Join us for a community presentation by Dr. Kristen Hutchinson on the Kiss & Tell Collective: Lesbian Representation and Censorship.

Where do you draw the line between censorship and freedom of expression? Representation and exploitation? Art and pornography? In 1990, the pioneering Vancouver-based artist collective Kiss & Tell raised these provocative questions with Drawing the Line, a genre-defining and ground-breaking photographic exhibition about lesbian sexuality. With their radical images of women engaged in various erotic practices, from kissing to bondage to voyeurism, the collective—consisting of members Persimmon Blackbridge, Emma Kivisild, and Susan Stewart—not only drew attention to the lack of lesbian representation in Canadian art, but also used visual culture to address hotly debated questions within the queer community. Kristen Hutchinson’s research examines how Kiss & Tell created artworks, books and performances that allowed women to see themselves represented in art through a queer female gaze.

This presentation will include a conversation with Kiss & Tell collective member Susan Stewart, the discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A.

Presented as part of the Queer Arts Festival with support from the Art Canada Institute.