To close out Tongues of Fire, we invite you to join us for a screening of Jennie Livingston’s groundbreaking documentary Paris is Burning: Sunday, 5 May 2024 from 6 pm – 8 pm.
Filmed over six years, "Paris is Burning" (1990) chronicles the vibrant drag and ballroom culture of late-1980s New York. It serves as a poignant portrayal of a haven for queer, transgender, Latinx, and Afro-American communities, offering them a space to authentically express themselves at a time when societal norms often forced them to conceal their identities to avoid discrimination from the heteronormative, white Christian culture prevalent during the day. This critically acclaimed documentary captures the end of the golden age of this particular cultural phenomenon during a period when these marginalized communities were burning boundaries and pushing a vital agenda amid political oppression, the AIDS epidemic and major societal change.
This screening links into Tongues of Fire through the work of Sin Wai Kin, one of the foremost queer, non-binary artists working today and one whose practice draws deeply on the well of traditions and characters inherent to the ballroom scene. Both Wai Kin’s Tell Me Everything You Saw and What You Think It Means (2018) and Paris is Burning speak to desire -explicit and voyeuristic, romantic and political- and offer a challenge to ideas of normativity within that sensation. Drag culture, and more broadly a questioning, mirroring, contorting and parodying of societal conditions and norms inherent to queer culture in a holistic sense, are central to the productive critique (“burning down the house”) of contemporary society. The desire for something outside of the accepted norm -be that in love, in politics, religion or anything else- is a torch that keeps hearts warm, minds engaged, and helps push back the darkness.
The critical acclaim that Paris is Burning garnered at the time of its release from both mainstream and independent media opened a door that artists like Sin Wai Kin are still walking through today. The dexterity of Livingston’s approach allows the folks highlighted by the documentary to burn brightly, speaking (and dancing) for themselves, and operating as a truly historically important document for our times.
This screening has been made possible with the generous support of FRI Trøndelag, Skeiv Scene and the Trans Literature research group at NTNU. We would like to extend our thanks to them and Jennie Livingston for helping us share this film with you.
Important information: The film is in English with English subtitles. The film screening is free and open to all. The Art Hall has step-free access and universal design.