Superbia brings Aks International Minorities Festival
AKS FESTIVAL FOR QUEER MINORITIES COMES TO MANCHESTER
Manchester Pride has today announced that, in partnership with Superbia, the Aks International Minorities Festival will come to the UK from Pakistan for the very first time – and will be held in Manchester!
The festival, which will screen films and host discussions on Queer Minorities, will take place at Manchester Metropolitan University (70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH) from Saturday 22 to Sunday 23 July.
The Aks International Minorities Festival was established in 2014 in Pakistan by activists seeking to improve the representation of queer and trans* people of colour. The festival has taken place annually in Pakistan across three of its biggest cities, with a specific focus on the indigenous Khwaja Sira (trans) community, attracting a positive media reception and devoted audience.
Since 2015, Aks has also held an annual festival in Copenhagen, bringing into focus the lives of queer minorities through a unique combination of film, workshops, art exhibitions and performance.
Aks means ‘mirror’ in Urdu, and the Aks festival in Manchester aims to hold up a metaphorical mirror to queer minorities with the aim of improving their visibility. The festival will encourage artists and activists to give greater voice to the experiences of some of our most vibrant and most marginalised community members.
Munr Saadt, the festival’s founder said: “Film, art and dialogue can work to create a forum for courageous individuals to empower audiences by sharing their personal stories. Our festival in Manchester aims to engage our audience in a way that challenges them to empathise and demand justice for minorities and marginalised communities. We will also have a lot of fun!”
Mark Fletcher from Manchester Pride said; “With Superbia, Manchester Pride aims to widen the reach of events throughout Greater Manchester including and connecting with as many different cultures and communities as possible. Aks will not only be a first for Manchester Pride but a first for Manchester and it will enrich the city’s already wide offering in just the right way.”
Aks Manchester will host a two-day festival with a rich and diverse programme, with a special focus on women of colour, the pre-colonial transgender communities of South Asia, the Black Lives Matter movement and queer people of faith. Tickets for the whole weekend are only £5.00. The festival is not for profit and is politically independent.
Superbia is Manchester’s Pride’s year-round calendar of cultural events. It exists to support, promote and curate events that are by, for and about the LGBT+ people with the aim to culturally enhance the lives of LGBT+ people in Greater Manchester.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/aksfestival
http://www.manchesterpride.com/
Read MorePublished: 29-Jun-2017: (4393)
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