CHILDREN OF THE DUST
Haunting memories of a childhood in Columbia form the basis for a poignant
new book by Columbian photographer Julio Cesar Osorio. WORK, PLAY
AND NO REST depicts disadvantaged children going about their daily
lives in Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico and South Africa. “The idea behind
the project,” says Osorio, “is that if people are made aware of
the need for help then they will be willing to make a difference. Children
in developed countries grow up under such different standards and have so
many more opportunities than those in developing countries.”
Osorio is donating £5 from the sale of each copy of his self-published
book to children’s charities BEAUTIFUL GATE MINISTRIES in Africa and
THE ALDEA ORPHANAGE FUND in Peru. Beautiful Gate is a Christian, non-profit
organisation giving personal support to children and babies affected by HIV,
street children and orphans at five centres
throughout Africa. The Aldea Orphanage is setting up a Trade School this year
to teach orphaned teenagers the trade skills necessary to find employment.
Work, Play And No Rest’is out now, £25, from Amazon.co.uk. www.workplayandnorest.com
BLACKLIST
Friday 30 September sees the launch of BACK TO BLACK, a major
international exhibition of the painting, sculpture, photography, graphics
and film tracing the impact of the Black Arts Movement in Britain, America
and Jamaica in the 1960s and 70s. The exhibition is a major part of AFRICA
2005, a year long celebration of contemporary and past cultures.
It explores seven major themes including black consciousness in art, the ghetto,
black fashion, popular culture and politics. Artists include Grace Jones’
former husband Jean-Paul Goude, Bill Gunn, Kofi Kayiga, Jacob Lawrence, Patrick
Lichfield, Melvin Van Peebles and Llewellyn Xavier.
Back To Black runs
until 20 November,
Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm,
and Sun, 12pm-5pm,
at The New Art Gallery, Gallery Square, Walsall, Call 01922 654 400, www.artatwalsall.org.uk
FILM NOIR
As part of this year’s BLACKWORLD season, the British
Film Institute is releasing a landmark in British black cinema on DVD. BURNING
AN ILLUSION (1981) is a love story that traces the political growth
of a young black couple. It’s an impressive directorial debut by Menelik
Shabazz which follows the story of west London cleric
Pat Williams (Cassie McFarlane in an award-winning role) whose middle-class
existence is shattered by racism in the workplace, as experienced by her boyfriend
Del (Victor Romero). The film explores the growing
tensions in Pat and Del’s relationship, then Pat’s gradual realization
that her aspirations are simply those that a white world has imposed upon
her.
Burning An Illusion is out now, priced £19.99, www.bfi.org.uk/video
CRYSTAL TIP-OFFS
Are
you a gay man with direct experience of using CRYSTAL METH?
If you are, UKC’s COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT would
like to hear from you. UKC wants to get a clearer picture of people’s
real experience of using Tina to separate the facts from the fiction. Getting
these stories is needed as part of a larger community-based project UKC is
running this year. If you’d be willing to be interviewed for an hour
or so, either in person at UKC’s offices or over the phone, please contact
Jack Summerside on 020 7564 2180 or email jsummerside@ukcoalition.org. A small
fee will be offered to everyone who takes part in the study.
PICK THIS UP
Curtis Jenkins is a successful, middle-aged, HIV positive writer in Arthur
Wooten’s hilarious novel, ON PICKING FRUIT. Still searching
for the man of his dreams, Jenkins is caught in a self-destructive spiral
in which he’s drawn to all the wrong men. When he makes a bizarre yet
comical attempt at suicide he becomes a reluctant patient of psychiatrist
Dr Magda Tunick, who makes him face up to the real reasons why he hasn’t
found love. The book has won rave reviews, with gay novelist Edmund White
declaring: “If gallantry is defined as facing adversity with screams
of laughter, this is the most gallant book I know.” Wooten himself says:
“I wanted to portray a man that is not defined by the virus and is living
a thriving life. However, he comes across ‘dates’ that are clueless
about HIV and safer sex. Without preaching, the lead character fills them
in on important details. The book is fast and breezy but also heartbreaking
and full of hope.”
On Picking Fruit is out now,
published by iUniverse Inc. Buy it for £6.79 at Amazon. www.onpickingfruit.com
BOLLYWOOD BALL
London’s South Asian dance night, CLUB KALI, will be
raising funds for the LONDON LESBIAN AND GAY SWITCHBOARD
on Friday 2 September. Join DJ Ritu (BBC Asian Network) for ‘BOLLYWOOD
DANCE’ at the G-Lounge in Camden. The door charge includes
an hour’s dance tuition to make you move like a Bollywood star, plus
there’ll be a raffle with prizes including DVDs, vouchers and a Kylie
doll.
