DIY: 2013 – Richard Houguez ‘Queering hair: A gathering of radical hairdressers’

Edinburgh

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Richard Houguez
Queering hair: A gathering of radical hairdressers
With Forest Fringe
How can we as hairdressers accommodate the expression of identity? Is it all about style and aesthetic? What is it about salons that makes the hair on our necks tingle with possibility?

Project summary:
This is an opportunity for radical hairdressers of varying skills and experience, self-taught and qualified alike, to share their approaches, techniques and experiences in a two-day gathering, with the possibility of a further public event if desired. The premise is to explore the act of hairdressing within the contexts of queer strategies, political intimacies and as moments of transformation or empowerment.

Even within commercial hairdressing, the practice of cutting hair is acknowledged as an affective labour, in that it engages in an emotionally and socially supportive way for all forms of community, including queer affinities. As hairdressers situated within our respective cultures, networks, and communities, what possibilities do we produce and reproduce each time we cut hair?

Dates, times and location(s):
Between Monday 12 and Sunday 18 August 2013 (the exact dates have yet to be set and are flexible dependant on participant availability – please specify your availability in your application).

The gathering will be embedded into the Forest Fringe festival sites, with additional space within Edinburgh.

There is money to contribute to participant’s travel costs, and accommodation for participants can be arranged where possible.

Application procedure:
Applicants should outline in a brief statement how they approach hairdressing, in what context (a friend’s kitchen, a social centre, a commercial salon) and any other relevant activities they are involved with. It would benefit the gathering to have a range of hairdressing experience and an interest in feminist or queer politics – the emphasis on this gathering is to share and challenge, experiment and support each other.

Please also indicate where you would be travelling from, whether you would need or be able to provide accommodation.

Applications should be emailed to richard.houguez@gmail.com (cc’d to diy@thisisliveart.co.uk) by Sunday 9 June.

Artist:

Richard Houguez cuts hair with The Hair Cut Before The Party collective (thehaircutbeforetheparty.net) who set up temporary salons on concepts of collectivity and political affinities and is currently working as a designer on Oil City, a piece of theatre mapping oil and finance in the City of London (oilcity.org.uk)

Contact information:
Richard Houguez on richard.houguez@gmail.com

This DIY project is supported by Forest Fringe.