Brendan Fernandes: Books from a Dancing Life

Brendan Fernandes is an incredible artist who has exhibited his work around the globe, including exhibitions at the Soloman R. Guggenheim, Stedelijk Museum, Bergen Kunsthall Sculpture Centre, The Third Guanghou Triennial and Manif d’Art: The Quebec City Biennial. Throughout his career he has been awarded residencies with highly regarded institutions like The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Work Space and the Canada Council for the Arts International Residency in Trindad and Tobago. Brendan Fernandes identifies that his unique cultural background (Kenyan, Indian and Canadian), has allowed him to explore what he refers to as ‘the transitional nature of identity’. His work is incredible, and I feel honoured to have spoke with him regarding the books that have helped him to have such an illustrious art career. So, please enjoy, my interview with the wonderful Brendan Fernandes…

When someone asks you ‘what do you do for a living?’ – How do you respond?

HA, I respond by saying I am an artist and immediately they ask if I paint.

strange toolsstrange tools

What are you reading at the moment?

Currently I am reading a book one of my best friends gave me for my b-day entitled Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature by Alva Noë.

Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature by Alva NoëStrange Tools: Art and Human Nature by Alva Noë

When you think about your childhood, what things come to mind?

Many things, but immediately I recall going on safari in Kenya, but also my mother reading classic fairy tales to me.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I firmly believed I wanted to be a butcher or a cowboy!

What do you think your school aged self would think of the present day you?

He would be proud of me, I was sort of a unique and awkward child, early on I never did well in school and so I think he would be happy to see me out of my shell, acting within this world with success, confidence and humility.

black skin white masksblack skin white masks

If you could wrap up a single book and gift it to yourself as you left education – which book would it be?

I think it would be Black Skin White Masks by Frantz Fanon.

Black Skin White Masks by Frantz FanonBlack Skin White Masks by Frantz Fanon

Does your reading have routine? Is there a particular time or place that you like to read?

My reading is sporadic with no real routine. I read a lot of critical theory for research in my work and when I have down time I read something more fun for pleasure, but that is rare. When reading, I have to be in a quiet space with a good window for natural light.

Which book has had the biggest impact on your career so far?

Orientalism by Edward Said, it frames post-colonialism and the ways I think and dissect cultural hegemony in my work.

Orientalism by Edward SaidOrientalism by Edward Said

Do you have any books that you strongly associate with someone important in your life?

One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina, this memoir brings back many nostalgic memories of my life growing up in Kenya and I can’t help but associate this with my childhood nanny Ester, who was a second Mother to me.

One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga WainainaOne Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

What book have you recommended the most to friends and family?

Since much of my recent work is bound to Ballet and its history I have been recommending Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans.

Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer HomansApollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans

Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?

Non-fiction, I like the facts!

Do you think reading is important?

I think it is so important, it is the tool to disseminate and cultivate ideas. It gets the mind moving and creating.

feelings are factsfeelings are facts

What’s the best book you’ve read in the last 6 months?

I just re-read Yvonne Rainer’s biography; Feelings Are Facts: A Life by Yvonne Rainer.

Feelings Are Facts: A Life by Yvonne RainerFeelings Are Facts: A Life by Yvonne Rainer

Do you prefer real books or digital books?

Real books. I love holding a book in my hand. Book design is of especial interest to me, a book can be an art object in its design. I also love pages in books with large margins, good for note taking!

Name a book that you feel every human should have to read by law.

Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity by José Esteban Muñoz.

Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity by José Esteban MuñozCruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity by José Esteban Muñoz

What is the book that you feel has had the single biggest impact on your life?

This is so hard! But Animal Farm by George Orwell has always resonated with me from high school to today. It is social and political and reflects on how we live within hegemony through the metaphorical story of “animals” in a farm.

Are there any books you haven’t mentioned that you feel would make your reading list?

Here are a few off the top of my head, but I could go on:

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul.

Out of Africa by Karen Blixen.

Symposium by Plato.

Handbook in Motion by Simone Forti.

Mourning Diaries by Roland Barthes.

Lunch Poems by Frank O’Hara.

How to be Gay by David M. Halperin.

Watership Down by David Parkins.

A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare.

What books or subject matter do you plan on reading in the next year?

I plan to read more on dance as I am teaching a course in the fall focusing on how we archive dance and performance; somethings I will be reading are Migrations of Gesture by Carrie Noland, Traces Of Dance by Paul Virilio as well as Modernism on Stage: The Ballets Russes and the Parisian Avant-Garde by Juliet Bellow.

If you were to write an autobiography – what would it be called?

Oh gosh, how about “Brendan Fernandes: Dancing Life”.

Brendan Fernandes: Books from a Dancing Life

Brendan Fernandes’ reading list

When someone asks you ‘what do you do for a living?’ – How do you respond?

What are you reading at the moment?

When you think about your childhood, what things come to mind?

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What do you think your school aged self would think of the present day you?

If you could wrap up a single book and gift it to yourself as you left education – which book would it be?

Does your reading have routine? Is there a particular time or place that you like to read?

Which book has had the biggest impact on your career so far?

Do you have any books that you strongly associate with someone important in your life?

What book have you recommended the most to friends and family?

Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?

Do you think reading is important?

What’s the best book you’ve read in the last 6 months?

Do you prefer real books or digital books?

Name a book that you feel every human should have to read by law.

What is the book that you feel has had the single biggest impact on your life?

Are there any books you haven’t mentioned that you feel would make your reading list?

What books or subject matter do you plan on reading in the next year?

If you were to write an autobiography – what would it be called?

If you’d like to learn more about Brendan Fernandes – you can find him at his website and his Twitter.

Brendan Fernandes: Books from a Dancing Life

Brendan Fernandes’ reading list

When someone asks you ‘what do you do for a living?’ – How do you respond?

What are you reading at the moment?

When you think about your childhood, what things come to mind?

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What do you think your school aged self would think of the present day you?

If you could wrap up a single book and gift it to yourself as you left education – which book would it be?

Does your reading have routine? Is there a particular time or place that you like to read?

Which book has had the biggest impact on your career so far?

Do you have any books that you strongly associate with someone important in your life?

What book have you recommended the most to friends and family?

Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?

Do you think reading is important?

What’s the best book you’ve read in the last 6 months?

Do you prefer real books or digital books?

Name a book that you feel every human should have to read by law.

What is the book that you feel has had the single biggest impact on your life?

Are there any books you haven’t mentioned that you feel would make your reading list?

What books or subject matter do you plan on reading in the next year?

If you were to write an autobiography – what would it be called?

If you’d like to learn more about Brendan Fernandes – you can find him at his website and his Twitter.

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