Young Queer Artists 73

in the Classroom
Roz Hall

Abstract

This article describes what happened when two

young queer artists, Danya Defraytus and Haroon
Iltaf, presented their work in a classroom context.
The responses from the pupils and the teachers
are also reflected upon. These responses indicate
something of the potential there is for work by
lesbians and gay men to be utilised in classroom
contexts. The presentations had various positive
outcomes for the school. For example, the teach-
ers involved noticed that Danya and Roonie’s work
had useful impact on the pupils’ sense of how they
might develop their own, distinct creative practices
on the basis of their own unique experiences and
perceptions. The students made connections with
Danya and Roonie, and could identify with them, in
a way that transcended any differences there may
have been between them in terms of their sexual-
ity. The approach is therefore being suggested as
a model for introducing work that explores lesbian
and gay experiences, in a meaningful, useful and
amicable way, in a classroom context. The key
elements that led to the success of the work are
therefore outlined to indicate ways to apply such
an approach.

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74 Introduction
Roz Hall This article, and the activities that have informed it,
were developed to address the issue for debate
directly. The extent to which work that references
lesbian, gay and bisexual experiences and discus-
sion of it is censored within mainstream secondary
education. The article is informed by an event that
was devised to raise awareness of the fact that
section 28 of the UK Local Government Act 1988
no longer exists and no longer restricts the way we
might talk about sexuality in schools. This article
offers a case study that could be drawn upon and
used as a model and outlines a project that took
place in early 2006. It attempts to identify the key
factors of the success for all involved.
The project was devised through conversations
with three people with whom I have worked previ-
ously, when they were ‘young people’, during a
project entitled ‘Young, Queer and Safe?’ [1]. Of
these people, Danya Defraytus and Haroon Iltaf
(Roonie) were interested in being involved in a
practical way and Chris Morgan was keen to
provide me with conceptual input and feedback.
Danya and Roonie have pursued a creative
pathway, through informal as well as formal
contexts. They are both currently on BA Hons
courses, but have also worked as project deliver-
ers and have had work exhibited in spaces such as
the Roundhouse in London. They are able to
present their own work in an articulate way, as they
have an explicit awareness of the value of the crea-
tive processes in which they are engaged.
We decided that it would be interesting to
explore the outcomes and impact of Danya and
Roonie presenting their own work to a group of
students. We approached the programme leader
for art at City Academy Bristol [2] to find out if they
would be interested in hosting the presentations.
The art team responded so positively to the oppor-
tunity. On my circulating the first draft of this arti-
cle, Chris Morgan suggested that it would be inter-
esting to find out why they responded positively.
Jenny Betts, programme leader for art, told me, in
response to this question, that the City Academy
Bristol art programme team are always keen to get
artists into the school, but that it often seems to be
really quite complicated and time consuming to do
so. She told me that their positive response was
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
mainly because of the simplicity, for the art team,
in terms of planning and delivering the event. She
told me that, because we had approached her with
a clear outline of what would happen, a rationale,
and set of potential outcomes that we thought
might be of relevance to the students at City Acad-
emy Bristol, all we needed to do was agree a date
and time to do it. This limited the required time for
the teachers involved, as we did not need to meet
to plan the presentations, and so it made the reali-
sation of the project feasible, even within a busy
schedule [3].
Having worked with Danya and Roonie before,
I was aware of the way in which they were likely
quickly to gain the respect of the students, and the
way in which the students might identify with
them. This relationship I anticipated to be a poten-
tially inspirational one for the students at City Acad-
emy Bristol, as it might make certain aspirations
seem more realisable or feasible.
Danya and Roonie have both developed prac-
tices that explore various aspects of their identi-
ties, including, but not limited to, their sexuality.
Through the presentation of their work it would
become apparent that Danya is a lesbian and that
Roonie is a gay man. The presentations would
thereby articulate how sexual identity can be
explored through creative practice.
The rationale
The scope of Danya’s and Roonie’s practice
means that their sexual identity, as represented
through their images, would be contextualised
within their broader social and cultural experi-
ences and identities. This contextualisation
seemed to have the potential to ensure that
students at City Academy Bristol might identify in
some way, or have an interest in common, with
Danya and Roonie. Furthermore, the presenta-
tions would make the self-motivated nature of
Danya’s and Roonie’s creative processes explicit.
What promised to be of interest, therefore, was
the potential impact of these presentations on the
students’ sense of their own practice, and how
they might be stimulated into working in ways that
are motivated through their own concerns and
priorities, and informed through their own cultural
and social experiences.
