Gushing to Perform is a series where Gabby invites and curates emerging LGBTQIA+ artists to experiment with developing a short performance in front of a supportive, queer audience.
Empowerment of queer, trans and global majority communities is more important than ever in a climate of harm to trans women in the UK in particular. Opportunities for experimenting with performance are ever more scarce in London with budgets cut, and funding for freelance artists increasingly precarious.
Gushing to Perform gives space, funding and time to LGBTQIA+ artists to create short, experimental performance pieces in a supportive environment. Performance can be as expansive as the artist would like - spoken word, live art, singing, poetry, drag - anything live in space.
Curated by PRIM
Presented by Gushing to Perform
Wednesday 29 July 2026, ICA, London
IF I MAY was an exploration of bravery in artistic practice spanning voice, performance, and movement. The event brought together four artists whose practices interrogated what it meant to extend the self outward, and to remain present for whatever comes back.
Singer Nali, performers Sienna King and Sabrena Osei-Tutu, and creative Cash Nahuo each brought a distinct language to the stage showing that that vulnerability, rendered with intention, is its own form of power. Together, their work asked the audience not simply to observe, but to reckon with their own role as witness, to consider what it means to receive another person's truth.
IF I MAY was curated by K Bailey Obazee, whose vision for the evening was rooted in a deep belief that artistic bravery is not the absence of fear, but the refusal to let fear have the final word.
This evening was curated by K Bailey Obazee from PRIM, presented by Gushing and in collaboration with Montez Press Radio and ICA. Thanks to Arts Council England.
All photos by Bernice Mulenga
Episode 11: TRU DA VEIL
Curated by TRIBE
Presented by Gushing to Perform
Thursday 25 June 2026, ICA, London
TRU DA VEIL was an evening of music and performance art that responded to the current state of the world by challenging fixed ideas of identity, survival and expression. Rooted in Black Trans experimentation, the work created a soft and central space for Black Trans people to exist, imagine and be witnessed fully through sound, movement, memory and spirit. We heard from artists Chloe Filani, The Prodigy Sisters (Munya Jani & Sakeema Crook), faith//agency and TRIBE.
At a time where Black cultural expression is continuously extracted without care or credit, TRU DA VEIL explored the alchemy created when past, present and future meet. Engaging themes of Black survivorhood, Afro-pessimism, Afrofuturism and Indigenous spirituality, the evening invited audiences to move beyond voyeurism and bear witness to life beyond the veil.
This evening was curated by Oduenyi Nwike from TRIBE, presented by Gushing and in collaboration with Montez Press Radio and ICA. Thanks to Arts Council England.
All photos by Myah Asha Jeffers
Episode 10: Deen/ø, Gaby Sahhar and Oduenyi Nwike
Curated by Gabriela Cala-Lesina at legendary lesbian bar, La Camionera
Gushing to Perform was a night of live experimentation with words, poetry, performance, and reading. The event brought together three brilliant LGBTQIA+ artists—Deen/ø, Gaby Sahhar, and Oduenyi Nwike—to share new, in-progress, or experimental work. Curated by Gabriela Cala-Lesina, the series supports artists to develop and experiment with live art, performance, poetry, or spoken word.
TRIGGER WARNING: Oduenyi's piece contains mention of r*pe All photos by Christa Holka