The inaugural edition of Ladyfest Atlanta took place in March 2015, and now, over a year later, the festival returns for a six-day run starting on Monday, May 16. The purpose of the fest is to celebrate the work and critical contributions of women and gender nonconforming people — groups who are not only marginalized in greater society, but in artist and activist communities as well — while creating crucial dialogue on various areas of social justice through panels, workshops, and discussions. According to their mission statement, Ladyfest Atlanta is designed to be an “intentional queer, feminist space” that “brings together Atlanta-based artists, innovators and activists to share their work and speak out on local issues” — and we’re particularly excited for this year’s edition. From May 16-21, the festival will feature a widespread series of events at a variety of venues across town, including film screenings, live comedy, art installations, and two bomb-ass shows at the Mammal Gallery. Friday night features locals such as Saira Raiza, Basketball Movie, and Really Sorry, while Saturday night’s headliner is none other than the wondrous Larkin Grimm! Check out the full lineup and schedule on the Ladyfest Atlanta website.

Last fall, I spoke to festival founders Nina Dolgin, Chelsea Dunn, Quita Tinsley, Toni Haraldsen, and Kellie Vinal about their plans for this year’s fest, local love, and the importance of social justice in art.

What do you hope to accomplish with next year’s fest? Are there any events/discussions/workshops you’re particularly stoked about, if any are in the cards just yet?

Quita Tinsley: We are hoping that next year will be bigger, better and more accessible. Last year’s fest was a jam-packed three days of performances, workshops, talks, and more. This year we want to spread all that good stuff out over 6 days. The goal is to put together a week of radical events that amplifies a cohesive message.

Nina Dolgin: A more specific goal we have is to raise enough funds to pay the artists and activists involved. While many people are happy to donate their time to a movement, we want everyone to be compensated for their work. I think organizations that have the means to, should make paying artists a top priority.

The 2016 emphasis is on public health, with a focus on environmental justice, reproductive justice/body autonomy, and decriminalizing HIV and AIDS. Last year’s emphasis seemed to be more on prison reform/police brutality, especially in regards to people of color, sex workers, and trans folks. Is that correct? I say this because the donations went to SNaP Co. To you, is there a common theme running across these which you wish to convey? Are you partnering with any local organizations this year?

ND: Last year we actually didn’t have an official emphasis. We did donate to SNaP Co and deeply admire the work they are doing. Though, in reality, I would say last year’s emphasis was “What is this/what can this be?” Now that we have created this platform, how exactly are we going to use it? Learning from our first year, we realized there are so many intersectional issues to address that it is necessary to actively focus the conversation through our programming.

Chelsea Dunn: I’m part of a team working on the revitalization of Science for the People. The first iteration, organized in 1969, opposed racism, sexism, and classism in science, and above all sought to mobilize people working in scientific fields to become active in agitating for science, technology, and medicine that would serve social needs rather than military and corporate interests. I’m looking forward to bringing some of these frameworks into the theme for this year and pushing for the recognition of science as a political body and cultural institution.

QT: While Ladyfest Atlanta is centered around highlighting the work of local artists and performers, it is also an intentionally political space. Ladyfest 2016 having a greater emphasis provides an opportunity for us to more intentionally build political significance into our programming. Additionally, this focus lets us work more closely with other organizers who are also building at the intersections of social justice and art.

Why do you believe it’s so important for Ladyfest Atlanta to showcase local Atlanta artists and performers?

Toni Haraldsen: There have been Ladyfests hosted in Atlanta before our fest, however these festivals all chose to showcase performers from around the Southeast. We felt that Atlanta has plenty of talent to showcase and that there are some good reasons to keep the focus local. For example, keeping it to local artists facilitates access to larger platforms, helps sustain relationships between the artists and the community, and encourages introductions and relationships between artists. Last year we noticed that many of the folks who played at Ladyfest who had never been to Mammal, Eyedrum, or the Big House on Ponce, worked with those venues and played with other folks they’d never played with before in the following months.

How are your partnerships with Eyedrum, Mammal Gallery, and Big House on Ponce integral to Ladyfest’s focus? How are these organizations, in your opinion, working and contributing to the fight against intersectional oppressions in Atlanta and building a safe space for women and gender nonconforming folks?

CD: We love our local DIY venues. The Big House has been up to some really rad programming this year, including a couple of political parties which combine intense discussions of topics, such as body politics in performance art, with fun, dance party goodness. Plus all of these venues, from what we can tell, do a much better job at including women and being friendly to more experimental work than other local venues like 529, The Earl, and even Eddie’s Attic. More than building a safe space (a term which I think has been misappropriated from the history of rape crisis centers) we just want Atlanta arts organizers to be accountable for including more women, gender nonconforming, and other marginalized folks in their programming. As the Guerrilla Girls famously said, “You’re seeing less than half the picture without the vision of women artists and artists of color.”

The status quo is a political status. We reject the idea that a festival comprised of women and gender nonconforming performers is political but the same venue having three shows in a row that are all white men isn’t political.

Politics and social justice are obviously integral to the goals of Ladyfest Atlanta. Do you think art can exist without these wider moral/humanitarian/political implications? Should it?

CD: This is a very big question to unpack. While we’re sure there could be a multi-volume book series tackling this question, our feeling is that making art is an intentional process and its a contribution to a much larger set of cultural institutions. For us, agitating within the cultural institutions is an integral and powerful way to affect social change.

KV: What is the distinction between “art” and “political art?” The act of curation, inclusion or omission of art or artists, is inherently political, often reflecting internalized assumptions or biases.

ND: Even what is considered art is political. The status quo is a political status. We reject the idea that a festival comprised of women and gender nonconforming performers is political but the same venue having three shows in a row that are all white men isn’t political. So in short, no. We don’t think art can exist ahistorically or apolitically.

More Info
Web: ladyfestatlanta.wordpress.com
Facebook: @ladyfestatlanta
Instagram: @ladyfestatlanta
Twitter: @LadyfestAtlanta