We are artist duo Status Queer. Together we use spatial and relational interventions to explore queer and trans experiences and weave new connections between people. Our work brings the most marginalised groups under the LGBTQ+ umbrella together to build community, claim space and shout from the rooftops.
We belong to a long history of norm-breakers. Like those who came before us, we will not bow to the pressures to ‘act normal’ or ‘blend in’ to gain the paper-thin acceptance of the ableist, racist, cis-het society around us. We stand on the shoulders of those who were not silent, so good luck sewing our mouths shut.
We are also co-founders of Gothenburg based NGO This is the Queer Space, read more under projects.
Kolbrún Inga Söring
Kolbrún Inga Söring is a genderqueer artist working in Gothenburg whose work spans several areas of artistic expression from performance, video work and site-specific installation to community cultivation and cultural production.
Sam Message
Sam (they/them) is an artist and activist working with the spatial & the relational to explore connections between people. As a drag-performer they put their bizarre, playful and punk-like aesthetic to explore the surreal, the subversive and the political. They are both a researcher of queering practice and theory and a curator specialising in queer and feminist histories and themes. Other work includes inclusion, accessibility and engagement consultation, education and evaluation.
30 September 2023
Status Queer: Rebel Drawing @ GIBCA
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Fuck the idea that we ‘can’t draw’ or that ‘’we’re not good enough’, we all deserve to make, to collaborate and to explore. This place is for us too, so let’s get our hands dirty and have some fun.
In this edition of Rebel Drawing we’ll be getting creative with our Together Tools – tools for making that need many hands at the same time to operate – to play with our memories, each other and GIBCA’s exhibition for Röda Sten Konsthall ‘forms of the surrounding futures’.
— Confirmation emails sent 2 days before the workshop —
***THE DETAILS*** Our cultural institutions do not represent us, not ALL of us. That’s why we’re here with this workshop – to make our marks there too. In this workshop we’ll be using our ‘Together Tools’ to make large scale artworks. Together, we’ll dig into what it means to be queer and trans people in this city and into our ideas about community, possible futures and utopias. We’ll also be exploring and responding to the exhibition ‘forms of the surrounding futures’ – but on *our* terms.
Yes we will be playing, but don’t worry we take play very seriously. So come down and let’s get stuck into some bizarre, meaningful and stimulating making.
Once again for those in the back: No drawing experience, skill or talent necessary – this isn’t like drawing as you know it.
We won’t be getting too messy but we’ll be using ink so don’t wear anything too precious
***PRIORITY GROUPS***
<3 As always priority groups are first in line to get workshop places. Read more about our priority groups on our website.
This workshop is produced for GIBCA in collaboration with ABF.
Röda Sten 1, 414 51 Göteborg
There are no upcoming events scheduled at the moment.
Previous Events
Sep 26 2023
OPEN OUT presents QUEER CINEMA : TROMSÖ
7:00 pm
In this debut of Open Out's new Queer Cinema they invited Flat Earth Film Festival and
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In this debut of Open Out‘s new Queer Cinema they invited Flat Earth Film Festival and SAQMI to collaborate on an event around Queer Moving Image in the Nordics. FEFF @flatearthcinema who are based in Seyðisfjörður and SAQMI are both ground-breaking organisations in their own right when it comes to moving images, with very different approaches. This will be a night you do not want to miss! The screening program features a variety of multiply marginalised voices around the Nordic region and the United States, and does in that way make visible and readily available experiences that often do not reach the mainstream, but that have an immense value to our communities and society at large. With this new addition to the festival, Open Out Cinema hopes to bring a sense of community and awareness of queer existence across the vast Nordic regions, and with that we hope to contribute to broadening the general understanding of what Nordic perspectives might look like.
In addition Status Queer will join Open Out the second time around to kick off the event with their relational exercises around the festival’s theme CURRENTS. Status Queer will also be there, to answer any questions after the screening. Let’s come, cry, celebrate, take over and have a blast together <3 Everyone is invited to continue the night together with us at the Verdensteatret Bar after the screening.
