Post-Sowjet Queerness, das Archiv & Kunst des Widerstandes
Projektleitung: Katharina Wiedlack
Fördergeber: FWF (Peek-Projekt)
The project is a reaction to the relatively recent rise in homo- and transphobia in post-Soviet countries. The existing research on the matter analyses the oppressive laws, structural and physical violence, damage/pain narratives of non-conforming people but pays little attention to the ways queer lives form communities, resist the pressure and continue life and love queerly despite of everything. Coming from different academic and activist backgrounds as well as artistic practices, the project team work together to bridge this research gap by documenting vitalizing images and narratives of queer people from post-Soviet spaces. Most importantly, the project will support queer post-Soviet individuals and groups to reclaim their agency, speak for themselves and create spaces to imagine different and better futures.
Over the course of three years the project team will work with local queer communities and activists in Central Asia, the Baltic region, Eastern Europe, Siberia and the Caucasus. Together they will craft artistic artefacts that reflect people’s lived realities and dreams, and at the same time help to actively build communities across borders, local, national, ethnic, class, gender and sexual differences.