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The presentations promised several positive
outcomes for all involved. For the school, first, it
might inform the students of the possibilities there
are for them to pursue opportunities in higher
education. Second, it might stimulate the students
to consider ways in which they could develop their
own practice through focusing on ideas or issues
that are significant to them. Third, it might be inspi-
rational for the students to hear articulate and
professional presentations, as these might also
serve as an example for the students when talking
about their own practice. Finally, the event also
promised the opportunity for students using digital
media at City Academy Bristol to extend their skills
and their sense of what is possible.
Danya and Roonie were quick to identify the
potential value of the event for themselves, and as
a platform for them to reflect upon and think
through their process and their practice. They also
valued the opportunity to work in a facilitating way
in a new context.
The event would also support students’ explo-
ration of their own sexual identity through creative
practice which might be meaningfully and usefully
introduced in a classroom.
The event
Danya and Roonie presented their own work to the
group, illustrating their artistic and professional
development. They regularly use a range of media
to produce their work, primarily traditional and digital
photography. They talked about how they have
developed their practice as young artists, and the
things that have been important to that develop-
ment. They explained how they conceptualise the
images they produce, and the processes surround-
ing that production. They presented older and more
recent work, including images that Danya has made
through exploring the practice of other artists.
Jenny Betts introduced Danya and Roonie to
the year twelve class very briefly.
Roonie’s presentation
Roonie began by explaining that he became
involved in the arts through community arts work
that took place at a youth group which he attended
when he was fifteen. He told the group that he had
left school with one GCSE, but that this had not
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prevented him from pursuing this creative route. 75
He explained what community arts is before show- Roz Hall
ing and talking about one of his first pieces of work,
entitled ‘Khoosra’ [4]. He outlined how the work had
been motivated by his need to explore and resolve
some of the conflicting emotions there were for
him around religion and sexuality. He talked about
the experiences of being a young gay Muslim man.
Roonie explained in detail why he had made certain
decisions about the work as he had made it, such
as the reasons for the different colours of the text.
He then showed the group another early piece
of work entitled ‘Pyar’ [5] and explained how the
images had been made without any camera or
scanner, but just using Photoshop to make digital
paintings. He also talked about how the images
were conceptualised, and how this process was
about him exploring his emotions.
He then showed images made during project
work for Greets Green magazine [6], and talked
about how he learnt the potential power of crop-
ping, and how what you leave out of the frame is as
significant as what you decide to keep in it, and
how the meaning of an image can shift dramati-
cally depending on how it is cropped (see Figures
1 & 2). He emphasised that the cropping had taken
place when he took the photograph, not after-
wards, but through the lens.
Roonie then showed images he made when
working at a snooker hall, and explained how he
had made these images at a time when he was not
very happy and how he thinks this is reflected in
the images (see Figures 3 & 4).
The next set of images that Roonie discussed
were ones that adhere to the conventions of fash-
ion photography. Roonie told the group that he had
made these images because he wanted to ensure
skills in a vocational use of photography, as he was
aware of how hard it is to make money as an artist.
He then showed the group other examples of his
portraiture.
As he was showing the above work Roonie
talked about his images, both in terms of the tech-
nical aspects of the work, and the conceptualisa-
tion. He stressed that ‘it is the ideas that are impor-
tant’, and that ‘you don’t need loads of expensive
equipment or materials as long as you’ve got a
good idea’.
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Roz Hall
Roonie then talked about ‘Man shall not lie with
man’, an image he has made since being at univer-
sity, first explaining how it was made, and then
explaining the meaning it has for him (see Figure
5). He told the group that he had been briefed at
college to buy an object, for a fixed sum of money
at a specific shop, and to use this in an image by
transforming it.
Roonie chose to buy a church candle because
he is interested in the aesthetics of religion. He
explained this to the group and then told them
how he had made a piece of text, out of metal,
which he inserted into the wax of the candle. The
text is in Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, but is
a quote from Christian texts. The text that is
quoted in the image is ‘Man shall not lie with man’
[7]. Roonie explained that he chose this to reflect
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
the wider British religious context in which he
grew up, and wrote it in Arabic to reflect his own
family’s religious experiences. He explained how,
for him, all religions have this belief, that being gay
is wrong, and so for him there is always a tension
that means he cannot be a part of any organised
religion.
