In May 1885, notorious Irish writer Oscar Wilde was definitely ‘out’. Convicted of gross indecency, he was sentenced to two years’ hard labour as penance for his homosexuality. As he was taken from the dock, Wilde asked the judge: “And I? May I say nothing?” The answer, apparently, was no; the trial’s spectators silenced Wilde with cries of “Shame!” Outted, certainly. Proud and loud… unhappily not.
Fast forward 117 years to Cambodia May 2012, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is shame or silence. Since 2009 the Kingdom’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community has celebrated being ‘same same but different’ proudly and loudly with Gay Pride Week. Pride mixes activism, art and a week-long party, turning up the volume on those whose voices were previously marginalised and muted.
The unacknowledged silence frequently imposed on LGBT culture is examined and challenged by New Girl Law, a collaborative work by American writer/artist Anne Elizabeth Moore and a group of young Cambodian women. The work lays down 20 ‘new girl laws’ promoting gender equity for women in Cambodia, whatever their sexual orientation. In 2011 these ‘laws’ were published as a book, complete with an audio piece of the creation process.
Then the silencing began: first the audio was censored in the United States; then the laws themselves were disavowed by some of the very women with whom Moore had worked; finally, Moore herself has ‘censored’ New Girl Law for its Meta House premiere, blanking out the most controversial statements and leaving silent spaces throughout the exhibition. So what happened to being proud out loud?
“Demanding space for silence is my way of reminding people to listen,” explains Moore. “Maybe people will hear other voices. Once you begin to note where silence occurs, it becomes easier to see who is failing to be invited to speak.” However, Moore refuses to see her work as a clarion call for gender queer rights, bristling when asked if she agrees with the description of New Girl Law as ‘an account of teaching free speech where it’s least wanted’: “No, not at all. I guess it depends on who you ask.”
Picking up on the quiet questions posed by New Girl Law, the exhibition is designed to turn passive viewers into active participants. While part of the space is inhabited by New Girl Law, the show also features a Pride 2012 zine made by lesbian groups in Cambodia, and a ‘creative corner’ packed with zine-making materials. Exhibition-goers are encouraged to respond to the works around them by making their own zines or contributing to a larger group piece; by the close of Gay Pride Week this organic work will be hung alongside New Girl Law. And to those nay-sayers at the back asking “But is it Art??” (yes, you know who you are), Moore has a riposte ready: “Art is not possible without action. So of course, if you have some self-published work on the wall, you will also want to create a space for people to make their own. Why not?”
Exhibition curator Roger Nelson agrees, emphasising that the blurring of genres and forms “adds to our experience as audiences, and adds to the power and potential of both art and activism.” Nelson hopes that this admixture of art and action will lead to “conversation and dialogue – between artists, artworks and audiences – one of the primary functions of art and exhibitions”.
The exhibition therefore has a tidy circularity: acknowledging the historical silencing of LGBT culture, challenging you to engage with this silence, and creating a forum for everyone, gay, straight or curious, to make their voice heard. As Nelson says, “LGBT communities have so much to be proud of and so much to offer. They need to express this in each and every way they can.” Oscar Wilde would have been proud.
WHO: Anne Elizabeth Moore
WHAT: Conversations with Proud People
WHERE: Metahouse downstairs gallery
WHEN: May 11
WHY: If you’re out, you’re in