The Program
1. Queering Sápmi – Sami stories beyond the norm Film makers: Sara Lindquist(they/them) and Elfrida Bergman(she/her)
2. Blossom Film makers: Matti Arbiv(he/him) & Tekla Andersson(she/her)
3. The fourth Element Film maker: Futuro berg(he/him) ft. Poet Veronica Odetunde(she/her)
5. Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons? Film makers: Wren Krisztin, Grace Krisztin & Theresa Hoffer
6. brev till mig själv eller transvården eller vita personer ENGLISH TITLE: a letter to myself or the gender clinic or white people Film maker: Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao
7. Chavo Film maker: Alecio Araci (he/him)
Storgata 93, 9008 Tromsö
Sep 13 2023
INITIATIONS Drag School OPEN CALL
11:55 pm - 11:55 pm
TIME FOR ROUND 2 BABY!! Our drag school is back APPLICATIONS OPEN until September 13. Apply
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TIME FOR ROUND 2 BABY!! Our drag school is back APPLICATIONS OPEN until September 13. Apply now on our website statusqueer.com.
Our drag collective CULT is over a year old and its time to initiate a new generation of naughty, radical and political devotees to our midst.
Who is INITIATIONS for? You, yes you, you who has no experience and you who’s a semi-seasoned pro and you who’s somewhere between or beyond these categorisations! As long as you’re dreaming about doing drag then this is for you!☁️☁️
We know that drag can be super intimidating to get into and there’s a lot of barriers between you and doing your first performance but have no fear, Status Queer is here ♀️
—
How does INITIATIONS work? Through 8 weekly evening workshops we’ll work together to build a performance from the ground up. We’ll develop characters, looks and performances from beginning to end.
The school closes with our show CULT where we present our hard work for an adoring audience. In other words, you’ll be *ahem* initiated into our cult *wink wink nudge nudge*
Workshops will be a meeting place between new and old CULT members – we’re here to learn together and build our collective!
—
How do you get in? We’re holding open applications NOW until SEPTEMBER.13
The application is short and does not require or inquire about experience! Read it carefully to give yourself the best chance at getting in.
Remember: desire, vision and diversity are more important than experience and current capability!
Feel free to ask any questions to our Instagram (@wearestatusqueer) or email (info@statusqueer.se)
Sep 08 2023
Sep 09 2023
CULT OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIALS
9:30 pm
DRAG SHOW INCOMING!!
On your knees, meat machine. Open your mouth. Get ready to be sucked deep
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DRAG SHOW INCOMING!! On your knees, meat machine. Open your mouth. Get ready to be sucked deep into our tractor beam. All- the- way- to- the- oth-er- s-i- -d- – -e- – – – /¤*~§*****
Join us for our latest explosive out-of-this-world drag show ‘CULT of the extraterrestrials’.
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ESSENTIAL INFO In gbg for 2 nights! ✨September 8 @ 21.30 ✨September.9 @ 22.30 Kvartersscenen 2Lång ✨TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
Were expecting to sell out so get these hot cakes whilst you still can!!
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THE SHOW In this juicy mouthful of radical queer culture❤️, Gothenburg’s loudest❤️, sauciest❤️, and most sacrilegious drag collective.
But there’s more!! CULT is joined by a supernaturally special guest all the way from Lilla londons stora bror- the beating blue heart of London’s alien underground herself: ❤️Bev❤️
Expect the bizarre, the naughty and the comic with this taste of a drag gbg doesn’t get to see.
All CULT members are a product of Status Queer’s drag school THE INITIATION. If you long to get into drag, sign up is coming soon! See our website or insta for all the details!
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✨ECONOMIC SUPPORT As always, free tickets for ❤️ marginalised LGBTQ+ community members available as needed.
Our priority groups: ✨Binary & nonbinary trans people ✨Newly arrived people ✨Racialised people ✨Working class / economically precarious ✨People with disabilities
Contact us if you belong to one of these groups and cannot afford a ticket, we’ve got your back no questions asked.
