Otherness Archive presents a selection of moving image work from both international and national filmmakers and artists who submitted to our open call as well as films found by our researchers. The intention of this archival project and exhibit is to create potential ideas and thoughts on what a trans masc archive could look like. Additionally, to document the process of constructing an archive, rebuilding an archive, assembling an archive and how it can act as a no cost living resource for our community.

“To describe such collections as archives can be controversial; to describe oneself as an archivist without the proper accreditation is hubristic. And yet I believe in the power of the unofficial archive as a place of experimentation, exploration, and joy. An unofficial archive creates a playground for research and representation that lives outside the bounds of traditional cataloging and binary systems. It empowers those who collect, those who donate. It allows limits to be pushed in a way that perhaps the Arts Council England or National Lottery wouldn’t fund; allows freedom from those in power, who have a stake in prolonging the heteronormative binaries system that we currently live within and around. It is a lawless land, it is ours for the taking.” – Izzy Kroses (Trans Masc Studies)

Through our recent Arts Council grant, we will be launching a sustainable digital publicly accessible archive focused on core categories. The first of these categories is dedicated to the trans masc experience, to be launched in November 2022.

Curated by Sweatmother

Researchers: Romeo Roxman Gatt, Yaz Metcalfe, Sweatmother