Click the links below for the schedule for Friday and Saturday!
On both Friday and Saturday lunch is at 14:00 and dinner is at 19:00 – Parties with performances after!
Below you can find more info on each workshop!
FRIDAY
Organising Direct Action Aimed Towards Gender Identity Clinics in the UK. By Gemma, of Edinburg Action for Trans Health (EATH)
The aim of the workshop is to highlight our experience in setting up a horizontally organised radical action group to challenge health inequalities that trans and non-binary people face. We would be looking to discuss: issues faced in getting to where we are; things we’ve learned along the way; plans for the future and how we’re planning on doing that; community engagement and the challenges of this; benefits we’ve seen due to this work; and the intersection of trans liberation within the framework of other spheres of oppression.
The format of the space would be to provide a discussion supported by a series of (probably humorous) powerpoint slide of topics above. We would be looking for participants to develop a sense of how difficult it is to start things like this (not very) and how to maintain moment and bridge the gaps in experience of anarcho-organising and queer lived experiences. We would also be talking about how we develop our ideas and how setting small achievable goals can lead to greater capacity to challenge larger and larger beasts. We welcome participants with a wide range of experience and backgrounds, in fact it’d be highly beneficial for that to happen.
Gemma identifies as a transfemme nb queeroid.
Self-Defense/Self-DeDance. By Lukas
You will learn how to react on attack and violence in few simple moves and techniques. This not require power or strength just knowledge of few basic moves which you can code in your body. Also, how to build self-confidence and to protect personal boundaries.
My trainings are dedicated to LGBTQ+ community, allies and friends. I represent LGBTQ+ friendly Sports Club “Gwiazda” (“The Star”) which was founded as an reaction on male- and hetero-oriented, macho martial arts clubs in Warsaw. I’ve been leading trainings for over two years now in Kung Fu Academy and it’s not only about how to fight with your opponent, but also how to fight with the oppressive system, to get empowerment and self-confidence with facing discrimination, prejudices and hate speech.
I’m activist, anti-violence and gender educator, mover of “Glosy Przeciw Przemocy” (Voices Against Violence) association. I’m certified self-defense instructor of Polish Sport Academy. 1st degree instructor of Urban Escrima (London school), reality based self-defense and combat system based on Filipinian martial art Escrima Concepts. Karate Kyuokushin brown belt. Apprentice of Ukrainian Kickboxing WAKO champion- Pavel Zamayatin. Muay Thai and Taekwon-do ITF practician. Trainer of author combat system for LGBTQ+ community – QUEER FIGHT (mixture of K1, self-defense, street fight and Taekwon-do elements). I’m co-founder of RKS “Gwiazda” sports club (Mobile Sports Club “The Star”) designed for LGBTQ+ movement. I’m performer of Komuna/Warszawa Theater and bodywork practician (contact improvisation, physical theater, animal flow, calesthenics). Author of “Self-DeDance” bodywork programme combining contemporary dance, fitness and martial arts. Personal trainer, vegan.
Decolonizing Gender. By Lana and Phoenix
Western civilization teaches us that the arrival of a straight white man is the starting point of history. However, gender and sexuality have always been queer. Significant pre-colonial societies had relatively loose notions of gender and sexuality, and it was the imposition of Western colonial systems that informed strict binaries in these sphere. But now, when post-colonial societies are stuck in their previously forced yet regressive norms, the West is shedding its ignorance in the name of progression, and is even seen itself as the symbol of progression. We will talk about the gender variety in decolonial societies and the direct connection between colonization and the force of gender binary.
My name is Lana, I am a white-passing non-binary femme, activist. The workshop is for the lovely queers of color out there, and it is insistently advised for the white queers who want to raise their awareness on white supremacy and colonization of gender, body and sexuality.