Roonie then explained why he chose to place
the candle in ice, then melt the ice and the candle,
and photograph the constructed scene as it
melted. He said that ‘the ice represents culture,
wax represents religious institutes and metal the
word of God’. Roonie highlighted how the candle,
representing the way religion is presented, can be
melted down, reduced or transformed, but that
the beliefs that it embodies, as represented by the
text, won’t melt down. The ice, representing
culture, is the easiest to melt away. The metal text,
however, remained whatever heat was applied. In
other words, Roonie said, ‘You can melt away
social constructions like homophobia, but you
can’t melt away the words of God.’ Roonie
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Roz Hall

explained what homophobia is, for those present
who might not know.
The group then viewed photographs of Roonie’s
Urinal piece. Roonie has made this piece of work
by montaging images onto a urinal, which he had
then photographed from various perspectives
(see Figure 6).
Roonie explained that he had found the images
on a gay men’s web site. He explained that gay
men use the site to arrange to meet up to have sex.
He talked about how the images are all the same,
in that they are headless / faceless portraits, and
how this troubled him.
He explained how he printed and montaged
these images onto a urinal. He talked about how this
process made him feel, and how making the piece
of work was about coming through and getting
through a time in his life when he realised he wasn’t
comfortable with all of his own sexual experiences.
He said that he had realised his own discomfort
through the production of the work, and that it had
been an important process to go through.
Roonie’s latest piece of work, which he made
using prayer mats, was the final image that he
presented to the group (see Figures 7 & 8).
He explained that the work is about how he has
to be seen as a single young man to be accepted Opposite page:
within his family’s religious context, and then Left Column
having another side of his life, on the back of the Figure 1
prayer mat, which is hidden. Roonie said that he Haroon Iltaf;
marriage 1
had chosen specific colours for the tears in order
Figure 2
to represent different aspects of his identity. He
Haroon Iltaf;
told the group that the green tear is cried by the marriage 2
part of him that identifies as Muslim, because of Right Column
the connection for him between the colour green
Figure 3
and the Pakistan flag. He also explained that the Haroon Iltaf;
pink tear is cried by the part of him that identifies as Snooker Hall 6
gay, because of the historical significance, and Figure 4
currency, of the colour pink within gay culture. Haroon Iltaf;
Snooker Hall 8
Roonie concluded his presentation by talking
This page:
about the significance of his time at university as
an opportunity to refine his practice through focus- Figure 5
Haroon Iltaf;
ing on it, and to develop work according to his own ‘Man shall not lie
priorities and aims. with man’

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Roz Hall

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Danya’s presentation
Danya began by outlining her background. She
told the group that she began her practice by
doing a City and Guilds certificate in photography.
She explained how her involvement in community
arts projects led her to extend her photographic
practice by using digital media. She also outlined
how she has moved course, and why the first
degree that she began was not right for her. She
explained how this initial experience had led her to
be more careful the second time she started a
degree, and she told the group that she had looked
into the course structure and content in great
detail before deciding which course to apply for.
She said that in the first degree course she hadn’t
been taught in the way that she wanted to be
taught, and the course didn’t cover the things that
she wanted to learn.
Danya told the group that the first of her images
that she would show them were made in response
to work of Kempadoo [8]. Danya introduced the
work of Roshini Kempadoo, showing the group a
piece entitled ‘ECU: European Currency Unfolds
(1992)’. The work is a series of banknotes from
European countries which have been modified to
comment on the colonial histories of those coun-
tries. Danya told the group that Roshini Kempadoo
was born in England in 1960, that her parents were
from Guyana, and that she helped to establish
Autograph, the Association of Black Photogra-
phers. Danya explained how, in the modifications
to the banknotes, Roshini Kempadoo’s criticism is
aimed at the European countries’ colonial history.
Danya quoted Kempadoo to clarify her rationale
and approach: ‘I rework the photographs to
produce what I call photo constructions, which are
generated using a computer. I make use of photog-
raphy’s unique power to play with notions of reality
and representation’ [9]. Danya talked in detail about
the different banknotes, deconstructing and
analysing the images and text that are combined in
the banknote images.
Danya then explained how, for her, although
Europe is significant, it is what happens in Britain
that is of most interest to her as it is her home. In
response to Kempadoo’s images Danya decided to
focus on ways in which oppressive and racist
elements within Britain express their perspective.
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© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Danya told the group that she began the work by 79
visiting the National Front web site, and on the basis Roz Hall
of conversations about what she had found there,
she developed a piece of work entitled ‘Making a
Submissive’. Danya explained, in case anyone had
not heard of the National Front, that they claim on
their web site to be ‘a political movement based on
the principle of Racial Nationalism’. On viewing the
National Front’s web site, Danya decided to develop
a piece of work, in response to the question that
arose for her, which was: ‘what would happen to
the people I care about if the National Front came
into power and put into practice their policy of
forced repatriation?’
