Sticky Fingers Publishing presents a monthly feminist queer cinema night at the Ivy House, Nunhead. Each evening will begin with two short films followed by a headline feature, with drinks, pizza and more available. Expect camp classics, cult favourites, feminist DIY fantasies, and much more. The next cinema night, 1st August, we are super honoured to be screening the short Scenes from a Marriage (2022) by Bare Minimum Collective, followed by Thelma and Louise (1991) dir. Ridley Scott!
This screening of Scenes from a Marriage is to coincide with the Residency 11:11 Screening Room that we have curated, available here from the 17th July – 8th August. There you can also find us in conversation with Lola and Christie, alongside a transcript of the recording.
Scenes from a Marriage (2022) by Bare Minimum Collective
“Scenes from a Marriage is what we are calling an AV reading, an accessible form that is no less live than when we are able to stand in front of you in person. It is not a ‘remote reading’, a ‘recording’; it is not only a ‘video work’ or ‘film essay’.
It's not exactly what we wanted to share with you, but due to our fluctuating disabilities, illnesses and capacities—and our limited technical skillset (we had fun playing!)—it is what we are presenting. We are used to accepting the compromise of the possible, and we stand by our work nonetheless.
We corresponded as a way of experimenting with the politics and possibilities of collaborative writing, of attending to the visual art and culture we work with as part of a dialogue with someone we love, even as this world—this work—makes us sick. We did this without any plan, without, as Ursula Le Guin says in the Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, the ‘stage’ or ‘pedestal’ or ‘pinnacle’ of the ‘killer narrative’. Instead, we picked up pieces from each other’s letters to create a meandering whole—that is, to make what we hope Le Guin would call a ‘life narrative’ whose purpose is ‘neither resolution nor statis but continuing process.’ This process doesn’t only take place on the page: gossiping is writing, feeding each other is writing, so is putting the chairs in the shed at the end of lunch. We hope you enjoy it.”
bare minimum is 6-person queer interdisciplinary arts collective. We hate working, hustling, neoliberal self-improvement, wage labour and surplus value, private property, how work eats into our time, our love, our ability to make things in earnest. We are a group of friends who needed a formal structure to give ourselves the permission to make things. We are lazy, queer and many of us are disabled. Members include Diamond Abdulrahim, Vera Chapiro, Christie Costello, Lola Olufemi, Christine Pungong and Leo Woods.
Christie Costello is an art historian, curator and writer. She is an Honorary Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholar and an Honorary Cambridge Trust Scholar at the University of Cambridge’s History of Art and Architecture Department, where her PhD research focusses on excess and counter-aesthetic practices in British and American dyke* self-representational visual practices from the 1980s onwards. Her project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership award. She teaches at undergraduate level, regularly facilitates community art and writing workshops, and her art writing has appeared in multiple exhibition publications.
Lola Olufemi is a black feminist writer and researcher from London. She is the author of 'Feminism Interrupted: Disrupting Power' (Pluto Press, 2019) and 'Experiments in Imagining Otherwise' (Hajar Press, 2021), and the recipient of the 2020 Techne AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership between The Stuart Hall Foundation, CREAM and Westminster School of Arts. Her work focuses on the uses of the feminist imagination, its relationship to futurity, political demands and imaginative-revolutionary potential. Her short story, "Red" was shortlisted for the 2020 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing prize.
Thelma and Louise (1991) dir. Ridley Scott!
Content note: rape
“Two women, a turquoise Thunderbird, the ride of a lifetime. With this pop-culture landmark, screenwriter Callie Khouri and action auteur Ridley Scott rewrote the rules of the road movie, telling the story of two best friends who find themselves transformed into accidental fugitives during a weekend getaway gone wrong—leading them on a high-speed southwestern odyssey as they elude police and discover freedom on their own terms. Propelled by irresistible performances from Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (plus Brad Pitt in a sexy, star-making turn)—and nominated for six Academy Awards, winning one for Khouri—the exhilaratingly cathartic Thelma & Louise stands as cinema’s ultimate ode to ride-or-die female friendship.” –The Criterion
Come down, bring your friends, and get your orders in for a 7pm start (we will be on time this month we promise!!!)
About Sticky Fingers Publishing
Sticky Fingers Publishing is an intra-dependant feminist press based in London. We are a feminist, queer, disabled led publisher producing work at the intersection of design, academia, art, visual culture and performance.
Find us at @stickyfingerspublishing & www.stickyfingers.cargo.site
About the Ivy House
The Ivy House is London's first community-owned pub, after being saved by the community from property developers in 2013. Featuring a rich musical history, we were a stalwart pub rock spot in the 70's with artists such as Dr. Feelgood, Joe Strummer, and Jeff Beck treading our boards. Fast forward to today and we continue to host an incredible array of musical talent in our hallowed halls, such as Goat Girl, caroline, and Blood Wizard to name but a few. Beyond our musical guise The Ivy House is a bonafide hangout spot, where you can quench your thirst with our eclectic drinks selection, and nourish your tummy with our excellent pizza menu.
Accessibility
Venue: there is one step up to access the pub, however, there is a ramp available which staff can assist in putting in place when required.
Toilet: due to the listed nature of the building, we do not currently have a wheelchair accessible toilet in our venue. However, we do have a single cubicle fitted with a rail in the ballroom.
Parking: there is free on-street parking available throughout Stuart Road.
Inclusivity policy
The Ivy House is an inclusive space and we are committed to ensuring our pub is safe and fun, where everyone should be able to have a good time free from harassment. We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, or any other form of abuse towards our customers, staff or performers. If you experience anything that makes you feel uncomfortable please tell our staff about it so we can intervene and support you. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone found in breach of this policy.