FORMS OF KINSHIP –NEUROQUEER INTIMACIES
With Francisco Trento
8 December 2022, 7—9 p.m.

Via ZOOM
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Language: English

During the event, Francisco Trento will present two work-in-progress projects on the topic of non-neurotypical intimate relationships, ones that deviate from the standpoint of neurotypical privilege. Francisco will introduce their research on the stigmatisation of neurodiversity within online dating platforms and share excerpts from an article soon to be published in Culture Unbound journal. During the second part of the event, they will present a zine prototype, T*nder-bender (developed at the UrbanApa Home Residency). The zine discusses experiences of stigmatisation in the online dating scene as a neurodivergent person. While this is a project strongly connected to complaining, it emphasises neuroqueer JOY. This is why the prototype also includes fictional playful dating app 'profiles' showing a joyful approach to more-than-human and neuroqueer approaches to intimacy; profiles that value neurodivergent traits such as stimming, stuttering, being hypersensitive and overwhelmed by textures, sounds and crowded environments. The zine features counter-ableist dating app profiles from the perspective of non-human subjects, such as rocks, trees and toys looking for intimate connection. The zine's conceptual allies are, among many, Remi Yergeau's book "Authoring Autism: On Neurological Queerness" and Sophie Lewis's "Abolish the Family".

Francisco Trento (they/them) is an artistic researcher living in Helsinki, Finland. Francisco is currently a university researcher at UniArts Helsinki, and they are the social responsibility coordinator at Frame Contemporary Art Finland. Francisco holds a PhD in Communication and Semiotics (Media Studies). They are interested in institutional critique, anti-ableism, neurodiversity, non-dyadic modes of togetherness and neuroqueerness. @franciscotrento

The event is part of Temporary Gallery’s study group Forms of Kinship. The series of gatherings aims to think collectively about the way we form relations in and with the world, outside of the nuclear family structure. The meetings take place monthly, in person or online. Each session is led by an invited guest, including artists, thinkers, poets, activists and others. The study group is convened by Kris Dittel (independent curator, Medienkunstfellow NRW) and Aneta Rostkowska (CCA Temporary Gallery).

Image
Francisco Trento

Funding and support
Temporary Gallery receives structural funding by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne and Deltax contemporary, Wirtschafts- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH.

The event is part of a larger endeavor called "Islands of Kinship: A Collective Manual for Sustainable and Inclusive Art Institutions”, in which CCA Temporary Gallery works with six international partner institutions: Jindrich Chalupecky Society (Prague), Latvian Center for Contemporary Art (Riga), Frame Contemporary Art Finland (Helsinki), Julius Koller Society (Bratislava), Faculty of things that can't be learned (Skopje) and Stroom den Haag (The Hague). Islands of Kinship is co-funded by the EU Program Creative Europe.