Healing and Energizing Through Movement. By Nadia
Instead of trying to process stimuli through the mind, process them through the body by movement, dance and exercises! Nadia Bekkers will guide us through a vibrant dance workshop based on the ideology of creating a space free of judgments from others and ourselves. The exercises are aimed at raising awareness about how we carry our body and about healthy alignments. Using a mixture of body-mindful practices, yoga, circus, theatre improvisation, theory, concept development and dance, combined with various types of music from hiphop to salsa, to soft electronic and house, this workshop will be a healing and energizing experience.
Diverse perspectives of Jewish life outside the Shoah and Israeli state politics with a focus on trans*. By Nui*
Lecture and group work with ensuing discussion on the stories and realities of being Jewish. As an impetus to think differently about Jewish people and their present and history. It is about learning other perspectives of Jewish history, culture and life outside Shoah and Israeli state politics. The main emphasis will be on the topics: Trans in Thora/Talmud, jewish state critique and feminist jewish ideas. A great potpourri!
The workshop has an antizionist Jewish perspective and will not be the space for non-Jewish “Anti-Deutsche” to set their thematic accents. It also won’t be a space for non-jewish people to use Jewish state critics for anti-Israeli resentments to justify and propagate their anti-semitic ideology. It is about Jewish and thus oppressed perspectives. It remains complicated.
About Nui: The lecturer is female socialized, trans*, white, influenced by anarchist ideas, ashkenazi jewish, living in the diaspora, well educated. I speak German/English and French and I could imagine being part of a mixed language discussion. The lecture itself is in English.
Followed by performances and DJs!
SATURDAY
Play Escapes for Adults. By Max Alexander
My name is Max Alexander and I’m a 25 year old queer neurodiverse trans man living in Edinburgh Scotland. I’m a playworker, writer and artist. This workshop combines my love for play work with my desire to create nurturing and explorative community spaces.
The session is a chance to explore play and what it means in our lives. We look at play as a way to discover and meet our own physical, emotional and sensory needs. We will explore how we can adapt our environments to create play spaces and escapes within them. We also consider the importance and significance of play as part of our queer, trans and disabled communities. The workshop consists of discussions, experience sharing, non-verbal play activities and free play in whatever form this takes for you. Participants are actively encouraged to prioritise their own wellbeing and be involved in ways which are safe and positive for them. There may be a fort.
Building Communities of Accountability and Care for Survivors. By Zain
This will be a discussion-based workshop on how our wider community can better support survivors/victims of intimate partner violence or abuse. For many survivors, we are not only trying to heal from the violence/abuse but also what has come after and the potential of being let down by our communities. If a survivor wants the perpetrator to be held accountable, community support for this is vital. In this space we can start to openly discuss how to build communities with accountability and support and care for survivors. This can include topics such as: survivor safety, self-determination and healing, importance and limitations of community accountability, the ways survivors’ marginalised identities affect the support they’ll receive, how non-survivors can support survivors and accountability work, our visions of what community care for survivors looks like, or any other issues the group would like to discuss.
No-one will be expected or required to talk about their own personal experiences. We will start by discussing how to respect each others boundaries and needs in the conversation so latecomers may not be able to join if we’re already past this point.
Kendama. By Ingi
Kendama is a wooden cup and ball toy that people can interact with in many ways, not just playing it. This is a tutorial/jam session that will be happening throughout the day. Young people are welcome = age 5+
DJ workshop. By Emil
Emil (DJ Sparkly Pony) is a queer and trans techno DJ from Malmö, where he is very active in the queer and underground scene. He’ll explain you how he DJ’s and learn you some techniques and those who want to can try it out themselves. Emil has had this workshop before in the Stockholm Anarcho Pride and in music camps for trans kids and girls and it’s usually a lot of fun! Max. 10 participants, sign up needed (dj.sparkly.pony@gmail.com)
Drag & Gender Make-up. By FKA
Drag & gender lecture (1st hour), Make-up tutorial (2nd hour).
A half lectured piece on my experiences with views on the collision of drag and gender & also the dispersion too. I talk about my struggle with gender, drag, marrying the two together and learning to feel comfortable in my skin. My aim of this lecture is to create a safe space for gender fluid, non-binary and transgender kids, adult & youth. Having built such an internationally successful drag career, it has been hard dealing with the burden of my personal trauma on a day to day basis, but I am now at a safe place and I’m here to talk about that.
