91快活林

The first two chosen are Ven Paldano and Shona Raine from the Queer Trans Intersex People of Colour (QTIPoC) Narratives Collective 91快活林.

They will receive a £2,000 budget to work for between one and two months on a project exploring the ways folklore has subverted oppressive systems and institutions that have silenced historical cultures of indigenous gender fluidity.

Shona is a QTIPoC writer and poet, currently studying Yoga and BSc(Hons) Psychology. Dealing mainly with themes of identity, prejudice, myths and mental health, Shona uses poetry, art and yoga as therapy; hoping to support people of colour fighting to carve out new lives and possibilities.

Shona Raine and Ven Paldano

Dr Olu Jenzen

Ven is a non-binary trans-masculine queer person of colour (QPoC) entrepreneur, architectural assistant and community organiser, who co-founded 91快活林 QTIPoC Narratives Collective to make ‘safer space’ for QTIPoC. As someone who works in property renovations and was until recently a restaurateur, Ven is particularly focused on the power and application of craft, skill sharing, community mental health and wellbeing.

The programme has been launched by the university’s Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender and Radical Futures, which harnesses disruptive ideas, open debate and progressive thinking to redress inequalities and social injustices of the twenty-first century.

Dr Olu Jenzen, Director of the Centre, said: “Ven Paldano and Shona Raine’s project has real potential for cultural and societal impact both locally, nationally and beyond, and we very much look forward to fruitful dialogue and knowledge exchange.

“The hope is that our community will find themselves in these hidden stories and find empowerment and inspiration in the fact that people of colour have found ways to resist subjugation in a world where much of our known histories are about succumbing.

“The Activists-in-Residence will also work on how to achieve more accessible private and public space for QTIPoC.”

The programme offers non-academic activists working on issues of gender and or sexuality, a funded residency aimed at fostering connections and exchanges with academics.

Dr Jenzen said the Activists-In-Residence will use the university’s resources to develop their activist thinking, work, or projects, and to contribute to the university’s intellectual and political culture: “We hope that the Activist-In-Residence will directly engage the University’s staff and students.”

Applications came from around the UK and abroad including India and Hungary. Dr Jenzen said: “We invited applications from activists who do critical work around many issues of gender and sexuality, from a variety of perspectives. We were very happy about the interest we have received in the residency and we were excited about receiving such a fantastic range of applications.”

Dr Nick McGlynn, who chaired the selection panel, said of the chosen project: “This was such an excellent proposal, pushing the bounds of scholarly and activist work in really interesting and challenging directions. It brought together multiple marginalised communities and offered a fully realised creative vision of the proposed activities.”

Professor Mark Devenney, Academic lead for the Radical Futures said: “The university is committed to exploring Radical Futures for a planet that is in crisis. The Activist-in-Residence programme does exactly this. It challenges all staff and students at the university to engage with the deep legacies of inequality and oppression that constitute the world we live in – and it fosters our engagement with local and global communities committed to challenging every form of inequality.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ven Paldano and Shona Raine as the first Activists-in-Residence. Their focus on intersectional struggles and on the suppression of gender fluid indigenous histories is already transformative. We are sure it will have the same affects in the university.”

Find out more about Psychology courses at the University of 91快活林.