A core purpose of Exposure: Edmonton's Queer Arts and Culture Festival is to expose audiences to the complexity and the multifaceted nature of the queer experience. Each year, Exposure selects a specific component to shine the spotlight on because it is the profound belief of all those involved in Exposure Festival that human rights and issues of equality can be addressed and illuminated through arts and culture. Thanks in part to the generous support from the Stollery Charitable Foundation, Exposure 2008 is proud to present a strong offering of events surrounding the transgender experience through film, poetry, the visual arts, lectures and an international vigil.

Through the skills of transgendered artists like filmmaker Gwen Haworth, who will be in attendance for the Sunday night "Screening the T" presentation of her film She's a Boy I Knew, writer and activist Eli Clare, who will be in Edmonton for the Transgender Day or Remembrance & Vigil and a lecture at the University of Alberta, and Edmonton's own Josie Cross, Edmontonians will have a chance to gain a greater understanding of issues facing the transgender community as well as an opportunity to experience the wealth of culture that comes from the transgender community.

Edmonton has a sizable transgender community and therefore is perfectly poised to be the centre of artistic and cultural sharing and discourse.

In the last decade, the realities of the transgender experience have come to the forefront of the queer community as well as mainstream culture. Through the various art and cultural opportunities as part of Exposure 2008 Edmontonians will be afforded a greater understanding, appreciation, and awareness of transgender issues.

For details or more information on all Exposure 2008 events, please visit:
www.exposurefestival.ca.

The 2008 Exposure Festival gratefully acknowledges funding from: the Stollery Foundation; Provost, University of Alberta; Edmonton Arts Council; and the Downtown Business Association.