A second half will be a makeup tutorial of one of my overly flamboyant and artistic makeup faces. I will guide a step by step process of how to sculpt the FKA face and all the secrets of how I achieve my glamour, I will also talk about the different types of faces I create depending on how I’m feeling about my gender on that given day.
Sex Work 101. By Lucia
“Sex workers are and always have been a part of the queer community. Queer/ lgbtqia persons choose to work in sexual service sectors (porn, full-service, massages, strip clubs and many more) for various reasons. Sex work IS work and still not a job like all others. Starting sex work can come with many questions and especially for queer people it can be tricky to figure bs information and networks. Sex work 101 is thought for queer persons who are interested to start sex work and seek to connect and get some questions answered. We will have tea, coffee and cookies together and you will get the chance to freely ask queer sex workers who have been in the business for a bit what you want and need to know.
Please note: This is not a place for people who are just curious and have no intention to ever do sex work or people want to discuss sex work. It is supposed to be a safer space for queers that want to do sex work and current queer sex workers to share experiences and knowledge. Please also be aware that we are very open and willing to share and help but might not be able to answer all questions. We can only speak from our own perspective and while we might be able to help you to get in touch with organizations and other sex workers, we might not have experiences in all sectors or from your individual perspective.
Having said all of this, we look forward to meet you! If you are interested, please send us an email as we want to keep the place as safe as possible and therefore will only have a limited number of participants. (leckerluzie@gmx.de)
Confessions of a Queer Arab: My experience as an LGBT+ Refugee. By Shrouk
Shrouk El-Attar is an Egyptian LGBT+ Rights Activist who has been living in Wales since 2007. They were forced to claim asylum in the UK following a series of events.
Growing up Queer to a Conservative Muslim family in Mubarak’s Egypt is not easy. And when finally thought to have reached safety in the UK, the term “Safety” could not have been further from the truth. Shrouk’s involvement in the Egyptian LGBT+ scene is undoubtedly dangerous, yet their experience of how the UK treats queer refugees poses new unexpected challenges.
Shrouk will share their story about being a queer refugee from Egypt, a country where it is often considered the state’s, the community’s, and the family’s duty to punish lgbt+ individuals for who they are and who they love. They will also reveal information about some of the inhumane treatment queer asylum seekers are often met with at UK’s home office.
(N)SFWorkshop. By Yin Yin, of Publication Studio Rotterdam
Get your hands dirty with (N)SFWorkshop and turn tacky, glossy, shiny porn mags into catchy, absurd, hilarious handmade memes. NSFW is a commonly used internet-term indicating ‘Not Safe For Work’, often referring to pornographic content. This is in turn being transformed by users to ‘Safe For Work’ content by layering drawings on top of the images, creating comical scenarios without the junk. Publication Studio Rotterdam invites you to make collages, illustrations and anything else within your liberty to remix the images and to create a more positive alternative, or apt critique of the mainstream porn that somehow makes its way into our consciousness. During the workshop we’ll be producing them all together as a zine!
Publication Studio Rotterdam is a publisher, a printer & binder and a space for social gathering. Above all, PSR tends to the social life of books.
‘of closets and lockers’ – handling LGBTIQ+ topics with students. By m Horvat
We will focus on the organisation of and methods for school workshops concerning queer topics like e.g. non-cishet identities, coming out, and struggles LGBTIQ+ people (can) face. Ideally, everyone will leave the space with a lot of new ideas how to work on queer topics with school students. Most of the work and conversations will take place in small groups; Interaction with other participants is central to the process. Target audience are queer folks from all backgrounds, as it is one of the main goals to collect, share, and spread our knowledge (= respective lived experience). Please bring a pen and paper!
m Horvat, 27, is a Vienna-based student who has been involved in different aspects of gender sensitive youth work as well as queer feminist projects and ideas across Austria.
queeristan.org 