Craft has long been associated with alternative lifestyles, economies, and modes of sociability. This panel considers the unruly aspects of labor practice embodied in craftwork. Panelists will discuss how this work can be subversively reinscribed as art practice and political intervention to challenge histories of colonialism, racism, gender oppression, and exploitation. The panel is moderated by Julian Carter, with introductions by Tina Takemoto.

Julia Bryan-Wilson's "Queer Handmaking/Queer Worldmaking" looks at how textile handicraft--including sewing, knitting, braiding, and costume design--from 1970 until today might be understood within a queer rubric. Juana Maria Rodriguez discusses the work of Cuban born artist Dinorah de Jesus Rodriguez, whose laboriously hand crafted film and video interventions tear at the idea of archive as collective memory. Allison Smith presents "Needle Work," a new body of work that emerges from a series of early cloth gas masks photographed in military history museums and found on the Internet.

Queer Conversations on Culture and the Arts brings together locally and nationally renowned artists, writers, filmmakers, and scholars for a series of conversations to discuss a broad range of LGBTQI topics in the humanities and the arts.

 For more information about the panelists, sponsors, or the event itself, please visit the website below.