Danya explained that in ‘Making a Submissive’,
she hoped to show how ridiculous the National
Front’s arguments and policies are by quoting them
directly, and juxtaposing this text with contradictory
images. Danya explained in detail how the different
elements of the images were decided upon and
brought together. Alongside the National Front text
are statistics from government websites, and other
images, as well as some other quotes, which Danya
told the group she chose because she strongly
identifies with them. For example, in the last image
Danya quotes Bob Marley, when she writes, ‘Until
the colour of a man’s skin is of no more importance
than the colour of his eyes – me say war.’
Danya took her lead from the National Front’s
‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section, the first
question being, ‘What would you do with the non-
whites that were born in Britain?’ The answer to
this, on the web site, is: ‘All coloured people would
be covered by our policy of phased humane repa-
triation. This means that over a period of ten to
fifteen years these people would go back to the
lands which they, or their parents / grandparents
came from. There will be no exceptions.’ This led
Danya to think about her dad and all the other
people she knew who would therefore be repatri- Opposite page:
ated (see Figure 9). This in turn led her to wonder Figure 6
about herself, and other friends of dual heritage. Haroon Iltaf;
She explained that she found her answer in the Urinal 1 & 2
next question on the web site, which was ‘What Figure 7
Haroon Iltaf;
about those of mixed race parentage?’ When she
Prayer mat front
found the same repatriation process would apply,
Figure 8
she then wondered about other people, and as she Haroon Iltaf;
did so, the questions and answers provided by the Prayer mat back
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Roz Hall
National Front addressed her concerns. In this way
the piece of work developed in an organic way
from a very personal perspective.
Danya explained that the people who appear in
the images are individuals in her life who would be
forced to leave the country if the National Front
were in power. Danya didn’t take new portraits
specifically for the piece, as she wanted to use her
existing personal photo album shots of people to
reinforce the personal nature of the work.
Danya introduced the background images used
in the pictures, and explained why she has used
them. She showed the group the Arthur Drum-
mond painting that she has included in the back-
ground of the first image. She told the group that
the piece was painted as a tribute to Great Britain’s
reign over much of the world’s population. She
explained that in the image there are three Afri-
cans, two Indians, one Pacific islander and three
Caucasian females kneeling before Queen Victo-
ria. Danya explained that she included this image
because it suggests a much longer and more
complex history of relations than is indicated in the
National Front’s literature. She also told the group
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
that she has included the nine of spades in the
image as a reference to the racist term ‘black as
the ace of spades’ and the number 9 as a reference
to government statistics, which claim ‘9’ to be the
percentage of ‘ethnic minority’ people in Britain.
Danya then introduced the second image in the
series (see Figure 10). Danya highlighted how the
policy of the National Front represented in the
second image would mean that she would have to
leave the country. She told the group that the
image she has placed in the background is ‘Las
Castas’ which was painted by an anonymous
Mexican painter from the last quarter of the eight-
eenth century. She said that the image illustrates
sixteen of the fifty-three race / class categories
invented by the Spanish-speaking elite of colonial
Mexico. Danya explained that she had included
this image to illustrate the way in which slaves
were categorised like animals.
Danya then explained the third image in the
series. In the third image, Danya considers the fate
of white British people who would have to leave
the country to remain with their partners (see
Figure 11).
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Danya explained the personal resonance of this for
her, and the relevance of the background image,
which is a cartoon by Gilray that depicts Prince
William Henry, son of King George III, who served
in the West Indies before becoming King. Danya
explained that this satirical print, which ‘suggested
more than simply international relations’, would
have been the equivalent of the type of cartoon
found in current day tabloids. She explained that
the image was important in highlighting that there
is nothing new about such relationships.
Danya then introduced the fourth image in the
series, which is about lesbians and gay men, who
be a white-British, heterosexual male, and so, the
ideal candidate for the National Front, and just the
sort of person they’d want to be left in the country.
