Between tales of sexy lemon bars and moving stories of people finding their voice through performance- this was an afternoon for everyone. Telling Queer History featured Eleanor Savage and Nasreen Mohamed of Vulva Riot on June 14th at the Hennepin County Library. Eleanor’s humble and honest story of the formation and lifespan of Vulva Riot was accompanied by community and audience members sharing their favorite moments and gratitude. Thank you to the estimated 60 people who attended, our largest gathering to date.
Nasreen Mohamed and Eleanor Savage, Co-Producers of Vulva Riot. They invited community members, past performers and Al the door person to share stories with the largest crowd Telling Queer History has had yet.
Vulva Riot:
Vulva Riot was a monthly cabaret started by Eleanor Savage in 1988. Vulva Riot was a successful community-organizing platform that brought together hundreds of queer women and trans* artists across differences of race, class, age and culture for 10 years.
Vulva Riot
Eleanor Savage is a Program Officer at the Jerome Foundation, a foundation that supports emerging artists. She previously was the Associate Director of Events and Media Production at the Walker Art Center for sixteen years. Eleanor founded and was Program Director of Intermedia Arts' Naked Stagesprogram for nine years; this program supports the creative development of emerging performance artists. She has produced and curated many community-focused events through Intermedia Arts, Walker Art Center, and KFAI radio. She is a civic-minded media artist and activist and has produced work with many Minneapolis and New York performers and choreographers, including Cheryl Dunye, Christian Marclay, Bill T. Jones, Morgan Thorson, Hijack, Shawn McConneloug, Pauline Oliveros, Holly Hughes, Lisa D’Amour and Split Britches.
Eleanor Savage
Nasreen Mohamed is the Director of Student Engagement for International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). The focus of Nasreen's work is to build strong collaborations across campus to enhance a sense of belonging for international students at the University of Minnesota and to promote the contributions of international students to their colleges and departments. Prior to her work with ISSS, Nasreen worked at Minneapolis Community and Technical College as the Director of Power of YOU, a recruitment and retention program that served under-represented students
Nasreen Mohamed