IMPORTANT UPDATE:
{B/qKC} is now an independently-run archive separate from The Kansas City Defender. For more information visit, www.kansascitydefender.com/bqkc.
In an exciting collaboration, Oddities Prints has created two limited edition prints for the launch of {B/qKC}: Kansas City’s new, official Black queer digital archive.
Based on the inaugural collections donated to {B/qKC} by local Black queer elders Gary Carrington, Tisha Taylor and Starla Carr, these prints tell the story of pivotal moments in Kansas City’s Black queer history from the 1990’s.
Conceptualized over the past two years, Nasir Anthony Montalvo, founder of {B/qKC}, is disrupting modern-day museum and archival practices through this transdisciplinary project: utilizing abolition, radical protest, analog-digital manipulation and the written word to tell the stories of Black queer Kansas City elders.
And now, Montalvo is excited to be collaborating with Oddities Prints to create two limited edition prints–a Risograph print and bandana–for {B/qKC}‘s launch. Through this innovative collaboration, Oddities Print’s was able to utilize material directly from the Black queer archive to design prints that tell the story of two pivotal moments in Black queer KC history–that is, the history of Soakie’s (KC’s once former Black gay bar) and KC’s first Black gay pride in 1999.
The Merchandise
KC’S FIRST BLACK GAY PRIDE: Risograph Print
Oddities Print’s Risograph print repurposes the original graphics and motto from Kansas City’s first Black Gay Pride in 1999, founded in part by local legendary Black drag queen, Tisha Taylor (and dually whose collection in {B/qKC} is credited on the print).
RISOGRAPH PRINTING is a unique method of art-printing, using non-archival soy-based inks to produce organic spot-color results. Each print is made with 11”x14” paper by the French Paper Co.
{B/qKC}/SOAKIE’S: Bandana
The bandana, on the other hand, uses various visual motifs to tell the story of Soakie’s: a sandwich shop in Downtown Kansas City that, through an unlikely partnership between the Italian mob and two Black gay men, would become a booming Black gay nightclub from 1993 – 2004. The four epithets (“Lord,” “Lady,” “Duke” and “Duchess”) reference the once-famous Black pageant competitions held at the bar; while the step-and-repeat, “sandwich-wrapper”-esque background treatment, dartboard and more reference what once made this safe space so great.
*Bandanas are silkscreen printed on 21” x 21” USA Made cotton. Oddities Prints has used waterbased inks for a super soft feel. Artwork is influenced by the orignal aesthetic of Soakie’s itself.
Both merchandise items are available from pre-order until February 28th, so act fast! Shipping and in-store pickup are available; or folks can elect to pick up merchandise directly at {B/qKC}’s official Launch Party on March 1st, 2024 (must be a ticketholder; tickets not included).
{B/qKC} is a special archival project and extension of The Kansas City Defender’s work. Learn more about our commitments to Black truth, justice, community and joy on our About Us page.
