Loren McK

Today we present: London Discursive Dinner with Loren McK 4-6PM VSSL studio @vsslstudio REMEMBERING WITHOUT CEMENT Loren will talk and invite conversation around remembering pulling in ideas around archiving, bodies in relation to archives, tactility, grief and building monuments or memorials. Formed with queer and disabled people and histories at the front of their mind Loren will question how we remember otherwise. —— Howl by Sonja Jokiniemi 7PM APT Gallery @aptstudiosgallery Jokiniemi returns to Howl — a performance work from 2019, then premiering at Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki and now re-living its material propositions with a new sound work by Gil Schneider, with whom she has collaborated on later works (ÖH 2020 and ARMO 2023). —— Colchester Butch Tribute: Trilogy by Ann-Christin Kongsness & Marte Sterud 7.30PM Colchester Arts Centre @colchartscentre Butch Tribute consists of the three dance pieces; Flirt, Roses, Flannel Dream (2021) and the text-based performance A Butch is a Butch is a Butch is a Butch (2023) and the short film Handy (2026). For more info and tickets: @lorenmck_ @sonjajoki @ankikongen @martereiste @h2hanna @heidirustgaard @h2dance___ @michaelkitchinn @stephhdances #lgbtqia #performance #festenfest #choreography #dance

REMEMBERING WITHOUT CEMENT Discursive Dinner with Loren McK Fest en Fest WED 25 MARCH, 4-6PM Loren will talk and invite conversation around remembering pulling in ideas around archiving, bodies in relation to archives, tactility, grief and building monuments or memorials. Formed with queer and disabled people and histories at the front of their mind Loren will question how we remember otherwise. Tumbling into this conversation is the cairn (càrn). A heap of rocks, usually gathered from elsewhere. A place to be, reflect, remember and way-find from. To book tickets and for more info visit festenfest.info Venue: VSSL studio Unit 8, 50 Resolution Way Deptford, SE8 4AL Access: VSSL is accessed from Resolution Way via a raised, fenced path. There are 3 steps. Step free access can be found via the carpark on Tidemill Way. The studio entrance door is wide and wheelchair accessible. There is an accessible toilet within the studio block. If you have any access requirements, please email [email protected].

Chaotic tableau ✔️ Bob on a Bob on a Bob ✔️ Ugly protest ✔️ Pride 2025. DIRTY THIRTY @duckievauxhall Thanks to all the wonderful people that made this outrageous night possible! Hair and zhuzhing @dazzaroid @thommyballoon Costumes @shantifreed Cardboard extraordinaire @robinwhitmorelondon Host we love the most @azara.is.azara 📸 @christaholkastudio And a few shit selfies from me ✌️

Summer 2025 is officially over. Photo dumps incoming…starting with Glastonbury! Always fun to assist @ratney.mxf

A selection of images from the last 6 months of organising and supporting actions against benefits cuts locally and nationally alongside other important campaigns for divestment. These fights are all connected - war is a mass disabling event. @dpaclewisham @disabledpeopleagainstcuts @selondonpeoplesassembly @lewisham_psc Small victories, big disappointments, some changes and a lot of love and solidarity along the way. It’s been such a learning curve and I’m hoping this reintroduction to local grass roots organising will continue to strengthen my resolve and deepen the understanding that we can all muck in and make change!

@lorenmck_ / feb 25 on #35mm . . . #canona1 #canonfd

balls to the budget 26/03/2025 Words from representatives of Disabled People Against Cuts, Free our People Campaign, London Renters Union, Equity, Black Triangle, Stand up to Racism, RMT union, People’s assembly, Inclusion London and more: - Welfare not Warfare - Tax the Rich - Leave our Social Security alone (if there’s no security it won’t work for people) - It’s time to move from Resilience to Resistance (write to you MP, protest, show up for the disabled community) - All MPs sent a copy of The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence which exposes the last 30 years of bureaucratic violence and hostility at DWP - This is Austerity 2.0 and people will die, we must mobilise - The systems are failing but it’s not the fault of disabled people, ‘illegal immigrants’, refugees, mentally ill…you get the picture - Message to Starmer: you don’t stop the right [-wing parties] by parroting their views and policies - This is devision and more than ever we need hope and a united movement - There are huge barriers to being in work and GOV plans don’t address this, these plans are coming but how are they going to change an employment culture that won’t adapt to disabled people’s realities - The UK needs to build accessible homes, reinforce rights of employees, stop the dismantling of social security… And words paraphrased from Mary-Ellen’s speech (DPAC) that really resonated: - We are not separate from nature, we are not separate from Palestine, we are not separate; we the disabled people and the not yet disabled people are not separate - The Housing Crisis is the Disability crisis is the education crisis is the crisis in Palestine… it’s all interconnected. It’s greed. - We are not burdens we are humans - Our entire planet is at risk and it’s all interconnected. - Every voice, every action is needed After the speeches I chatted to Mary-Ellen (DPAC). She spoke about love, that love sustains people in the pursuit of justice. And we spoke about Solidarity. Coalitions and fighting together in the face of a deeply interconnected crisis. You can forgive the likely spelling mistakes, it was never meant to be perfect x

Stunning times. Dancing, raffling and watching performances @thedivineldn celebrating burns night 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 We raised £1061 for Medical Aid Palestine! Big thanks to host and organiser @jayyule aka GAY GORDON @lustivlife @fabio_lezonli_drag @ros.watt @toughboysdanceco 📸 @ameliarosenell

January 2024

Hello 👋 in a shocking turn of events (just kidding no one is shocked) I’ve started a PhD @cdare_cu ! I actually started in September but I thought I’d check I could get through the first term before I told too many people… I’m excited to be researching around Cripping and Queering the dance archive - ask me about it sometime! I imagine this is the last time I’ll be posting a first day of uni picture! 🤞 … that’s not my Brompton 😂 🚲 Massive thanks to @willstringr for proof reading my application 2 hours before it was due in. The relief was in my whole body when I finally clicked submit 10 mins before the deadline 👍 I celebrated with Beer and dancing the day I found out (at Latitude festival) plus me and @ratney.mxf even managed to squeeze in a celebratory game of snooker. I’ve had a couple of lovely visits to Coventry so far (swipe to see iconic cathedrals!) and I’m appreciating the time and space to read, reflect and write. Cheers 🍻 🥰

Over the past month (and a bit) I’ve been reperforming Luminosity, Imponderabilia, and Nude with Skeleton at the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the Marina Abramović retrospective alongside some wonderful artists. I’m learning about myself and practice in relation to an experience I never thought I would have. It’s also been a space for me to think about archiving and how people interact with archival materials and (re)performances, the shift that inevitably occurs when the work is held by another body (with it’s own identities and histories), and what people take away from being in some sort of proximity to works they are experiencing which have a context they can never fully be aware of or immersed in (a lot has shifted over the past 50 years, a lot has remained unchanged). I’ll be performing in this exhibition until it closes on 1st Jan 2024. It’s always lovely to have friendly faces in the space so let me know if you’re dropping in.

THE LAST SEVEN YEARS Jay Bernard Sept 2023 (workshop and performances) A new work inspired by the voices and experiences of British people throughout this turbulent time period. @cmmn_stance at @boldtendencies @artangel_ldn @musarcchoir @cathectic_petals