BREST.- The exhibition LEADER PRIDE 2 brings together works by H·Alix Sanyas (1988) and the Belgian-French collective, Bye Bye Binary. Bye Bye Binary was formed is 2018 during workshops held jointly by the École de Recherche Graphique (erg) (School of Graphic Research) and La Cambre visual arts school in Brussels, and defines itself as a learning experiment, a community, a workshop for typographical creation, a network and an alliance. Their work focusses on the creation of new typographical forms adapted to the French language, especially by designing glyphs and ligatures (and other elements of symbiosis or liaison) which make it possible to express a greater diversity of gender identities beyond the masculine/feminine binary. Their approach is profoundly political and committed, and springs from a perspective that combines numerous struggles. They question the political weighting of graphic design, language, and the representation of bodies and identities.

Specifically, they have developed a range of fonts that are inclusive, non-binary, post binary under construction, and have created the Queer Unicode Initiative (QUNI) to facilitate the use of these fonts. They also recently drew up the ‘Conditions d’Utilisations Typographiques Engageantes (CUTE) (Conditions for the Committed Use of Typography)’ providing guidelines for their use.

At the centre of the exhibition is a series of banners by the collective Bye Bye Binary which perfectly expresses their approach of making non-binary languages and identities visible. First shown at La Station – Gare des Mines in Paris, these banners are not mere decorative objects, they are manifestos floating in the breeze. By carrying messages in the non-binary inclusive typographies they are developing (like iels [the French alternative to the gendered ils/elles pronouns]}, these banners do not merely talk about inclusivity, they practise it in a very visible, large-format way. The flag, a symbol of power, of belonging to a nation or group, becomes an educational and performative vehicle for their research. By investing it with their queer and non-binary messages, Bye Bye Binary is creating powerful symbolic subversion. They are subverting a tool of hegemony to turn it into a flag of diversity and resistance.

Also exhibited, alongside fanzines and printed objects, is the new installation by H·Alix Sanyas. Produced as part of Nouveau Printemps 2025 in Toulouse, JE VEUX YN PRÉSIDOL is a video installation exploring the representation of LGBTQIA+ desires and struggles through the prism of language and design. The installation takes its inspiration largely from the archives of the American presidential campaign of author Eileen Myles, a figure of the LGBT community and from the poem I want a President by Zoe Leonard. Myles’ candidacy was an unconventional ‘write-in’ campaign (where the elector writes the name of the candidate on the voting paper) and ran under the slogan ‘An Openly Female Candidate’. This approach was at one and the same time an artistic performance project, a protest and a form of political criticism.

After graduating at École Estienne in Paris, they continued their studies at the Beaux Arts de Paris. H·Alix Sanyas is committed to questions of pedagogy and transmission. In 2018, they co-founded the inclusive typography collective Bye Bye Binary and has been involved as an activist and graphic designer in numerous collectives since 2010. Their artistic practice has been featured in numerous exhibitions, held in spaces such as La Station Gare des Mines and 6b in 2024, Frac des Pays de la Loire in 2024, Frac MECA in 2023, Cité Internationale des Arts in 2023, Centre d’art BBB in 2023, Galerie Marcelle Alix, Sultana, Air de Paris in 2023. Their documentary Herman@s (Les Adelphes) received numerous awards between 2021 and 2023 including Prix Perspective du Moulin D’Andé – Les Écrans Documentaires, Best Direction at the Las Vegas Queer Arts Film Festival, the Pride Award at Sicilia Queer Film Festival, Streen Pride at Divine Queer Film Festival, Best LGBTQI+ Documentary at Queer Stories. H·Alix Sanyas is working on their next creative documentary Bye Bye Binary & La Drammaire Française.