Yarli Allison & Letizia Miro / Peripheral Corporalities

18. 6. 2024 – 16. 8. 2024, opening 18. 6. 2023 7pm

The mainstream of society views sex workers via the prism of culturally ingrained stereotypes that lead to prejudice and disdain. Sex work is often considered a marginal activity, one we turn a blind eye to and pretend it does not exist. Even within feminist circles there is a belief that sex work is a form of violence against women. Debates about it usually take place without the participation of the sex workers themselves, despite the fact that they claim the right to decide about their bodies.

The exhibition project Peripheral Corporalities by artists Yarli Allison and Letizia Miro delves into this community and explores the personal and collective experiences of sex workers. Through collected real stories, the artists aim to create a nuanced portrayal of sex work. They focus on the formation of identity and the sharing of traumas, challenging stereotypes and instead narrating the dreams of those who shape the hopeful collective imagination of the contemporary demimonde.

In the setting of a staged room that enhances the intimate atmosphere, they present the two-channel video installation “This is not for Clients,” which invites visitors into the inner world of Letizia Miro, an escort service provider. The video, based on her personal experiences, blends economic and political arguments together with melancholy, anger, joy and beauty. The piece does not offer such a simplistic portrayal as might be expected – glorification or victimization – but instead provides a multitude and depth of thoughts and emotions.

Letizia Miro, along with others, finds hope and optimism within the sex worker communities, where she engages in conversations through interviews with sex workers and shares experiences and opinions, just as she does now with us. They are all in this together. To celebrate their resilience and hope, she composes a poem, Peripheral Corporalities, in which she literally uses their voices and highlights their agenda, where the personal is political. The political is transformed into hope and utopia, which become more important to them than ever before. If those on the margins, deprived of privilege by the current systems, do not hold on to their utopias and their bodies, their own stories and the creation of their own narratives, who will?

Yarli Allison (she/they) is a Canadian-born, Hong Kongese art-worker based in the UK/Paris with an interdisciplinary approach that traverses sculpture, installation, CGI (VR/AR/3D modeling/game), moving-images, drawings, poetry, tattooing, and performances.

Graduated in 2017 with an MFA first-class honour in Sculpture from The Slade School of Fine Art , University College London (UK), Yarli was granted the entry award of the year’s Yitzhak Danziger scholarship. Yarli’s recent works (2021-22) were exhibited at Tai Kwun Contemporary, (HK), LINZ FMR (Austria), FACT (Liverpool), Barbican Centre (London), Institute of Contemporary Arts: ICA (London), V&A Museum (London).

Letizia Miro, a London-based Catalan poet and erotic writer, explores queer erotica, embodiment, and desire through experimental writing. Her publications include “Victorian House Share” (2023) in Propel Magazine, “The Perfect Circle” in Glanta’s “The Gossip Issue” (2022), “Hotel with a View” in Kritiker’s “The Reality Number” (2022), and “Ways of Seeing Porn” in MAI Magazine.

She has also performed her poetry at events such as the European Poetry Festival and the Queer Festival of Poetry, and has been featured in collective exhibitions like “Decriminalised Futures” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Collaborative projects, such as “Working from Home” with Yarli Allison in Hoax Magazine and “Migrant’s Monologues” with Karessa Malaya in Espacios Transfronterizos, showcase her commitment to collective storytelling.

exhibitors: Yarli Allison & Letizia Miro
curator: Anežka Januschka Kořínková

The exhibition is open every week from Thursday to Saturday, always from 11 am to 7 pm.

The project is realised with the financial support of the Capital City of Prague. Prague, the Prague 3 Municipal District, the Ministry of Culture and the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic. Thank you for your support.