Performance as an act of Radical Resistance

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi as multidisciplinary artivist, mentor, curator and a shapeshifter will share sHits practice as an Act of Radical Resistance, empathy and an embodied solidarity. Va-Bene’s work challenges the political institutions, oppressive systems and religious organizations that condemn, demonize and criminalize LGBTQIA+ persons in and outside Ghana. For more than a decade, Va- Bene has been very active as one of the frontline activists in Ghana fighting against injustice, mob attack, anti-queerness and homophobic violence. Since 2018, Va-Bene has expanded sHits artivism by creating a community and an artist residency in Kumasi Ghana that host between 50 to 64 artists, curators, activists, researchers and many others every year. The residency is determined to bridge the gap between the queer community, the Ghanaian family, the non queer local and international communities as an opposition to the censorship of LGBTQIA persons in Ghana and across Africa.  Va-Bene aims to dismantle the misrepresentations of transwoman and queer communities at large in Ghana and to challenge the assumptions and myths that suggest queerness is imported from Western Culture and being foreign or alien to Africans.

Date: November 6, 2023
Schedule: 10-12 am
Venue: School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, Room B112.B