About the artists

Rachael House's fine art practice is focused on queer and feminist politics. She makes objects, zines, drawings, events and performance. She has been making zines for several decades, this radical self publishing is dear to her heart and she loves to spread the word via workshops. Rachael’s art is featured in numerous publications, such as ‘Crafted With Pride’, edited by Daniel Fountain (Intellect), ‘The Art Of Feminism’ (Tate) and ‘Resistance: The LGBT Fight Against Fascism in WWII’ (Stacked Deck Press).

Ben Walters wrote a PhD about London queer performance collective Duckie, and how their participatory creative projects work as 'homemade mutant hope machines' – enabling people without much clout to start building better worlds on their own terms. Badge Café began in 2022 at Duckie’s weekly club night, when Ben helped out by operating an old badgemaking machine, reusing books and magazines as design fodder. People were into it. Ben knew a 'hope machine' when he saw one and has now delivered hundreds of badgemaking ‘hangouts’ locally, nationally and internationally, in queer and many other settings. The Badge Café has also led to his own collage practice.

Christa Holka is a queer portrait and performance photographer who has been photographing their communities both intimate and extended for over 20 years. Christa is interested in documenting the everyday lives of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be documented thereby facilitating an experience of feeling seen through a photographic process. Holka’s practice’s main motivation is to promote, elevate and showcase the communities, organisations, events, art and artists they photograph, with the intention of creating images in which people feel seen.

About the organisers

Zeena Feldman is Director of the Queer@King’s Research Centre and Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Digital Culture in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London. Her research examines how digital technologies impact understandings and performances of traditionally analogue concepts – for instance, belonging, identity and wellbeing. Zeena currently runs the Quitting Social Media project, which explores digital detox and digital overload.

Laia Becares is Professor of Social Science and Health in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London. Her research looks at understanding the pathways by which the discrimination and marginalisation of people and places lead to social and health inequities. This work has mostly focused on examining the association between othering, oppression and health, in order to understand how experiences of discrimination pattern people's health and social outcomes, as well as that of their children.

Work-in-Progress Group for Gender & Sexuality ECRs