Introduction: decolonial approaches to trans archiving
curated by Joshua K. Reason; edited by GVGK Tang & fabian romero; published by the Black, Indigenous, & Trans of Color Histories Lab
by Joshua K. Reason
My introduction to trans archives began with a performance by Coletivo das Liliths (Collective of Liliths) in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. A (re)imagination of the life and legacy of Xica Manicongo, an African transfemme who was persecuted under the Portuguese Inquisition, Xica reconciles “official” histories through the embodied and spiritual archives of Black, Indigenous, trans subjects across space-time. The performance offers speculation, imagination, and creation as decolonial technologies, ones through which diverse presentations and relations might take center stage in the narration of trans lives. This blog series, decolonial approaches to trans archiving, assembles five people whose archival practices challenge the boundaries of what constitutes history, who gets to be remembered, and how trans stories might be told. In Arquivo Transformista, Angel Natan speaks about how institutional and structural violence necessitate other modalities for archiving the lives and performances of Brazilian transformistas. Translated by Yuri Fraccaroli, this piece offers a glimpse into the difficulties––across space and time––of preserving personal archives that are ephemeral, sparse, and precious to those who have maintained them. In a reflection on contemporary personal archives by/for trans people, Kayla Henry-Griffin shares an account of how Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (1996) led to both their trans awakening and their career as a moving image preservationist. A play on the subtitle for the game, Video Games: A Wonderful Trans Story reminds readers how nostalgia, among other affective structures, can reconfigure trans archives beyond histories of violence, abjection, and loss. Turning to a selection of materials from the University of Victoria Trans Archives, Dr. Chris J. Lee troubles the politics of trans performance during Fantasia Fair in Provincetown, MA. By leaning into the messiness of the archive produced in the early decades of this gathering, Fantasian Fair? opens up important questions about the slippage between cultural appropriation and performing gender. Ale Torres closes this series with an intimate look at trans oral histories. Listening for Our Mirrors and Echoes places their own gender journey alongside those of other transmasculine Latinx/e/a/o folks, advocating for trans archives as a practice in working by/for/with those often written out of history. Together, these writers gesture towards archival practices that honor trans pasts, enliven trans presents, and actualize trans futures.
