Puppies Puppies

Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo (b. 1989, Turtle Island), widely known by the moniker Puppies Puppies, expands ideas around the readymade by imbuing ubiquitous and everyday objects, signifiers, and actions with a personal and political charge. She has, for example, reconfigured antibacterial gel dispensers, toilet bowl liquid, the color green, as well as the acts of sleeping, peeing, and taking a pill in installations and performances that challenge ableist frameworks of artistic and capitalist production. Many of Puppies Puppies’s exhibitions have also included actionable components: a GoFundMe campaign to support a friend’s transition fund, free HIV testing and counseling, and a working shower available for use by the public. Kuriki-Olivo thus asserts that life can be viewed as its own form of endurance practice, especially for those whose very survival is at stake, including trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people of color. (Vivian Crockett)

HOW DOES YOUR SUBMITTED WORK RESPOND TO THE CIRCA 20:25 MANIFESTO?
This film is about how I’ve witnessed transgender women/ transgender femmes of color seek refuge in a world that wasn’t built for us. One influence was a documentary Paris is Burning which centers Black & brown trans & queer folx in NYC ballroom culture. My film begins with the spiritual refuge of Atabey (Taíno goddess of water). One of my family members is an indigenous chief who fought for tribal recognition and spoke to the United Nations about genocide. I incorporated footage of trans activist Sylvia Rivera which was archived by artist/writer Tourmaline. A “death drop” in Brooklyn to salsa dancing in the Bronx to transjoy in the rain with my sisters all places of refuge.

IF AWARDED THE £30,000 CIRCA PRIZE, WHAT 10-MINUTE WORK WOULD YOU CREATE – AND HOW WOULD IT EMBODY THE SPIRIT OF REFUGIA?
I’m contemplating multiple ideas. A short fictional drama of the first Trans Woman of Color to be president of the United States. I do not see this being a nonfictional reality in my lifetime but I want to dream it to fruition. I’m also thinking an ancestral approach incorporating Butoh (a form of Japanese theater). I’ve been working on an all trans cast Butoh play centering healing. I also envisioned a documentarian approach archiving video of various trans leaders thoughts and accomplishments. This piece being displayed in the UK where trans rights are actively being stripped away feels like a way to humanize us in the public eye.

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Funding for the CIRCA PRIZE is generated entirely by the #CIRCAECONOMY, a circular model that reinvests proceeds from affordable art sold on CIRCA.ART into new public art commissions, charitable causes, art education and prizes. Since launching in 2020, the initiative has raised over £1 Million, placing artists and communities at the centre of an economy that continually reinvests in the future of art and culture.

The CIRCA PRIZE 2025 winners will be revealed LIVE in Piccadilly Circus on Monday 13 October, with a special 30-minute award ceremony starting at 20:00 BST. Don’t miss it!