that Danya and Roonie differ from most artists who have visited the school, for work such as graffiti projects, who have all been white and middle class. She said that for the students at City Academy there were more differences between those artists and themselves than there were between themselves and Danya and Roonie. Any differences to do with sexuality therefore seemed less relevant, given the common aspects of identity that were apparent.

Jenny also commented that she thought the impact of the presentations would be even more apparent in work that the students began to develop. She said that the next work they were doing was their personal study, and that the pres-entations were timely in this respect, as they would be helpful in establishing ways of responding to other artists’ work, as well as illustrating ways of working that are personally informed.

Implications and conclusionsThe presentations given by Danya and Roonie exemplify how work that explores lesbian and gay experiences might be meaningfully and amica-

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bly introduced in a classroom context. Further-more, the presentations have resulted in various positive outcomes for the students and therefore the school.

When considering using this event as a model for future work it is important to identify some of the key components in its success. First, the nature of the collaboration with the school was crucial. It was important that there was a sense of mutual trust and it was also important that the art programme team at City Academy Bristol was one that is open to and supportive of new ideas and approaches. Even within such a context, there were issues in the detail of planning the event, which will probably recur in other contexts. Time was, as always, an issue. However, another issue that directly related to the content of the presenta-tions was raised when I was unable to email details of the proposal for the event to staff at the school because of a firewall. Such details can be easily overcome, but should not be as easily dismissed, as they are perhaps indicative of a wider set of issues to do with how sexuality is considered, represented and policed. Such barriers can be very real within a time-constrained process, and are reflective of the lack of legitimacy that is usually apportioned to work relating to sexual identify, not just in schools, but in most professional contexts that I have inhabited.

Second, another key component to the success of this event seems to have been the extent to which the students identified with Danya and Roonie. A few days after the workshop Roonie told me that it felt as if they (Danya and Roonie) had ‘broken down barriers’. He said that it seemed as if, because he and Danya had similar life experiences to the students, being gay didn’t make him or her that different. He said that he thought this would have impact on the way in which those students thought about lesbian and gay people, as not neces-sarily being that different from themselves. He also commented on the positive impact that this would have for students who are gay, and how such a pres-ence would combat potential feelings of isolation. Third, Danya has pointed out that the success was likely to also be reliant upon Danya and Roonie’s approach, and the relaxed nature of their presentations:

I think that mine and Roonie’s approach to the presentations made a difference to how we were received. We didn’t stand at the front of the room preaching to them. We just sat there talking about our lives, not using ‘big words’ but also not patron-ising them [11].

Furthermore, Danya has highlighted how talking about the personal can also act to establish mutual trust:

I think that the fact that mine and Roonie’s work is very personal also helped, as I feel that the students respected the fact that we were being so open and honest with a room of complete strangers. There was no talking or sniggering when we were talking and this didn’t seem to be from fear of their teacher [12].

Danya and Roonie’s openness regarding the personal experiences informing their work led the students to consider, and become enthused by the potential for them to similarly develop their own practices on the basis of their own experi-ences. This shift towards the students ‘taking ownership’ of their work has been highlighted as being one of the most significant and useful outcomes for the school.

The success of the presentations resides on several factors. The point that Roonie identified so clearly, about common experiences is, I think, one significant factor. The connections that the students made with Danya and Roonie were such that they overshadowed any differences between them in terms of their sexual identities.

Perhaps this outcome, which Roonie has identi-fied and articulated so insightfully, is the most far-reaching and meaningful of all. Homophobia is essentially about fear. Fear of the unknown is perhaps inevitable. Making gay and lesbian experiences known is therefore the most apparent way of combating or preventing fear of them. What is implied therefore is the need for more, similar, work.

Roz Hall

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AcknowledgmentsThanks to Nick Stanley for inspiration, to Danya Defraytus, Haroon Iltaf and Chris Morgan for creative, conceptual and analytical input and to teachers at City Academy Bristol; Ed Batey, art teacher, Jenny Betts, programme leader: Art; Zoe Kingston, PGCE student and Claire Stewart, leader of learning; literacy, for collaborating to realise the event that has informed this article, and for contributing to the development of the article through reflection and dialogue.

Notes and references1. The Young, Queer and Safe project is featured in The Maypole Group (1999) Young, Queer and Safe? in Hurley, S. [Ed.] Young People Now. Leicester: The National Youth Agency, pp. 26–7; Hall, R. (2005) The Value of Visual Exploration: Understanding Cultural Activities with Young People. West Bromwich: The Public; and is online at URL: www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/youngqueersafe/

2. From the school’s information: ‘The City Academy, Bristol opened in September 2003, moving into new purpose built accommodation in mid 2005. The Academy is an independent state funded school and currently has 1247 students on roll drawn from an area of just 1.3 kms from the site. There are 290 post 16 students undertaking a range of level 1, 2 and 3 courses. The campus is also the home to a fitness centre, a community children’s centre and a day centre for adults with learning difficulties. Over 1300 adult learners also undertake courses at City Academy Bristol. The Academy serves the nineteenth most economically deprived ward in England and Wales. 44% of students attending the school are in receipt of free school meals, 38% of the student body speak English as an additional language and 62% of students are drawn from ethnic minority groups. The academy is playing a key role in the local New Deal for Communities project.’

3. Jenny Betts had seen examples of previous work that had been facilitated by myself, Danya and Roonie, and so the trust that she afforded

us was also informed by this evidence and her consequent knowledge of our previous relevant experiences.

4. Khoosra is reproduced in Hall, R. (2000) Inclusion through Distinction, Journal of Art &Design Education, Vol. 19, No 3, p. 313–24.

5. Pyar is reproduced in Hall, R. (2005) op. cit.

6. Greets Green Community Magazine is a Greets Green Partnership funded project which was established through collaboration with The Public. Greets Green Partnership is the organisation delivering the New Deal for Communities programme of regeneration projects for the Greets Green area of West Bromwich, in Sandwell, West Midlands. Website www.greetsgreen.net

7. Leviticus 18:22 ‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.’ The Bible, New International Version.

8. For examples of Kempadoo’s work please visit the Autograph website where Roshini’s work is included in the artists’ section: www.autograph-abp.co.uk/autograph_content.html, or visit any of the following URLs: www.axisartists.org.uk/ofSARF.aspx?SELECTIONID =136; www.photography-now.com/artists/K17402.html; www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/exh_txo_en/ART23253.html; http://humanities.uwe.ac.uk/visible-evidence/Panels_files/Kempadoo.htm. www.noorderlicht.com/eng/fest03/global/kempadoo/; http://64.33.16.144/exiles/ve/index.html; www.iniva.org/archive/person/162

9. See Kempadoo, at URL: www.cooper.edu/art/techno/artists/kempadoo.html

10. For examples of work by Lyle Ashton Harris please see the following URLs: www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/5309; www.artnet.com/Galleries/Artists_detail.asp?gid=111 &aid=7858. See also Deavere Smith, A. (2004) Lyle Ashton Harris. New York: Gregory R. Miller.

11. Email exchange with Danya Defraytus.

12. Email exchange with Danya Defraytus.

Young Queer Artists in the Classroom

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