On Wednesday 31^st January 2024, a group of academics, creative practitioners and others met at the Ledward Centre to share, discuss and celebrate queer and creative methods. The event was jointly supported by the University of Brighton’s Centre for Arts and Wellbeing and Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender.

Olu Jenzen opened the event, in her last public engagement as Director of the CTSG before heading off to new pastures at the University of Southampton. Following short introductions to the group, UoB Doctoral student, Hanna Komar, performed a series of arresting and emotionally-evocative poems addressing the issue of gender-based violence.

The remainder of the day was given over to creative activities and provocative discussion, exploring the potentiality and challenges of queer and creative methods.

Gil Mualem-Doron, artist, and Creative Director of Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) delved into themes of national identity, social activism, conflict and protest; UoB PhD student, Gabriel Hoosain Khan, invited us to creatively construct our queer utopias; and Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s Muna Al-Jawad explored the theme belonging through the medium of comic making. We ended the day by discussing issues around how (why and for whom) we can evaluate queer and creative methods.

It was a stimulating, immersive and provocative day, and the start, we hope, of many further fruitful conversations and partnerships on queer and creative practice.