The Muffia is a performance art group which expresses its political ideas through live art performances, street interventions, presentations and workshops. It aims to provoke a questioning of cultural norms on the themes of gender, identity, ethnicity, and the body. The Muffia often uses comedy to present its ideas as this has proven to be a great way to engage with people.
We began in 2008 by taking our practice to the streets of London and Manchester. This was the easiest way to access audiences that don’t normally interact with live art. Performances have since been presented in theatres and various performance spaces, specifically for feminist conferences and festivals. The Muffia has also featured in The Guardian and on BBC radio.
Our practice is about implementing change, deconstructing social norms and allowing an opportunity and space for questioning. In particular we like to work with young people and give them the tools to express themselves through an artistic process. Much of own work focuses on challenging the objectification of women and the narrow construction of male desire. We believe this is having negative consequences for young people and their relationships to their bodies and to each other. And it’s something we’d like to challenge through political protest, performances and workshops. Our current project ‘The EveryBody project’ was born out of this desire to challenge and inspire change.
We believe human beings have a right to be treated as equals and that any unnecessary division based on gender, identity and physical appearance has the potential to be damaging. If that makes us ‘feminists’ - wonderful.
