When being who you are can feel so dangerous, how do you survive?

Listen to our panel of artists and activists from gender, sexuality and culturally diverse backgrounds as they reflect on the intersections of art, identity and social change; contemplate what (un)belonging means to them; consider the joys and challenges of being ‘different’; discuss the realities of interacting with their respective communities; and talk about their fears, desires and hopes.

Pleasure and Danger is an annual public panel series organised at UNSW Sydney. The series aims to facilitate casual, open, honest and reflexive discussions on the sticky issues of sex and sexuality. The series is inspired by a 1984 landmark collection edited by anthropologist Carole S. Vance, which discussed feminism, sexual politics and autonomy in ways that remain strikingly relevant to our current moment, where issues such as sexual citizenship, sexual assault, abortion, sex work, LGBTQ+ issues, racism and sexism are still debated.

Panellists:

Loma Cuevas-Hewitt (she/they), PhD, lives on the unceded lands of the Wallumattagal people of the Darug nation, and is a proudly queer nonbinary trans womxn of colour of Filipinx and Caucasoid ancestry. She is a writer, researcher and diversity educator, a member of the WestWords LGBTQI+ Writer's Group, and serves with We Are The Mainstream (WATM), a network of woman and gender-diverse people of colour working at the intersection of feminism, transfeminism and anti-racism.

Andre D’Rozario (he/him) is a Singaporean Eurasian artist and storyteller. From 2017 to 2019, he was a student and teacher in the revitalisation of the Kristang language (Malay-Portuguese creole) in Singapore. He collaborated with other artists to design a board game and a graphic novel featuring the language, and has worked with Singaporean LGBTQ+ NGOs to raise mental health and LGBTQ+ awareness. He is currently studying psychology through Murdoch University and hopes to become an art therapist.

Salvin Kumar (he/him) was born and raised in Fiji. He has worked as a teacher and is currently a social worker in Sydney, Australia. Salvin loves cooking, writes poetry and practises yoga. In mid-2020 he published his first children's book called Fiji-Baat and is working on its sequel.

Naomi Segal (they/she) is an arts worker who makes installation art, comics, zines and collaborative projects while based on Darug and Gundungurra lands (Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia). Her practice is currently invested in non-masterful and vulnerable approaches to making, reading and being with one another.

Rey Vargas (they/them) is a university student, writer, performer, and voice actor. They were born in the Philippines and migrated to Australia in 2012. They hope to expand their creative credits and to reach out to more people in the queer community through their work.

Join us for what is bound to be an insightful and intriguing discussion.

Note: This is an online event, and registration is essential to gain access to the Zoom link. All registration details are collected by the UNSW Health Promotions team and remain completely confidential.