Collected Item: “Gyre Oral History, 2021/03/31”
Title
Gyre
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Gyre
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#SouthAfrica #Johannesburg #queer #music #activism #TransDayofVisibility #BLM #healthcare #dating #climatechange #metoo #publictransit #Americanization #writing #dance
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Johannesburg, South Africa
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
My pronouns are he/him/she/her/they/them
What is the age of the interviewee?
25 to 34
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
I am ethnically Zulu and I am black.
Describe the oral history.
Self-Description: “My name is Gyre. I am a multidisciplinary artist based in South Africa with global ambitions. I specialize in music, but I also work as a freelance writer as well as in dance. I’m a dancer learning to choreograph. Political commentator, particularity with regard to the LBGTQA+ community. I identify as queer. I am homoromatic and homosexual at this point in my life. You never know honey, it’s a spectrum. I had my first venture into artistic expression that is rooted in queer rights and queer understanding and queer theory, was my debut album, titled Queernomics, which was a documented audio-visual book about the contemporary experiences of a Black queer South African male, and that has gotten me into the positions that I express myself in, both out of passion and out of profession. Inkosi Yenkonkoni, which means “The Gay King”, in my native language which is Zulu.”
Other details available here:
Works produced during the pandemic: Kithi, International LGBTQ+ Rights Festival, writing on football.
Some of the things we spoke about included:
“What happens at the top is just politics, what happens at the bottom is real life.”
Thinking about the term “pandemic”
Listening to the body
The pandemic exposing state corruption
Having written a song called “Quarantine” in 2018
The inadequacies and privileges of Medical Aid in South Africa, having aged out of Medical Aid before COVID, the personal impact of worse-health insurance during pandemic, the importance of demonetizing health care
Pre-COVID keeping busy: organizing, walking, collaborating
Transit during COVID, sub/urban and outskirt disparities
Canceling shows and taking dance classes and rethinking what it means to be productive
Global Americanization and the impact of Trump’s pandemic denialism on South African health
Moving out of disbelief about the severity of COVID after losing a loved one in the first wave
Gratitude for the global influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sadness that tragedy in the diaspora brings neocolonialism to the fore
The importance of social media for queer counter-violence and activist fractures among LGBTQA+
Feeling allyship with the #metoo movement
How homophobia intersects with everyday altercations about social distancing
The anxieties of hooking up during the pandemic
The importance that scientists learn to speak in lay terms about climate change and vaccines
Existence as resistance and creating art
“Spread love not tolerance”
Other cultural references include: Trans Day of Visibility, astrology, and the TV series Pose.
Other details available here:
Works produced during the pandemic: Kithi, International LGBTQ+ Rights Festival, writing on football.
Some of the things we spoke about included:
“What happens at the top is just politics, what happens at the bottom is real life.”
Thinking about the term “pandemic”
Listening to the body
The pandemic exposing state corruption
Having written a song called “Quarantine” in 2018
The inadequacies and privileges of Medical Aid in South Africa, having aged out of Medical Aid before COVID, the personal impact of worse-health insurance during pandemic, the importance of demonetizing health care
Pre-COVID keeping busy: organizing, walking, collaborating
Transit during COVID, sub/urban and outskirt disparities
Canceling shows and taking dance classes and rethinking what it means to be productive
Global Americanization and the impact of Trump’s pandemic denialism on South African health
Moving out of disbelief about the severity of COVID after losing a loved one in the first wave
Gratitude for the global influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sadness that tragedy in the diaspora brings neocolonialism to the fore
The importance of social media for queer counter-violence and activist fractures among LGBTQA+
Feeling allyship with the #metoo movement
How homophobia intersects with everyday altercations about social distancing
The anxieties of hooking up during the pandemic
The importance that scientists learn to speak in lay terms about climate change and vaccines
Existence as resistance and creating art
“Spread love not tolerance”
Other cultural references include: Trans Day of Visibility, astrology, and the TV series Pose.
On what date did you record this oral history?
2021-03-31T16:14