However, as Danya pointed out, he is her friend, Opposite page:
and therefore, obviously not racist, as is demon- Figure 9
strated by his inclusion in this piece. He thereby Danya Defraytus:
represents the fact that at this stage in the narra- Making a Submissive
1. Dad, R and K
tive, when the National Front have superficially
This page:
gained their wish for an ‘all white’ Britain, under-
Left Column
neath the surface, it is far from the place that they
Figure 10
hoped, as ‘white-British’ does not equal ‘racist’. Danya Defraytus:
Danya summarised the work and underlined Making a Submissive
how she has used images to subvert the meaning 2. M and Me

would have to leave the country if they were to live of the text. She explained how the work thereby Figure 11
Danya Defraytus:
their lives freely, if the National Front were in power reclaims and subverts the meaning of the final
Making a Submissive
(see Figure 12). words; ‘This is the most important struggle you 3. Mom and L
In the final image in the series, Danya consid- could ever become involved in.’ Right Column
ered the fate of those left behind, as she began to Danya said that for her, what is enjoyable about
Figure 12
think about what would happen to her white heter- the creative process is the fun of coding and Danya Defraytus:
osexual friends (see Figure 13). decoding images. Making a Submissive
4. V, L, C, and I
She therefore included a portrait of a friend of Danya then introduced a piece of work that she
hers who is a white heterosexual man, as the only made in response to the work of Lyle Ashton Harris Figure 13
Danya Defraytus:
person she would leave behind. Danya explained [10], beginning by showing some of his images and Making a Submissive
that he would be left behind because he happens to summarising his practice. She told the group that 5. A

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Lyle Ashton Harris was born in 1965 in New York.
She said that he is best known for his theatrically
staged black and white self-portraits and photo-
graphs of his friends and family members. She
explained how his photography, although extremely
traditional in form, was often provocative in content
and made explicit his desire to make inter-racial
homosexual desire visible without disguise.
Danya then showed the group the image she
has made in response to his approach, which is
entitled ‘Damned by Desire’ (see Figure 14).
Danya explained how in this image she has
commented on the way other people see her
depending on whether she has a white or black
partner. She explained that she represented the
fact that she is a lesbian through the use of the
breast in her mouth. She said that the image is
about how, if she has a white girlfriend she is
demonised, but if she has a black girlfriend this is
seen as somehow positive, and ‘natural’ / angelic.
She talked about the use of the coconut to refer-
ence the way others identify her. She explained
this, and how the use of the term ‘coconut’ (to
imply black on the outside and white on the inside)
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
had at first confused her as she thought people
were calling her hairy. The group of students found
this very amusing.
The general atmosphere during the presenta-
tions was very comfortable and there was relaxed
laughter on several occasions, but only when
Danya and Roonie had intended something to be
funny, as in the example above.
Danya then showed a selection of other images
she has made, mainly portraits, and spoke about
them briefly.
The group then gathered around the laptop to
look at the images again, as they had been a little
bleached out by the projector. Students asked
some questions during this, such as one girl asking
Danya, ‘Which University are you from?’ and one
boy asking Roonie if a gun that was in one of the
pool hall images was a real gun.
Danya and Roonie followed up this presentation
with a workshop where they supported the group of
students to work on some of their own photo-
graphic images using Photoshop, extending the
students’ skills in new media. This work took place
in the ‘discovery centre’, a room that houses a library
JADE 26.1 (2007)
and computers that are located four to a table, all of
which are facing out from the centre of the seven
such tables. Students work here independently as
well as during lessons. The students stayed focused
for the duration of the session, and most of the
group stayed at their computers when we left.
The group already had photographs stored on
the computers in their own folders. The students
opened their images in Photoshop and Roonie and
Danya worked with them on a one-to-one basis for
the next hour-and-a-half session.
The students made images using their existing
photographs, and with advice from Danya and
Roonie about how to affect the images in the ways
they wanted using Photoshop (see Figures 15–19).
This process worked well and the students were
keen to ask Danya and Roonie questions about
their work and about university during the session.
Several of the students also showed Danya and
Roonie their sketchbooks and portfolios and asked
for their advice and feedback. The students clearly
felt at ease with Danya and Roonie and obviously
valued their input and advice.
Post-event exchange
Following the event I had informal interviews with
Danya, Roonie, Jenny Betts, and other City acca-
demic staff; Claire Stewart: leader of learning –
literacy; and Ed Batey: art teacher. Based on these
discussions I have been able to identify something
of the impact and repercussions of the event.
It seemed to the teachers involved that there
were many positive outcomes. First, they thought
that the presentations have led the students to think
differently about the possibility of going to university.
Second, the images that the students made after the
presentations seemed, to the art team, to be more
personally informed, and more confident. Third,
there was a clearer sense for the students of the
potential of Photoshop, and the images that Danya
and Roonie showed acted as inspiration to them,
most significantly in that these images were made
to articulate an idea or opinion, rather than appearing
to be using technology for its own sake. This notion
of having a reason for using different applications
and effects of the software, along with practical
support in using the software, led the students to
develop greater confidence in using Photoshop.
