Sheffield queer collective bring northern club culture to one of London’s top galleries

A
Sheffield-based collective of queer musicians, artists and activists
will take over one of London’s top cultural institutions for a month,
with the aim of bringing a taste of northern club culture to the
capital.

Gut
Level have been invited by RESOLVE Collective to programme the
Barbican’s Curve Gallery throughout June, with a photo exhibition
focusing on “the strength, resilience and queer hedonism of the
northern DIY scene.”

The
residency will also feature a discussion day, inviting DIY venues
from across the North, including Mondo Radio, Partisan Collective and
Wharf Chambers, to share knowledge and discuss strategies for future
survival.

“It’s
dead exciting to be offered the opportunity to collaborate on a
project within this space. But what would we do? Instinctually, it’s
hard not to resist the urge to mirror the aesthetics and
sensibilities of the institution itself as a place of contemporary
art,” wrote
Gut Level on their website.

“We
could attempt to deliver something sleek and polished, pull together
a panel discussion or program something conceptual and convoluted.
But who would that serve?”

“The
truth is, we’ve never been polished, always messy. We’ve always
cared much more about the experience people have within our space
than the production of some kind of aesthetic ideal.”

Gut
Level said that when thinking about their residency they had asked
themselves how a grassroots DIY venue could “take up space
within this institution without being complicit in pandering to its
status.”

They
also wondered whether they could “hijack the space to bring our
cretinous sensibilities to an exclusive, arguably impenetrable
institution like The Barbican.”

The
takeover comes at the invitation of RESOLVE,
an interdisciplinary design collective founded in south London who
use architecture, art and technology to address questions of social
justice and systemic change.

The
group already have links to Sheffield, having previously taken
over S1 Artspace
at Park Hill in the summer of 2019. Co-created with local residents
and college students, The Garage looked at the various ways the
built environment affects us as citizens and how we can affect it in
turn.

Their
four-month programme at The Barbican, Them’s The Breaks, features a
series of collaborators exploring the theme of joy in precariousness.

Gut
Level are marking the start of their takeover with a party in the
Curve Gallery on 3 June called The Cute and Sexy North. It’ll
feature DJ sets from Cosmic Tom and bossDADDY from Leeds, as well as
Sheffield’s MYNA and Malus and Gut Level residents.

Gut
Level is a not-for-profit organisation currently based in the old
Foodhall building on Eyre Street. Its aim is to provide social and
creative opportunities for underrepresented groups in Sheffield, with
a particular focus on LGBTQ+ people.

They host a range of arts and culture events, skill-sharing
workshops, communal meals, music-sharing socials and late-night
parties at pop-up venues around the city.

The
organisation, which is currently searching for a new permanent home,
operates on a membership model. It currently has over 1,700 members,
most of which are Sheffield residents and 59% of which identify as
LGBTQ+.

“We’re
naturally sniffy about institutions like The Barbican, who have been
publicly called out for their shittness in recent years,” said
Gut Level on Instagram, referring to allegations
from former members of staff of racism at the prestigious arts centre.

“But
we felt this was a fab opportunity to use some of their resources and
budget to show off the sexy DIY scene in the north. Big respect to
the amazing Resolve Collective for the invite and for being solid
friends, advisors and supporters throughout the years.”