Worlds Apart | Worlds Reframed: Images & Voices of the Queer Diaspora is an exhibition of photographs, writings, video, and recorded interviews on the experiences of queer displacement. Begun in 2015, this project contrasts how the lives of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers develop in their countries of resettlement. What is it like to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming—and, in most cases, a person of color—and a foreigner in the West, where even native LGBTQ persons must often still strive for acceptance and equality? This work seeks to empower and amplify the voices of individuals who are too often obscured or limited by labels like refugee, asylum seeker, and victim.
The Worlds Apart | Worlds Reframed exhibit:
at Concordia University - George R. White Library & Learning Center, September 2 – September 30
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 6, 6pm – 8pm
2811 NE Holman Street, Portland
This exhibition features stories of LGBTQ individuals from Pakistan, Uganda, Russia, Congo, Malaysia, Cameroon, Iran, Tanzania, Syria, and Bangladesh, who live in western cities like Copenhagen, Paris, Portland, San Francisco, and New York. Worlds Apart | Worlds Reframed aims to bring diverse communities together through the power of art and storytelling, while addressing how the dynamics of homophobia, racism, privilege, and power factor into displacement.
Joining us today to discuss Worlds Apart | Words Reframed:
Farnoosh Parish-Khodayar was born in Iran and came to Portland in January 2013 through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees resettlement program. Farnoosh studies at Portland State. In 2017, Farnoosh and her partner, Jack, were married in Portland. Currently, Farnoosh works for Multnomah County, where she fields calls from homeless individuals and others in distress on the 211info line. Farnoosh became an American citizen in 2018.
Victor Mukasa is a transperson, human rights defender, and a founding director of Sexual Minorities Uganda. He has also served in varying capacities with the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRDN), Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), Trans Support Initiative, and other organizations across Africa. In 2011, after his close friend and colleague, David Kato, was murdered, Mukasa made the painful decision to leave Uganda. He sought asylum in the United States in 2012. Nearly four years later, Mukasa was reunited with his daughters, aged 8 and 18, when they arrived in Baltimore. Mukasa is the current Executive Director of Kuchu Diaspora Alliance-USA (KDA-USA).
Denver "David" Robinson is a writer and photographer based in Portland, Oregon. A recipient of the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia Award, the 2016 Richard J. Margolis Award and a 2016 Oregon Fellowship in Literary Nonfiction, his work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, VICE, The New York Times, Advocate, Boston Globe, and elsewhere.
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Later in the hour, we'll be joined by Esther Godoy, who publishes the zine 'Butch is Not a Dirty Word.' Issue #4 has its launch party this coming Thursday, 7 pm, at Mississippi Pizza, with live readings. Issue 4 "thematically focuses on love and sex. Fourteen Butches tell stories of their formative loves, and how they’ve learned to navigate their sexuality and relationships, exploring a range of different sub-themes and narratives within this broad topic."
Esther describes herself as "an Australian born Butch Womxn living in Portland, OR, I am the producer of the print publication 'Butch is Not A Dirty Word'. I have a particular interest in exploring how social context & physical environments influence peoples personal choices & romantic desires (particularly amongst queer communities). I am a story teller by nature, and utilize an array of different mediums for this purpose., including but not limited to web development, photography, live story telling & writing."
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Music on this program: Sheila & B. Devotion – Spacer (Extended Rework Stevo’s Spaced Out DUB Edit)
- KBOO