On Saturday 10 December 2016 to mark International Human Rights Day 2016 and the end of the UN 16 Days to Eliminate Violence Against Women, GoMA worked with the artist Mandy McIntosh on her work International Human Rights Day Disco.

For International Human Rights day, the Studio at GoMA will become a discotheque, literally a library of records, DJ-ed by Artex Scar AKA Mandy McIntosh, The Mighty Bass Warrior Sound System and Mungos Hi Fi . The aim was to create a social space for listening and dancing. A Tramalfadorean timeline of the human grooves that stir/red us to strike/march/donate/knit/embrace/dance/reject/become.

For Mandy this work came out of the radical roots of disco. “From the direct actions of Swingjugend amd Zazous, who danced to “degenerate” swing jazz in the face of Nazi oppression, to the Rock Against Racism movement of the 70s and 80s, music has always provided a social, structural or lyrical counterpoint to attacks on Human Rights. Records can act as a transmission of political information or reinforcements of unity. They can also illustrate what human beings want to happen within an echoing epoque and transfer to us where we feel most ourselves.” Mandy McIntosh 2016

A massive massive thanks to everyone who brought their joy, kindness and dancing feet and joined us on the afternoon for conversation, listening to the music and dancing til the sun went down. We loved and and are already planning next year’s one!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.