Club Kali’s fundraiser is at the G-Lounge, 18 Kentish Town Road , London
NW1. Open 10pm till 3am. Entry costs £8, £5 concessions with ID,
£1 off before 11pm with flyer. www.clubkali.com
or www.llgs.org.uk/makeadonation.html
BLACKWORLD SCREENINGS
Stereotypical images of African women are challenged in MAMA AFRICA,
a touring film season that forms part of the BFI’s BLACKWORLD
festival. Highlights include two short films dealing with HIV. First off is
Portia Rankoane’s A RED RIBBON AROUND MY HOUSE in which
a mother and daughter’s relationship is challenged by their very different
responses to their Aids diagnosis. Where daughter Ntombi is reluctant to disclose
to family and friends, her flamboyant mother, Pinky, educates others through
her openness and humour. Meanwhile, in Ouida Smit’s THE SKY
IN HER EYES a young girl from rural KwaZulu Natal finds herself on
the receiving end of an unusual friendship after the death of her mother from
Aids.
A Red Ribbon Around My House screens at 8.40pm on 2 Sep at London’s
NFT2, and 5 Sep at 6.15pm at NFT3. The Sky In Her Eyes screens at 3.50pm on
4 Sep at NFT3, and 8.20pm on 7 Sep. Details of Mama Africa’s national
tour are yet to be announced. For more info, contact the NFT box office on
020 7928 3232 or check out www.bfi.org.uk/nft
or http://blackworld.bfi.org.uk
MAN IS A WOMAN
Down in the dumps? Then cheer yourself up with a romantic comedy that transcends
gay and straight sexuality. Love is anything but clear-cut, as French film
MAN IS A WOMAN proves as it explores the blurred boundaries
of desire and duty. Simon, a gay Jewish clarinet player played by Antoine
De Caunes (Eurotrash) has long renounced his strict religious upbringing to
live life to the full in gay Paree. Rosealie (Elsa Zylberstein) is a Yiddish
soprano saving herself for wedlock. With his unscrupulous mother pressuring
Simon to conform, and another family member offering him a million francs
to get married and produce children, he reluctantly caves in and begins to
woo Rosealie. With a mental connection strengthened 
by their mutal love of music, Rosealie begins to fall for Simon,
and he unexpectedly begins to develop feelings for her.
Get out your Kleenex as a bittersweet and highly
unconventional romantic comedy unfolds.
Man Is A Woman
(Millvres Multimedia) is released on DVD on
5 September priced £19.99.
www.millivresmultimedia.com
THE EYES HAVE IT
Getting an appointment with your GP is hard enough, and we spend enough time
at the hospital as it is, so we’re always grateful when a medicine is
available over the counter. If you have ever had bacterial
conjunctivitis you will know that fast, effective action is needed. Previously
available on prescription, you can now buy OPTREX INFECTED EYE DROPS
over-the-counter from the chemist. So next time you get gritty, itchy, pink
eyes, instead of trailing to the clinic you can sort it out in a blink. JK
Optrex Infected Eye Drops costs £4.79 from Boots and all leading chemists
READER OFFER
Shea luxury
Taken
from the Bemba language of Zambia, Akamuti translates as ‘little tree’
or ‘a little bit of medicine’. This connection between nature
and healing can be seen in all Akamuti’s products which are made from
fresh, natural ingredients such as cold-pressed tree oils, organic forest
beeswax and honey, herbs, pure essential oils and tree nut butters. Handmade
using traditional, organic methods by Togolese women and certified Fairtrade,
the shea butter in Akamuti’s range of skin care products is a great
way to naturally cleanse, moisturise and protect your skin. We have 10 trial
packs, containing a 50g African Black Soap, 50g Cocoa Butter and 30g Shea
Butter, to give away to the first readers who send their details to the address
below. You can also buy Akamuti products mail order from this address and
online at www.akamuti.co.uk.
PN Reader Offer, Akamuti, Maes Y Bryn, Llansawel, Llandeilo SA19 7PG
SHED YOUR FEARS... AND EVERYTHING
ELSE!
American
yoga teacher Aaron Star is bringing a brave new underground fitness fad to
London. The 33-year-old guru is holding a naked yoga workshop for gay men
from Friday 23 September to Sunday 25 September in central London. Entitled
HOT NUDE YOGA, the workshop brings elements of hatha, vinyasa
and tantra yoga into a ‘no clothes environment’. Sound bizarre?
Well, maybe, but Star reckons that shedding clothes can help students let
go of their daily struggles and fears to help focus the mind on the peace
within, and many find the experience 
quite spiritual. The sessions are geared to all levels of
ability and fitness: sex is strictly not on the agenda.
