<nettime> Public Statement from The Rubber Rose regarding the exhibit of XX Boys by Kael T. Block

[lotu5 <lotu5@resist.ca>]

Hi, sorry for sending three emails on this topic, which you may
have no intrest in, but it is important to me to send the official
statement from the Rubber Rose as well as correction to my previous
email...

This statement was published on The Rubber Rose’s myspace page [
http://myspace.com/therubberrose ] last night

///

November is an important month for us, both personally and
politically. In order to further the awareness of November 20th,
Transgender Day of Remembrance, we showcase an artist or art that
highlights the issues of gender and gender identity. This year we
chose “XXBoys” by Kael T. Block, a photo project celebrating the
vibrant and growing international f2m community. We worked very hard
to bring in his work and were excited to have it hang in our gallery
in order to honor a community that we know and love, to bring the
pride, beauty, strength and diversity of the f2m community to a larger
audience.

On Saturday, November 10th, on the day of our opening, it came to our
attention that Kael T. Block has been accused of rape, that multiple
women have spoken up and shared their stories about surviving. We
received a heartfelt phone call from San Francisco, were mailed a long
list of testimonials and email exchanges detailing their experiences.
This caller, along with members of the San Diego community, questioned
our intent, our knowledge, and even our politics on this matter.

And our hearts were broken. Torn between showing you the work and its
historical significance, and supporting our hurting/healing community,
we chose to go ahead with the opening - almost as planned. In light of
the new information, we felt it necessary to display the statements we
received, those of the survivors, those of Block’s, and a statement
of our very own presenting the confusion and uncertainty we felt in
the moment. We posted all of this next to the artist’s bio in order to
give all who viewed the exhibit full disclosure.

It has now been 5 days since that decision… and in that time we hope
that the portraits have been viewed and enjoyed simply for the sake of
those brave enough to step in front of the camera, regardless of who
might have been on the other side…

And yet we still have the question of accountability.

Regardless of how much information we do or don’t have, we recognize
above all else that we are accountable to the community we are
connected to. The accusations surrounding Kael T. Block directly
conflict with our mission statement and our wish to create a safe
space for sexual empowerment.

We have decided to take the exhibit down before its scheduled closing
of November 30th.

It has not been an easy decision to make.

However, in the midst of this struggle, something beautiful and
tangible has grown. The shock of the information shared during the
exhibition’s opening night inspired some of our f2m friends and
customers to see each other and celebrate each other as heroes, rather
than placing public strangers like Kael on pedestals.

As we remove the work of Kael T Block we will be replacing it with
portraits of the f2m community here in San Diego, taken in this space
within the next few days.

In closing, we would like to thank Kael T. Block for his photographs
and the “XXBoys” project- the pieces we received are beautiful and we
recognize that this is an important project to undertake.

We would like to thank those that spoke out on the issues surrounding
these allegations, as it took courage and strength.

We would like to thank the people here in San Diego that have given us
the support and encouragement to make the tough decisions we have had
to make in the past few days.

And finally, we would like to invite you to join us for Twister, a
trans social/mixer celebrating the diversity of southern California’s
f2m community on Friday, November 30th. It will also be opening night
for this new project where you will find a representation of our local
f2m trans guys and the significance of a community united.

With love and respect,
Lea and Carly
The Rubber Rose

If anyone is interested in participating by being photographed or by 
taking the photos themselves, please email therubberrose (at) hotmail 
(dot) com.

///


Also, I want to make a note of clarification. My previous blog post 
stated that the caller to the Rubber Rose was one of the survivors, but 
I have since been corrected. I did not receive the call, the Rubber Rose 
did. The caller was anonymous and did not claim to be one of the 
survivors. I have no idea who the caller was.

I am no longer working with the Rubber Rose [ http://therubberrose.com ] 
in any “official” capacity, so please direct any further comments or 
questions on this matter to them.


-- 

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