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Travis Alabanza (born 15 November 1995) is a British performance artist, writer and theatre maker.


Career

Alabanza started their career in the London spoken word scene, with their poems were first published in 2015, in the ''Black and Gay in the UK Anthology'' and becoming a Barbican Young Poet. Later that year, Alabanza went on tour for their theatre show ''Stories of a Queer Brown Muddy Kid'', performing at clubs, bookstores, and performance venues across the United Kingdom and abroad. They have an honorary fellowship from Rose Bruford College and have been featured as a guest lecturer and panelist at over forty universities in the United Kingdom during LGBTQ and Black History month to discuss issues related to race, sexual orientation, and
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
. Their work has been featured at Duckie, Bar Wotever, And What! Festival, Hamburg International Feminist Festival, Late at Tate, the V&A, and Transmission Gallery. They are currently the youngest person to be awarded a residency at The Tate in 2017/2018. In 2016, Alabanza starred in the five star roundhouse production of ''Putting Words in Your Mouth'' by Scottee. In 2017, they began working on a solo exhibition, ''The Other'd Artist'' for Transmission Gallery in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. Alabanza released their first chapbook titled ''Before I Step Outside. (You Love Me)''; a compilation of visual art, poetry, diary entries, and essays. They also performed the leading role in the stage adaptation of
Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...
's punk film ''
Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...
''. Alabanza has critiqued mainstream feminism for having been rooted in
transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...
and mainstream feminists for often neglecting trans and gender non-conforming people in their discussions of progress. In 2018, Alabanza created ''Burgerz''. This show focuses on audience participation regarding an incident in 2016 where a person threw a burger at them while walking across a bridge in London. The show ran its first UK Tour from October 19 to November 17 in 2018. It has toured globally since, with Alabanza or other performers in the lead role, closing to a sold out run at Southbank Centre in 2023. In 2019, Alabanza and Kaulbach, childhood friends, collaborated on an immersive installation titled ''All the Ways We Could Grow'' for the Free Word Centre, London. The installation explores the question: "What's it like to be trans?". In 2020, during the first COVID lockdown in England, Alabanza and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley gave a live-streamed performance for the Free Word Centre of ''If I Feel Lonely Maybe U Do 2?''. ''Overflow'', written by Alabanza, directed by Debbie Hannan, and starring Reece Lyons, was produced by the Bush Theatre in London in 2020 and 2021. It later had an Australian version starring Janet Anderson, which opened in Darlinghurst Theatre. The play "explores trans safety and is set in a public toilet". In 2022, Alabanza released their debut full-length semi-autobiographical non-fiction book ''None of the Above: My Life Beyond the Binary.'' The book was listed as one of Waterstones Best Book of 2022: Politics and won the 2023 Jhalak Prize. In 2023, Alabanza and Hannan co-created ''Sound of the Underground'' at the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
. The play featured drag performers from London’s nightlife scene including Midgitte Bardot (Tammy Reynolds), Ms Sharon Le Grand, Rhys’ Pieces (Rhys Hollis), Chiyo, Lilly SnatchDragon, Sue Gives a F*ck, Sadie Sinner (Mwice Kavindele, founder of the Cocoa Butter Club), and Wet Mess.


Personal life

Alabanza was born in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
and grew up on a
council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...
. They started making their art when they were 16 years old, helping them work through and process what adversities they were facing as a
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
,
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
person. Alabanza began with their poems just as drafts on their phone, thinking they'd never show them to anyone else. After getting the burger thrown at them, they got fed up with keeping their feelings to themselves and presented their poems to their friend who was going through the same issues, which made Alabanza decide to make their works public. Alabanza identifies as
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, transfeminine, and gender non-conforming, and uses the pronouns they/them. Alabanza speaks out for trans rights and the importance of safe spaces and communities for gender non-conforming and transgender people. In Shon Faye's 2021 book '' The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice'', she quotes Alabanza talking about their identity: "When I say trans, I also mean escape. I mean choice. I mean autonomy. I mean wanting something greater than what you told me. Wanting more possibilities than the one you forced on me." In November 2017, Alabanza was denied access to a female dressing room while shopping at Topshop in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, the fashion retailer owned at the time by
Sir Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. In May 20 ...
's
Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (B ...
. Alabanza was told to use the men's dressing room. They left the store and filed a complaint through social media. Alabanza accused Topshop of going against their policy to allow trans individuals to use the dressing rooms associated with their preferred gender. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' published an opinion piece by Janice Turner, incorrectly implying that Topshop's policy was changed because of Alabanza's tweet and claiming the policy would lead to child abuse. Subsequently, Alabanza received online death threats over Topshop's policy.


Works


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabanza, Travis Living people 1996 births 21st-century English poets Artists from Bristol Black British actors English performance artists English spoken word artists Black British LGBTQ people English LGBTQ rights activists English LGBTQ poets English non-binary artists English non-binary actors English non-binary writers Non-binary poets Queer feminists Queer poets Transfeminists Writers from Bristol Non-binary activists