Meet our OutFest bursary recipients!

We are delighted to announce the nine wonderful recipients of our OutFest bursaries!

Thanks to the Scottish Government’s Community Recovery Fund 2, we have been able to provide the following very talented people with bursaries to develop their amazing ideas throughout February. They’ll be showing us all what they’ve been up to at special sharings of their work on 26 and 28 February. Keep reading to find out more!

AJ Paterson is an artist based in Dundee, whose work revolves around documenting their own lived experiences as a queer person growing up in a heteronormative society. For OutFest, AJ is creating a collection of paintings exploring themes of self-love, acceptance, and healthy queer relationships, with a personal focus on identity and the reclaiming of self-love and empowerment.

Amy Longmuir, a freelance dance and circus artist based in Edinburgh, is using the OutFest funding to create an aerial silks act. This act, inspired by recent personal experiences, will be about the pressures of meeting gendered expectations when being hired as a performer.

JD Stewart, a gay playwright, performer, and digital content creator, is using the OutFest funding to organise a development day and sharing of his play, One Twenty-One. Shortlisted for a couple of awards over the last few years, One Twenty-One is a love story for a time when all we need is a bit of hope.

Rylan Gleave is a composer, performer, and voice tutor based in Leith. Rylan is using the funding provided by OutFest to work on his solo Requiem that critically examines the idea of a “protagonist” by re- and de-contextualising ancient religious text, and by exploring forgiveness, Queer reverence in relationships, and the abuse of patriarchal power.

Photo credit: Aimee Stewart

Sarah Smart is a Dundee-based filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist with an interest in exploring gendered identities and challenging heteronormative ideals. Sarah is using the OutFest funding to conduct informal interviews that will inform the development of photographic portraits that celebrate the unique and diverse individuals that collectively form the LGBTQ+ community in Dundee. 

Simon Krawczyk, a first-year student at DJCAD, is using the OutFest bursary to fund his work on the short, silent animation Patience. This piece explores the experiences of a trans person trying to reach out to the NHS for help and the seemingly never-ending waiting list of supposedly 'accessible' services.

Photo credit: Amy Irene Marquez

Tom Harlow is an international and award-winning burlesque & cabaret artist based in Glasgow. For OutFest, Tom is focusing on this newest character Merman Tom, an all-singing Merman who loves to read alternative and empowering stories to kids of all ages. The funding provided by OutFest will be used to work with a scriptwriter, playwright, and musical director to finalise the direction of Merman Tom’s story. 

Rhiannon Mudaliar is a queer artist and director of colour who focuses on creating socially engaged art film that amplifies minority voices. Rhiannon is using the OutFest funding to develop their current body of work, RECORD THIS, which is set to be exhibited at the 2022 DJCAD Degree Show. The selection of short films will discuss the urgency of documenting contemporary queer lives, and the fleeting, desperate beauty of transformation at this moment in history. 

Last but certainly not least, we have Laila Noble, who is a Queer identifying Director, Producer and Playwright from Wales, but based in Scotland. Laila will be developing a scratch performance of her play Flick and Pie Go Fishing for OutFest with Afton Moran and Emma Lynne Harley. Flick and Pie Go Fishing is a dip into the pool of online love and a delicate, humorous, and honest look at Queer love.

So, there we have it – these are the nine fantastic recipients of our OutFest bursaries! If you’d like to meet them and have a little peek at what they’ve been working on, make sure you come along to our sharings at the DCA meeting room. They’ll be on Saturday 26 February at 3.30pm and Monday 28th February at 6.30pm. See you there!

About OutFest

Shaper/Caper and Dundee Pride present a pure massive celebration for LGBTQ+ History Month! February will be chockablock with creative events, workshops and discussions that explore what it's like to be a queer person in Dundee right now.

We’re collaborating with some absolutely fabulous local partners to brighten up your February, including V&A Dundee, DCA, DJCAD and many many more! From pop-up performances to choreography workshops, employability talks for the creative industries to our Battle of the Icons TikTok challenge, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.

We’ll also be kick-starting our brand new community disco, Discotheque (just like a roller disco without those pesky skates!) and launching the new-look version of our magazine show The In/Out Crowd featuring some wonderful guests!

We’re here, we’re queer, come join us!

OutFest is funded by the Scottish Government's Community Recovery Fund 2.