2014 Ladyfest: Zine Fest, Workshops & Film | Berkeley

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Bay Area Ladyfest 2014

Bay Area Ladyfest is an annual, non-profit event organised mainly by womyn featuring  bands, musical and political groups, lecturers, spoken word and visual artists, workshops and discussion groups and are organised purely by volunteers.

The events are focused mainly on encouraging the talent of womyn and girls, and some workshops are womyn-only, so as to make them feel more comfortable, however, main music events and films/art exhibits are open to everyone.

Saturday, October 11, 2014
Bay Area Ladyfest 2014

Zine Fest, Workshops, and Film at Firehouse Art Collective (3192 Adeline Avenue, Berkeley)
11 am to 6 pm
Free admission – donations accepted. All ages – childcare available.

Additional workshops at Empress Vintage
1757 Alcatraz Avenue, Berkeley (2 blocks from Firehouse)

All day:

• Vendors selling zines and art all day
• Special exhibit: Zine library featuring feminist zines from the 1990’s to present, curated by Goteblud.
• Screenprinting with Art Bison Design Co-op. Bring your own shirt to screen.

12:15 PM
Workshop: “CycleWright” by Binx Garage (@Firehouse)
CycleWright is a bicycle basics workshop that is a fundamental overview of mechanics and urban cycling tips. Explaining what each part of the bike is called, what it does, how to know when it’s broken and how to repair it. CycleWright also goes over bike laws and some tips for safe urban cycling followed by a Q&A Clinic. Focusing on POC, women and queer communities and families.

12:55 pm
Film: Head Space by Jamie Oliveira (@Firehouse)
Running Time: 3:07
Filmmaker present at screening
A 1600 mile journey in solitude through the Self and California.

1 pm
Workshop: “Nature and Self Care Wherever You Go” by Courtney Leung (@Empress Vintage)
Being out in nature is one of my self-care practices. When I got busy with school and work, I had less time to be outside, so I brought nature inside. In this workshop let’s talk about self-care strategies we practice and make a tiny terrarium to take home!

1 pm
Workshop: “Merch” by Courtney Klossner (@Firehouse)
You have thousands of choices when it comes to making stuff to sell or give away to your supporters. If you’re in a band, running a crowdfunding campaign, or just think it would be cool to have your art on stuff come learn some basics about choosing, making, and distributing merch for your project.

1:45 pm
Film: Two Ghosts by Amy Lee Ketchum (@Firehouse)
Running Time: 09:20
Two Ghosts, is a haunting, wordless journey through love, loneliness, and, ultimately, acceptance of the Universe’s coldly beautiful indifference. The feelings it conjures up are at times uncomfortable and as complexly textured as the strange (and sometimes terrifying) hand-sewn felt and fiber landscapes it inhabits.

Film: Kara Fistik by Nesli Erten (@Firehouse)
Running Time: 03:45
KARA FISTIK is a love letter cum manifesto to the liberation of the female body as our protagonist navigates the perils of growing up. She struggles to find her voice by fighting a gigantic mouth and struggles to find her perspective by fighting a gigantic eyeball. In the end she is beckoned to embrace her own feminine physiology by an inviting set fallopian tubes.
Glimpses of text from two sources, which texturize the mouth and eye scenes, relate to women’s rights in Turkey:
Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity, and Power, Chapter 7 “Women’s Movement of the 1980’s in Turkey,” Yesim Arat. Columbia University Press, 1994
Council of Europe, “Case of Leyla Şahin v Turkey,” Strasbourg 29 June 2004.

2 pm
Workshop: “I am Not White & I Have an Eating Disorder” by Gloria Lucas (@Empress)
Eating disorders are not only a white, middle-class, anorexic issue. This qorkshop is a project I created in response to a lack of visibility people of color experience within eating disorder communities including academia, healthcare sectors, educational workshops, and recovery programs. Violent relationships with food are a way women of color try to regain the power/control that have been stripped away from their bodies due to colonialism and its trickling effects. It’s time to begin the process of decolonizing!

2 pm
Workshop: “Decolonizing Sound: Mindfulness, Wise Speech, Sound and Struggle” by Sharmi Basu (@Firehouse)
In this workshop, I’m attempting to teach mindfulness, listening, resistance, and improvisation as sides of the same die. I hope to introduce new ways of listening and playing with each other both in organizing settings and in performance settings. Most importantly, I hope to shed light on ways in which improvisation and playing music can be a way in which marginalized people can reclaim and create new identities and languages despite the distortion of and violence upon our cultures, work, and genders that have historically oppressed us. The main objective is to talk about white feminism within the arts and the importance of creative/experimental music and performance art for those experiencing diaspora.

3 pm
Workshop: “Bitch Session” by HellenMae Fitzgerald (@Empress Vintage)
We will explore (in an open forum discussion) the terms that define sex and gender in our society. I would like to focus on (but not limit the discussion to) derogatory terms used in everyday language that reference women or women’s body parts. Attendees can share (if they want to) their own experience with words such as bitch, whore, slut, cunt, faggot etc. and explore the impact such terms have on us as individuals and society at large.

3 pm
Workshop: “Radical Sex!” by Lee Naught (@Firehouse)
At Fuckin’ (A), we believe that radical sex positivity is a crucial step towards the revolution — and when we include rad sex in our politics, we’ll have a lot of fun working to get there! In this workshop, we’ll lead a conversation about tools that are important for folks of all genders, sexes and sexualities to have in their sexy toolkit: communication, good consent practices, safer sex, maps to the tasty bits, and techniques for turning them on!

4 pm
Workshop: “Pussy, the Seminar: Creating Safe Space Dialogue about our Most Sacred & Controversial Body Part” by Tarita Thomas (@Empress Vintage)
This workshop and seminar stimulates the sharing of experiences: the good, the bad, the fat, and the ugly. Be inspired. We will teach and learn together how to better care for our bodies, minds, and spirits and go on to educate others in our lives. There are very few spaces women can go to ask questions and receive answers to questions we do not even know we have. Empower yourself and enhance your relationship with your most sacred and controversial body part! Come learn; come share.

4:45 pm
Film: Bay Area Girls Rock Camp: Girls Rock Summer Camp (documentary excerpt) (@Firehouse)
Running time: 04:37
Voula O’Grady of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp at screening!
An intimate look at relationships and rock music in the Bay Area Girls Rock Camp. Part of The Factory’s Summer 2013 Filmmaking Project with Bay Area Video Coalition. Directed by Lily Yu, Judy Lee, and Jeremiah Mellor.

5 pm
Feedus Fetus

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.