The Oakmoss Ring is a new, loose community formed to cater as a space for sound artists, musicians, composers, audio designers, foley artists, band members, and other music, audio and sound-adjacent creatives, who are specifically inclusive of people who are transgender, intersex, agender, non-binary, or otherwise gender diverse. Currently based in the North of the UK (Yorkshire, North East, North West), the Oakmoss Ring is open to a mix of aspiring, current, or retired professionals and hobbyists.
why the oakmoss ring?
The main reason that this group was set up is because there are not many audio spaces in the UK that directly focus towards, or care for, underrepresented genders and or sexes. Additionally, many groups, as well intentioned as they may be, are not as inclusive for folks who don't align with certain identities, especially androgenous and trans-masculine ones. The Oakmoss Ring strives and aims to:
be a safe, welcoming community for those who want and need a space to be trans and or non-binary
also be a space that provides accessibility to the best of our abilities, including neurodiverse-friendly spaces
encourage others to share their work, works in progress, or any other creative things they've been up to lately
bring together other like minded people to swap skills and knowledge, share and collaborate on projects, and help find work for each other
and what kind of things will the oakmoss ring get up to?
Currently, due to COVID (as of June '21), this is a work in progress space and physical moots won't be much of a thing until it's safe to do so.
Either way, this is what we would like to do, both remotely and when it's safe to do so physically:
online: live streams, audio only calls, video calls, newsletters
offline: casual moots in cafes, quiet pubs and or venues, visits to museums and or exhibitions, sound walks
both: talks, gigs, resource sharing, mentoring, mutual aid and community supporting, deep listening, workshops, games
offline activities
Offline moots, to start with, may take place in areas in or around Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Halifax, Bradford, Leeds, York, Rochdale, and Manchester. We will work to host in venues, or routes, that are quiet or have quiet hours, and are wheelchair-accessible. Otherwise, we hope to be able, depending on the type of offline meetup, to either capture as much recordings or images as possible, or set up a captioned video call, so folks who wouldn't be able to access or make a physical moot otherwise can be able to take part or discuss them afterwards.
online activities
For any online moots or activities that involve streams or calls, those formats can be as flexible as you wish and a member can join without 'joining in'; participation is not necessary or pressurised on you. One can also join at any time, anonymously if concerned about privacy, using the chat function instead of speaking, and also with a camera and or microphone off (basically: it's okay to lurk). platforms we're considering use for online activities and chats include Discord, Jitsi, and Hopin, and we're also looking into having transcription and or captioning set up for video/voice meetings.
who's running the oakmoss ring
The Oakmoss Ring is founded, and currently being ran by composer and sound artist Eli Rainsberry (they/them), based in Yorkshire.
If you're somebody who wants to find out more about The Oakmoss Ring - please bare in mind this is Extremely Early Stages - sign up to our mailing list at tinyletter.com/oakmossring or email at oakmossring@tuta.io if you would like to say hello!
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definitions
oakmoss: any of several lichens (such as Evernia prunastri) that grow on oak trees
ring: can be sometimes defined as surrounding, eg. for protection
moot: an old English word for an assembly of people, to socialise, share infomation and get to know one another