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A few days after the event, one pupil, Sam, told 83
Claire Stewart that Roonie, whilst he helped her to Roz Hall
use Photoshop, had told her that she ‘just needs to
think much bigger’. She said that Roonie had led
her to realise that her work is hers and that it is
about what she wants to do, not about what
anyone else says she should do. She also said that
university had been really important for Roonie in
gaining his independence. She also said that she
loved Danya’s presentation because the ideas
were really clear and Danya knew exactly what she
was doing and why, and could explain it clearly.
Another student, Maria Vyukhina, emailed
Claire Stewart with the following feedback about
the event:
I am doing art AS level, and in one of the lessons
we had visitors, they were students from univer-
sity, who picked art for their higher education.
I have been chatting a lot to one of the students,
Danya. She showed her work, and then she’s been
helping me and other students, to work with
Photoshop Studio. I never used Photoshop before,
but when Danya showed me what to do, I started
getting into it, and even included some of the work
in my own project. Me and Danya talked about
artists, and we found out that we got a lot of inter-
est in the same art courses. So I really enjoyed it,
and if I get to university and am going to have an
opportunity to go and talk to students, as those
student did for us, I’d definitely do that, because it
is magnificent to find new things from people who
are actually doing the same stuff, which you want
to do in the future.
During the session that followed the event Jenny
Betts gathered further feedback from the students
on the basis of questions that I had suggested.
Jenny asked the students what they remembered
most about the session. Students responded in a
variety of ways. One student said that there was an
‘interesting combination of history and culture in
Danya’s work’. Another student highlighted that
there had been ‘good guidance and training on
Photoshop’ indicating how the different aspects of
Opposite page:
the event engaged different students. However,
Figure 14
most students were interested in the content and Danya Defraytus:
commented that it was ‘interesting to see politics Damned By Desire
84
Roz Hall
in art’, that it was ‘different than any art seen before,
and good that it was based on their beliefs and
lifestyles’, and that ‘the inclusion of religion was
good’. Similarly, other students commented that
they ‘liked Danya’s political content’ and that they
‘remember the personal aspects of Roonie’s work,
his religion and sexuality’ and ‘the personal quali-
ties of Danya’s work’. These last two comments
underline once more the significance of the
personal nature of the work for the students.
The various connections that the students made
with Danya and Roonie were all of significance for
the students: ‘I really enjoyed talking to Danya
about Salvador Dali, she likes him as much as me.’
Students also told Jenny Betts that through the
presentations they ‘really learned how to “read”
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
images by looking more deeply into the content’.
What is apparent here is that by talking about their
images in the way that they did, Danya and Roonie
demystified the process of conceptualising and
making their work.
Jenny Betts also asked the students if the pres-
entations had made them think differently about
anything. One student commented that the
percentage of gay adults in the UK was a shock.
This was the only comment that pertained to the
content of the work relating to sexual identity.
Other feedback in response to this question indi-
cated that the students also realised the potential to
develop their practice in ways that are not necessar-
ily reliant on traditional notions of how to do so. For
example, one student told Jenny that they had
JADE 26.1 (2007)
 85
Roz Hall

Opposite page:
Figure 15
Sammy Channon:
Stairwell
This page:
Images made by the
students during the
session
Figure 16
Emdadul Islam:
Chalk & Charcoal
Figure 17
Siretta Francis:
Untitled 1
Figure 18
Stephanie Allen:
Untitled 1
Figure 19
Siretta Francis:
Untitled 2

JADE 26.1 (2007)

© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
86 ‘learned that you could go to university even if you
Roz Hall don’t do well academically’, and another ‘that you
don’t need to be able to draw to be an artist!’
However, the overwhelming response to
whether the presentations had made them think
differently about anything was that the students
grasped the potential to develop their practice in
ways that are defined and informed by their own
personal experiences. For example, one student
commented ‘that you can include personal ideas in
your work’, whilst others similarly commented,
‘that you can develop work that is really personal
and meaningful’, and ‘that work can be really
personal’.
When asked if they would be influenced by the
presentation, the students responded in various
ways, with an emphasis on the practicalities of
making, such as ‘I’ll use Photoshop more’ and ‘may
consider using negatives in my work’. Similarly,
another student said ‘It was a good experience using
Photoshop and I will now use it more in my work.’
Roonie’s emphasis on not needing to have expen-
sive equipment also influenced one of the
students, who commented that they ‘will think
about the simplicity of equipment and not get too
complicated’.
Again, the event led the group to consider the
potential of higher education, with one student
commenting that it ‘has made me think about the
variety of art degree courses out there’, and other
students also stating that it ‘made me consider a
wider variety of courses’ and that they had realised
‘that some courses allow a lot of freedom’.
