Talk at the Tate

I took part in an ‘art chat’ at Tate Modern on Friday as part of their monthly Tate Lates series. This one was called ‘The L Word’ and the whole evening was a celebration of ‘Queer’ culture – or Lesbian and Gay as I would call it. That would be inaccurate though since, in ‘queer’ circles, gays and lesbians are probably a minority these days. That has been the experience of many a lesbian artist, anyway.

Arts and culture journalist, Charlotte Jansen, chaired the event and Sarah Beresford and I talked about being lesbians and potters and how that affects the way we make art and what we make. It was very well attended – a full house, or near enough – with an appreciative audience of all ages –  much smiling and nodding. The organisers firmly stood their ground and were genuinely inclusive. I say this because they included us – feminist lesbians who are critical of Gender Ideology and not afraid to say so. We also took a pot each. I took ‘Brave Face,’ from the ‘And the Door Opened,’ project with women@thewell and Sarah brought ‘Found’ from her ‘A Woman’s Work is Never Done’ series. Both pots were on display during the talk.

We showed slides of our work and Charlotte asked the questions. We had discussed what we would talk about earlier in the week so were prepared for her questions and knew what the boundaries were. Yes, there were boundaries. Sarah talked about the ‘Cotton Ceiling‘ but could not say what that actually was. I was not permitted to read out the text on one of my pots saying, ‘there’s no such thing as a lesbian with a penis.’ I could explain ‘Lesbian not Queer,‘ also on ‘The Butch Pot’ though. So there were small compromises but it seemed worth it to achieve the diversity of thought and experience that is real for lesbians. Without those differences being ‘speakable’ in a public space, Tate ends up being a platform for propaganda rather than art and that would not be a good precedent to set.

I want to say a big thank you to Tate Modern and Tate Lates for inviting us and making space for us to show pictures of our work and display a couple of pots. It was a wonderful and memorable evening. Thank you to all involved.