Shimmers Below the Surface: Emergent Strategy and Movement Building through 2-QTPOC Media
The project examines the role of 2-QTPOC media, particularly through the lens of "Mangos with Chili," in promoting collective liberation, decolonization, and highlighting the intersection of memory and representation. This exploration seeks to understand the transformative potential of such media in the political and cultural landscape.
Khoo, A. (2015). Shimmers Below the Surface: Emergent Strategy and Movement Building through 2-QTPOC Media. Undercurrents (North York), 19, 6–14. https://doi.org/10.25071/2292-4736/40243
Examination of cultural work and media
Cultural production
Performance analysis
Interviews with artists
"Shimmers Below the Surface" is an exploration of the influence and potential of 2-QTPOC (Two-Spirit, Queer, and Trans People of Colour) media in shaping emergent strategies and fostering progressive movement building. By delving into the interconnections of memory, representation, and the tangible aspects of media, the study offers insights into the transformative capabilities of such platforms. Mangos with Chili is a Bay Area-based 2-QTPOC arts incubator, emphasizing healing and community transformation through diverse performances. Rather than representing a complete political movement, it delves into underlying forces of political imagination, trauma, and healing. The collective reshapes social justice paradigms, focusing on relational processes.The emphasis on 2-QTPOC media is particularly significant in the context of collective liberation and the decolonization processes. The work illuminates how media can serve as a tool to not only challenge dominant narratives but also to reimagine and redefine the socio-political landscape to be more inclusive and diverse
The paper draws on theoretical concepts like Adrienne Maree Brown's emergent strategy and queer ecological paradigms to frame its analysis of complexity, adaptability, and interdependence. Khoo cites thinkers like Grace Lee Boggs, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and M. Jacqui Alexander to link these ideas to cultural and political practices.
Using performance arts, such as dance, theater, music, and spoken word, as tools for healing, transformation, and fostering community solidarity.
Events like Mangos with Chili provide spaces for ritual, healing, and connection, which are as crucial as direct political action.
Direct quotes and reflections from performances and interviews
Performance as Knowledge Transmission
"What I’m trying to say is that I believe that each person alive today is the answer to their ancestors’ prayers." There's a strong emphasis on understanding and acknowledging the legacies, histories, and the spiritual connections of the past.
"The cultural work of Mangos with Chili emerges from sites and oscillations of attachment, trauma, violence and pain propelled into the present moment through a certain sense of visionary urgency." Their work emphasizes addressing trauma and seeking holistic and transformative justice, acknowledging the complex and non-linear nature of these processes.
Queer Studies
Performance Studies
Cultural Studies