Non-Conforming Criticisms | Open Discussion

A gathering for artists, thinkers, writers, critics and all others interested in the inter-relation between critical writing, experimental and creative practice, and political and organising work.

performingborders in collaboration with writer and researcher Diana Damian Martin, have been thinking through the ways writing can respond to political crises, open up speculative and abolitionist approaches to criticism and shape nonconforming editorial practices. In this event, we have invited three practitioners working in this borderland to respond to our ongoing research as a part of the Live Art Writers Network project.

Featuring guests Maddy Costa, Jemma Desai and Juliet Jacques, and joined by Diana Damian Martin, Xavier de Sousa and Anahí Saravia Herrera from performingborders, to discuss the role of criticality and experimentation in writing in relation to, from and about performance.

The evening will unfold in three parts, a moment of provocations and contributions from the invited guests and performingborders, followed by an open discussion (6-8 PM) and ending in snacks, drinks and informal conversation (8-9PM).

About the event series:
Non-Conforming Criticisms is a free programme dedicated to experimental, critical, and politically engaged writing in response to live art and performance, created by performingborders and Diana Damian Martin. We are running two events at House of Annetta and MayDay Rooms, in London, where everyone will be invited to participate in the creation of a publication, learn about DIY publishing, and engage in discussions around critical writing, experimental creative practice, and political and organising work.

See more informatoin HERE + book for the other event on the 22nd of March: DIY publishing + Non-Conforming Criticisms, an in person workshop with slow + dirty press.

ACCESS:

BSL interpretation can be provided for these events upon request. If you would like to access BSL interpretation, email us at performingborderslive@gmail.com.

To allow us time to confirm an interpreter, we require at least two weeks’ notice. We can therefore guarantee BSL interpretation only for requests made by 8 March 2026.

Venue information,see here. Please note that there are uneven stairs in this venue, and it is not wheelchair accessible (no lift access).

ABOUT CONTRIBUTORS:

Diana Damian Martin is a writer, artist and researcher working on questions of borders, performance, experimental practices as well as alternative critical cultures and collaborative work. She co-hosts collectives Something Other, Department of Feminist Conversations, Critical Interruptions, Generative Constraints and is a Senior Lecturer at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Maddy Costa works as a writer, dramaturg, critical friend, conversation facilitator, zine-maker and more. She is co-author with Andy Field of Performance in an Age of Precarity (Methuen, 2021), and collaborates with writers/artists Mary Paterson and Diana Damian Martin on Something Other, an online/IRL community for awkward writing practices. As a dramaturg she has worked with artists including Paula Varjack (iMelania, #thebabyquestion) and Selina Thompson (salt, Twine), and as a board member for the dramaturgs’ network she organises peer support gatherings. She co-hosts a pop-up theatre club – like a book group, but for performance – at Cambridge Junction, and theatres across London.

Jemma Desai is a writer, convener, facilitator and artist. Her practice — often working through, or close to the body — searches for forms that long to be held, received and connected with. She uses her body as material through which to theorise the felt and the disavowed dimensions of relational experience in divergent settings, creating performance writing, collaborative research projects and curatorial experiments.

Juliet Jacques (b. 1981) is a writer and filmmaker based in London. She has published six books, including Trans: A Memoir (2015), Variations (2021) and The Woman in the Portrait (2024). Her fiction, journalism and essays have appeared in numerous publications, and her short films have screened across the world. She teaches at the Royal College of Art and elsewhere.

performingborders is a collectively run platform for artistic research and creation, centred on notions and lived experiences of intersectional borders through live art and performance practices. performingborders is a knowledge-sharing platform created in dialogue with its contributors. Since 2016 performingborders has woven a digital and live tapestry of interconnected, cross-border experiments through interviews, artist commissions, open calls, publications, residencies, workshops, conversations, events, newsletters, and pamphlets – all freely accessible online. Co-run by Alessandra Cianetti, Xavier de Sousa and Anahí Saravia Herrera.