Hot New Yoga will be held in Victoria, and it’s
recommended you attend the entire weekend. Admission costs £150. For
details and venue
information, email mark_w_mulligan@hotmail.com
or check out www.hotnudeyoga.com
GOOD FOR THE SOUL
“Ooh,
I love it,” purrs the Salsoul Orchestra on side two of new album SALSOUL
NATION. While poz life and British weather can bring you down, one
thing that’s sure to have you shaking your med bottles like maracas
is this upbeat collection of 80s disco-house classics from the Salsoul label’s
back catalogue. The Salsoul style has never really gone away, having been
sampled on countless dance tracks. Spiller used a snippet from Salsoul’s
Love Is You on his Number One smash Groovejet, while Black Box famously pinched
Loleatta Holloway’s raucous Love Sensation vocal for 90s dance anthem
Ride On Time. Rediscovered, re-edited and reworked by DJ Luke Howard in conjunction
with London club QUEER NATION, the album includes Holloway’s
Hit And Run, Salsoul Orchestra’s It’s Good For The Soul and Inner
Life’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. A third of royalties will
be donated to J-FLAG, the Jamaican forum for lesbians, all-sexuals
and gays. www.jflag.org
Salsoul Nation is available now for £12.99 from all good record stores
nationwide, www.salsoul.co.uk
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Eleven years on, survivors of the Rwandan genocide recount a harrowing 100
days of torture, slaughter and rape through SURVIVAL AGAINST THE ODDS,
a collection of moving personal testimonies, including from women who have
gone on to died from Aids.
Survival Against All Odds costs £12 from SURF,
a charity supporting female survivors of the Rwanda genocide. www.survivors-fund.org.uk
DIARY
South Manchester’s HEALTHY LIVING NETWORK is holding
an open day on 10 September. It’s a chance for adults to find out about
its range of arts, language, music and current affairs classes. 10am to 3.30pm,
free. Head for the ground floor, Home 4, Withington Hospital, Nell Lane, Manchester
or call 01625 525 974 •
Interested in how HIV is dealt with in the world of work? If so, attend HIV
IN THE WORKPLACE, Ensuring Positive Futures and the TUC’s lunchtime
fringe group meeting on 12 September. 12.30-1.30pm, the De Vere Grand Hotel,
King’s Road, Brighton. •
GAY SURREY is a once-a-month social group for lesbians and
gay men over 30. The next get-together is 14 September. The Cellar Bar, Hautboy
Inn, Ockham Lane, Ockham, Surrey. For details call Gino on 01932 571 286,
www.gaysurrey.org •
Funds to help STONEWALL combat homophobic bullying in schools
are being raised through AXM/Gaydar’s Sex Factor UK Tour. The ‘S’
Factor stops off at Dublin’s Dragon Bar on 17 Sept, before moving on
to Nottingham, Leeds, Blackpool and Glasgow. www.axm-mag.com/sexfactor
•
Thousands of people descend on London this month for THE WEEKEND TO
BREAKTHROUGH BREAST CANCER. Taking place 23-25 Sept, walkers will
camp overnight with tents, showers, meals and massage provided. To register,
visit www.breakthroughweekend.org
•
AGE CONCERN CAMDEN is launching a group for older gay men
living in the borough. The first meeting on 20 September at the HENDERSON
COURT RESOURCE CENTRE in Hampstead. Food and drinks provided. Call
Fraser on 020 7794 7076. •
HIV AND RESEARCH: ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
is a study day for
people with HIV and AIDS chaired by Dr Simon Barton. Talks include: Lipodystophy:
What’s New with Dr Graeme Moyle, New HIV and Aids Treatments with
Dr Mark Nelson, and Where Do We Go From Here? with Professor Brian Gazzard
(left). Entry and lunch is free. 26 Sept at the Gleeson Lecture Theatre at
the Chelsea And Westminster Hospital. Reserve a place on 020 8846 6136/6190
or email linda.connor@chelwest.nhs.uk •
SING AFRICA! is a one-day world music workshop offering the
chance to sing and move to authentic African rhythms. 24 September, 10.30am-4.30pm
at the Masonic Hall, Church Green, Witney, Oxfordshire. Admission £15.
Contact Ruth Gardner on 01993 201 672, or check out www.worldsong.co.uk/workshops.html
•
If you want help looking for work and missed the first of the UKC’s
APPLY YOURSELF courses, don’t fret, there’s another starting
26 September. It runs over five days, from 10am-4pm, with a choice of venues.
For more info and to register, call Jill on 0800 183 0303. •
There are a few places available on OASIS’ popular RETREAT WEEKEND
for people living with HIV in Ammerdown, Somerset, 30 Sept to 2 Oct. Contact
Peter on 01803 326 888 or
Mike on 01273 700516. •
THE SUSSEX BEACON’S annual fundraising BIZARRE BAZAAR
takes place the weekend of 1-2 October. Donate your unwanted leather and fetish
items, or go along and buy at knock-down prices. Open Sat, 10am-4pm, and Sun,
10pm-3pm, at the Sussex Beacon, 131 St James’s Road, Brighton. Details
on 01273 682 992.