The personal nature of Danya and Roonie’s
work was also identified as having influenced the
students; for example, ‘It will make me think more
carefully about my work and try and make it more
personal.’
The next question that Jenny asked the students
was if anything had been similar or different to
what they are used to. One student told Jenny that
Danya and Roonie ‘made me look at things differ-
ently’. The students also identified the difference
between Danya and Roonie and teachers, by stat-
ing that ‘They had a different approach to us as
students, they related to us more.’
Jenny Betts also commented that what struck
her most about the event was how Danya and
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Roonie related to the students, and how the
students did not see Danya and Roonie as teachers.
She said that it was because of this that the students
felt immediately at ease with Danya and Roonie.
She said that she thought the students could see
and tell something about Danya and Roonie’s back-
grounds that meant they felt at ease with them, and
that they could appreciate what their work was
about and understand their motivation for making
the work. Jenny Betts also suggested that the loca-
tion of the presentation, in the school, had helped to
ensure that the students felt relaxed. She said that
the students might not have felt so at ease if they
had visited a gallery, or another context that may
have been less familiar than their school.
Jenny told me that the presentations really had
an impact on how the students think about their
work and how personal it can be. She said that it has
led them to consider how they can develop their
ideas in a personally informed way, and that it has
also given them ideas of how to talk about or present
their work to others. She said that Danya and Roonie
had explained everything very clearly and simply,
making a real connection with the group.
Jenny also explained that Danya and Roonie
differ from most artists who have visited the
school, for work such as graffiti projects, who have
all been white and middle class. She said that for
the students at City Academy there were more
differences between those artists and themselves
than there were between themselves and Danya
and Roonie. Any differences to do with sexuality
therefore seemed less relevant, given the common
aspects of identity that were apparent.
Jenny also commented that she thought the
impact of the presentations would be even more
apparent in work that the students began to
develop. She said that the next work they were
doing was their personal study, and that the pres-
entations were timely in this respect, as they would
be helpful in establishing ways of responding to
other artists’ work, as well as illustrating ways of
working that are personally informed.
Implications and conclusions
The presentations given by Danya and Roonie
exemplify how work that explores lesbian and
gay experiences might be meaningfully and amica-
JADE 26.1 (2007)
bly introduced in a classroom context. Further-
more, the presentations have resulted in various
positive outcomes for the students and therefore
the school.
When considering using this event as a model
for future work it is important to identify some of
the key components in its success. First, the nature
of the collaboration with the school was crucial. It
was important that there was a sense of mutual
trust and it was also important that the art
programme team at City Academy Bristol was one
that is open to and supportive of new ideas and
approaches. Even within such a context, there
were issues in the detail of planning the event,
which will probably recur in other contexts. Time
was, as always, an issue. However, another issue
that directly related to the content of the presenta-
tions was raised when I was unable to email details
of the proposal for the event to staff at the school
because of a firewall. Such details can be easily
overcome, but should not be as easily dismissed,
as they are perhaps indicative of a wider set of
issues to do with how sexuality is considered,
represented and policed. Such barriers can be very
real within a time-constrained process, and are
reflective of the lack of legitimacy that is usually
apportioned to work relating to sexual identify, not
just in schools, but in most professional contexts
that I have inhabited.
Second, another key component to the success
of this event seems to have been the extent to
which the students identified with Danya and
Roonie. A few days after the workshop Roonie told
me that it felt as if they (Danya and Roonie) had
‘broken down barriers’. He said that it seemed as if,
because he and Danya had similar life experiences
to the students, being gay didn’t make him or her
that different. He said that he thought this would
have impact on the way in which those students
thought about lesbian and gay people, as not neces-
sarily being that different from themselves. He also
commented on the positive impact that this would
have for students who are gay, and how such a pres-
ence would combat potential feelings of isolation.
Third, Danya has pointed out that the success
was likely to also be reliant upon Danya and
Roonie’s approach, and the relaxed nature of their
presentations:
JADE 26.1 (2007)
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
I think that mine and Roonie’s approach to the 87
presentations made a difference to how we were Roz Hall
received. We didn’t stand at the front of the room
preaching to them. We just sat there talking about
our lives, not using ‘big words’ but also not patron-
ising them [11].
Furthermore, Danya has highlighted how talking
about the personal can also act to establish mutual
trust:
I think that the fact that mine and Roonie’s work is
very personal also helped, as I feel that the students
respected the fact that we were being so open
and honest with a room of complete strangers.
There was no talking or sniggering when we were
talking and this didn’t seem to be from fear of their
teacher [12].
