The Radical Tenderness Manifesto (2015) is an embodied poetic exercise of resistance where we dive into this seemingly oxy-moronic term asking ourselves: ‘how can radical be tender – and tenderness be radical – in our alliances, our communities, and our interpersonal relationships?’

ESPAÑOL (pdf), original version published by Hysteria Magazine (online, Jul 2015)

PORTUGUÊS (pdf), transl. by Dani & Daniel

• gravação do manifesto na voz do artista Miro Spinelli aqui

ENGLISH (pdf), transl. by Dani & Daniel

ITALIAN (pdf), transl. by Francesca Carol Rolla and Irene Pomatto

FRENCH (pdf) , transl. by Quimera Rosa

CATALÁN (pdf) , transl. by Ariadna Pous Solà

GERMAN (pdf), transl. by Caro Ley

TURKISH (pdf), transl. by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu / Fuck me Kitty

GREEK (pdf), transl. by Elena Pagani, Petros Perakis Kollias and Natalia Avlona

Daniel and I first came in contact with the term Radical Tenderness through working as part of La Pocha Nostra (LPN). We wish to thank the founders of LPN who began using the term in the 90s, the various artists that have worked with the troupe throughout the years and all who have participated in the multiple performance-pedagogy workshops in which they have been able to explore radical tenderness from different perspectives and practices. As performance artists and educators, ex-members of the troupe, with this manifesto we want to honor its origin and its continuous reverberation in projects we are engaged with around the globe. We ask ourselves: “what does radical tenderness mean for us, in our lives and work within and outside of LPN? Can tenderness be radical? Can radical be tender?” While we do not foreclose on the possiblity of rage, we ask how even rage can be tender within political, transfeminist, and decolonial projects of resistance.

This version was created through an online poetic jam in 2015, as part of my initial research on radical tenderness within the context of an MA at PEI/MACBA. I have since continued to pursue performance-pedagogy work around radical tenderness, and a more recent ‘invitation to radical tenderness’ (2019) can be accesed here.

www.danidemilia.com / www.danielbcoleman.com