Beyond the Binary: Performing Gender Then and Now

Beyond the Bary(BTB)是一个合作研究和公共参与项目，将公共志愿者、档案管理员、学术研究人员和学生聚集在一起，回答以下问题：-关于过去对性别和性别表达的态度，音乐厅和哑剧的历史表演能告诉我们什么？-围绕这一领域的新知识如何能够帮助我们理解、讨论和探索今天的性别多样性？我们将共同探索肯特大学世界级的音乐厅和哑剧收藏，我们将挖掘从维多利亚时代到现在的性别游戏和表演的历史，并与更广泛的公众分享这些历史。音乐厅和哑剧都是众所周知的形式，因为它们在探索性别方面超越了二元结构：最明显的是通过变装，但也通过诙谐的文字游戏、歌曲和音乐。因此，这些收藏成为这个项目的理想焦点。在该项目的第一阶段，我们将重点调查收藏中的材料，并对这些材料进行编目和保存，以供未来的研究人员使用。我们的研究团队将包括在坎特伯雷肯特大学档案馆工作的志愿者，他们将发现材料，供我们的技术人员数字化。它还将包括远程工作的志愿者，他们将使用额外的研究资源，如英国报纸档案和祖先，探索这些数字化资源。整个研究团队将聚集在一起，在六个研讨会上讨论和分享研究结果。我们的发现，无论是在新的视角和重新发现的材料方面，都将塑造公共参与方案的内容，这是第二阶段的重点。在项目的第二阶段，围绕我们的研究问题的发现和发现的新材料将通过我们的公共参与方案带给新的受众。这项计划包括一个“弹出式”横幅展览，巡回演出的合作伙伴包括古尔本基安·坎特伯雷剧院、皇家布莱顿剧院和朴茨茅斯国王剧院；在坎特伯雷比尼剧院推出的互动动手历史工作坊；以及由COI Double和非二进制表演二人组Lunatraktors共同创作的示范讲座音乐会。它还将由喜剧演员马克·托马斯主演，视情况而定。通过这一雄心勃勃的合作研究和公众参与计划，Beyond The Binary有多个目标。这些措施包括：-拓宽对性别和流行表演的理解和视角。-提高参与者的技能、能力和信心。-提高对性别和多样性问题的认识和包容。-加深对历史和遗产价值的了解。-增加观众与我们的合作伙伴和主办场地的参与度，从而在Covid之后推动创意和文化产业的经济发展。-提高研究能力，并开辟新的研究途径。

Beyond the Binary (BtB) is a collaborative research and public engagement project which brings together public volunteers, archivists, academic researchers and students to answer the following questions: - What can historic performances of music hall and pantomime tell us about attitudes towards gender and gender expression in the past? - How can new knowledge around this inform understanding, discussion and exploration of gender diversity today?Working together to explore the University of Kent's world-class music hall and pantomime collections, we will unearth histories of gender play and presentation from the Victorian era to the present and share these with the wider public. Music hall and pantomime are forms well-known for going 'beyond the binary' in exploring gender: most notably through cross-dressing but also through witty word play, songs and music. These collections therefore make an ideal focus for this project. In the first phase of the project we will focus on investigating the materials held in the collections, and cataloguing and preserving these for future researchers. Our research team will include volunteers working in-person in the University of Kent's archives, in Canterbury, who will uncover materials for digitisation by our technician. It will also include volunteers working remotely who will explore those digitised sources using additional research resources such as the British Newspaper Archive and Ancestry. The whole research team will come together to discuss and share findings in six workshops. Our findings, both in terms of new perspectives and rediscovered materials, which will shape the content of the public engagement programme which is the focus of phase 2. In the second phase of the project the findings around our research questions and the new materials uncovered will be brought to new audiences through our programme of public engagement. This programme includes a 'pop-up' banner exhibition which will tour to partners including the Gulbenkian Canterbury, Theatre Royal Brighton and King's Theatre Portsmouth; an interactive Hands-on History workshop presented at The Beaney, Canterbury; and a showpiece lecture-concert co-created by COI Double and the Lunatraktors, a non-binary performance duo. It will also feature comedian Mark Thomas subject to availability. Through this ambitious programme of collaborative research and public engagement, Beyond the Binary has multiple aims. These include:- Broadening understandings and perspectives on both gender and popular performance 'then and now'. - Improving skills, capabilities and confidence for participants.- Increasing awareness and inclusion around issues of gender and diversity.- Increasing understanding of the value of history and heritage.- Increasing audience engagement with our partners and host venues and thereby providing an economic boost to the creative and cultural industries in the wake of Covid.- Boosting research capacity and opening up new avenues of research.