Danya and Roonie’s openness regarding the
personal experiences informing their work led the
students to consider, and become enthused by
the potential for them to similarly develop their
own practices on the basis of their own experi-
ences. This shift towards the students ‘taking
ownership’ of their work has been highlighted as
being one of the most significant and useful
outcomes for the school.
The success of the presentations resides on
several factors. The point that Roonie identified so
clearly, about common experiences is, I think, one
significant factor. The connections that the
students made with Danya and Roonie were such
that they overshadowed any differences between
them in terms of their sexual identities.
Perhaps this outcome, which Roonie has identi-
fied and articulated so insightfully, is the most far-
reaching and meaningful of all. Homophobia is
essentially about fear. Fear of the unknown is perhaps
inevitable. Making gay and lesbian experiences
known is therefore the most apparent way of
combating or preventing fear of them. What is
implied therefore is the need for more, similar, work.
88 Acknowledgments
Roz Hall Thanks to Nick Stanley for inspiration, to Danya
Defraytus, Haroon Iltaf and Chris Morgan for
creative, conceptual and analytical input and to
teachers at City Academy Bristol; Ed Batey, art
teacher, Jenny Betts, programme leader: Art;
Zoe Kingston, PGCE student and Claire Stewart,
leader of learning; literacy, for collaborating to
realise the event that has informed this article,
and for contributing to the development of the
article through reflection and dialogue.
Notes and references
1. The Young, Queer and Safe project is featured
in The Maypole Group (1999) Young, Queer and
Safe? in Hurley, S. [Ed.] Young People Now.
Leicester: The National Youth Agency, pp. 26–7;
Hall, R. (2005) The Value of Visual Exploration:
Understanding Cultural Activities with Young
People. West Bromwich: The Public; and is online
at URL: www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/
youngqueersafe/
2. From the school’s information: ‘The City
Academy, Bristol opened in September 2003,
moving into new purpose built accommodation
in mid 2005. The Academy is an independent
state funded school and currently has 1247
students on roll drawn from an area of just 1.3
kms from the site. There are 290 post 16 students
undertaking a range of level 1, 2 and 3 courses.
The campus is also the home to a fitness centre,
a community children’s centre and a day centre
for adults with learning difficulties. Over 1300
adult learners also undertake courses at City
Academy Bristol. The Academy serves the
nineteenth most economically deprived ward in
England and Wales. 44% of students attending
the school are in receipt of free school meals,
38% of the student body speak English as an
additional language and 62% of students are
drawn from ethnic minority groups. The academy
is playing a key role in the local New Deal for
Communities project.’
3. Jenny Betts had seen examples of previous
work that had been facilitated by myself, Danya
and Roonie, and so the trust that she afforded
© 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
us was also informed by this evidence and her
consequent knowledge of our previous
relevant experiences.
4. Khoosra is reproduced in Hall, R. (2000)
Inclusion through Distinction, Journal of Art
&Design Education, Vol. 19, No 3, p. 313–24.
5. Pyar is reproduced in Hall, R. (2005) op. cit.
6. Greets Green Community Magazine is a
Greets Green Partnership funded project which
was established through collaboration with
The Public. Greets Green Partnership is the
organisation delivering the New Deal for
Communities programme of regeneration
projects for the Greets Green area of West
Bromwich, in Sandwell, West Midlands.
Website www.greetsgreen.net
7. Leviticus 18:22 ‘Do not lie with a man as one
lies with a woman; that is detestable.’ The Bible,
New International Version.
8. For examples of Kempadoo’s work please
visit the Autograph website where Roshini’s
work is included in the artists’ section: www.
autograph-abp.co.uk/autograph_content.html,
or visit any of the following URLs: www.
axisartists.org.uk/ofSARF.aspx?SELECTIONID
=136; www.photography-now.com/artists/
K17402.html; www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/exh_
txo_en/ART23253.html; http://humanities.uwe.
ac.uk/visible-evidence/Panels_files/Kempadoo.
htm. www.noorderlicht.com/eng/fest03/global/
kempadoo/; http://64.33.16.144/exiles/ve/index.
html; www.iniva.org/archive/person/162
9. See Kempadoo, at URL: www.cooper.edu/art/
techno/artists/kempadoo.html
10. For examples of work by Lyle Ashton Harris
please see the following URLs: www.artfacts.net/
index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/5309; www.
artnet.com/Galleries/Artists_detail.asp?gid=111
&aid=7858. See also Deavere Smith, A. (2004)
Lyle Ashton Harris. New York: Gregory R. Miller.
11. Email exchange with Danya Defraytus.
12. Email exchange with Danya Defraytus.
JADE 26.1 (2007)