Workshop: Balkan Queers @ Queer Museum Vienna

A combo picnic and playing with language workshop. There will be food. Topics like LGBTQIA+, Poly, Kink will be discussed in relation to Balkanness/Southeastern Europeness

Workshop: Balkan Queers @ Queer Museum Vienna

So 11.6.2023 16:00h – 19:00h

Workshop by m Horvat and Anna T.

Where: Queer Museum Vienna (hosted by Volkskundemuseum Wien,  Laudongasse 15-19, 1080 (at the back yard on the right hand side grass area, you won’t miss us)

Accessibility: The Museum itself is accessible to wheelchair users. There is a wheelchair-accessible WC. To get to the spot in the garden, one needs to go over a few cobblestones. If you are unsure about the cobblestones, please let us know in your registration email and we will meet you at the entrance.

The event is (mostly) in English.

We invite you to come antigen-tested

The foods are for varied dietary preferences

We will have an umbrella and sunscreen as well as mosquito repellent

Picnic blankets and chairs will be available

All materials will be provided

The event is free (if you want and can you can support the queer museum with a donation)

In the event of bad weather we will move our workshop/picnic to a covered area a few metres away.

What: a combo picnic and playing with language workshop. We will have food, bring your lovely vaccinated and antigen-tested selves

Who is it for: Balkan/ Southeastern European LGBTQIAN+, people of all ages and backgrounds (people from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia)

Duration: 16:00 – 19:00 

Number of participants: 8 to 15

The workshop is free, please register at nibiq@gmx.net until Saturday June 10th to reserve your spot.

Aim: In this playful and informal workshop, we will get together to share vegetarian/vegan, halal sweet and savoury food and discuss our individual experiences with migration (background) from the Balkan/Southeast European region, and queerness.

To kick things off, we will begin our picnic (we will provide food, but feel welcome to bring stuff too) and get to know each other. Then we will slowly move to the more creative part of the workshop and discuss whichever of the topics below feel relevant or interesting as well as others that we have in our minds at the moment.

Content and language/s: Our common language will be English but all other languages are welcome. Contemporary gay, lesbian, trans, non-binary, poly, ace, kinky discussions use English/ North American terms. In Austria and Vienna, the Balkan element is everywhere, yet, we don’t see terms within the queer and gay communities to reflect that. There is often the need to express feelings, needs, subjectivities, qualities, traits and represent communities and groups in a positive, playful, and humourous light that English and mainstream queer culture might not be able to encapsulate. We want to propose that if we bring all our languages together we might be able to creatively overcome those limitations.

We will introduce some elements and talking points from our own experiences and viewpoints, or we might not need those at all and simply focus on experience sharing (no pressure to be active, there are no expectations on any one person) and for the final part of our workshop we will try to play with language/s and hack them. 

Topics in relation to Balkanness/Southeastern Europeness

  • LGBTQIA+, Poly, Kink 
  • Families of origin and families of choice
  • Politics, activism, involvement “here” and “there” priorities and goals
  • Representation and language (κουιρ, Qρίες, gender neutral language and pronouns)
  • Political correctness and Balkanness/Southeast Europeness
  • Balkan humour(s)
  • Migration background and queerness
  • Overlapping small communities
  • Class 
  • What feels like home? Is there such a place?
  • (Anti)assimilation
  • Social mobility
  • Labelling 
  • Socialising 
  • Language/s that don’t represent the non binary/trans experience

The workshop is led by educator and activist m Horvat, and artist and educator Anna T.. m speaks German, English, and BCS, and Anna speaks a bit of German, English, and Greek. The main language will be English but all languages, words, and exchanges are welcome.

This event is supported by the Austrian Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sports

Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, Sport und öffentlicher Dienst

Queer Museum Vienna im Volkskundemuseum Wien 

Laudongasse 15-19

1080 Wien

reachable through 

Tram 5&33 Stop: Laudongasse

Bus 13A Stop Laudongasse