Andra Långgatan 30, Gothenburg
Jul 22 2023
SJUKT: Bimbo Revolution
11:00 pm
Calling all bimbos, himbos and thembos: the time has come! Glisten those bodies with glitter, smother
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Calling all bimbos, himbos and thembos: the time has come! Glisten those bodies with glitter, smother those lips in gloss and grab your rhinestones, because SJUKT is back with a vengeance.
SJUKT is a queer / trans event. Well behaved straights allowed under supervision.
EVENT OVERVIEW Location: Gothenburg, exact location released to ticket holders on the night Tickets AVAILABLE NOW : https://secure.tickster.com/705k7xcugrpukgt 22.July @ 23:00-late Economic support for priority groups available [read below]
DJs 23-1.30: TBA 1.30-4: TBA
~~~
THE JUICY DETAILS
Never ending hyperproductive world-consuming war-stoking wage-slave capitalism is our poison. But don’t worry we’ve got the antidote: ✨Collective Bimbofication✨
Indulgence. Self-care. Desire. Community.
The Bimbo, the Bimboi and the spectrum that lies betwixt exists purely for the pursuit of joy. In these times our joy – queer joy, trans joy – is an act of resistance. So let’s paint the town pink and bathe in bimbo pleasure paradise for just one night.
Don’t forget: we control the gaze, we are not subject to it.
⚡ As always SJUKT is **For us by us bby**
~~~
THEME: BIMBOS HIMBOS & THEMBOS
All bimbos throughout space and time welcome:
+ All Dolly Partons, Elle Woods and Mae Wests + Legal experts and radical leftists + Glorious goths and precious punks + Nice naughties lovers (00-talet for all you swedes) and naughty 90s nightmares + Cyborgs and Witches, washerwomen and gentlemen + Whatever your himbo heart desires.
Let loose, shake it out and be the bimbo you want to see in the world.
Fabulous looks get goodies on the door xoxoxo Dressing up NOT REQUIRED! Just showered with love, power and attention
~~~
PRIORITY GROUPS
⚡If you cannot afford a ticket and belong to one of @wearestatusqueer ‘s priority groups then message them and they’ll make sure you can come.
⚡You belong to one of their priority groups if you are LGBTQ+ *and* racialised, living with a disability, newly arrived, working class/economically precarious or a binary/non-binary trans person.
Apr 19 2023
WE WERE THERE
4:45 pm - 7:00 pm
We Were There is back with another workshop using play and making to insert us into
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We Were There is back with another workshop using play and making to insert us into the story of who we are and where we come from as a people. This time we’ll be using stories, fictions and alternate histories to reclaim our lost histories.
✨WE WERE THERE + 16:45-19:00, 19. April + Entrance of Konstmuseet + English (Stöd på svenska vid behov) + The workshop is free [ you do not have to pay admission to the museum to participate] + ☝No talent necessary. We’re here to find ways to play together, no-one gets to tell us what’s right or wrong, good or “bad”
~~ THE SERIES ~~ We queer and trans people come from a long line of ⚡️boundary-crossers, norm-breakers and resisters⚡. But our heritage is constantly being ✏️written and rewritten✏️. What survives has been filtered by all of the oppressive -isms which continue to plague our society today.
Where we come from, how we got here and who came before us are key questions in figuring out who we are, and who we are not, right now in the present day. That’s why heritage matters.
~~ THIS WORKSHOP ~~ In this workshop at Konstmuseet, we’re going to be taking matters into our own hands, challenging official timelines with our own stories. Using a variety of playful writing and collective storytelling methods to create an alternate history.
After the workshop our tales will be made publicly available through a audioguide, to give Gothenburgers the taste of a queer past they missed and the queer future they need.
This workshop will be held in predominantly English, but we will support Swedish speakers and you are very welcome to participate in Swedish!
We Were There is a collaboration between Status Queer and Gothenburg’s museums including Göteborgs Stadsmuseum and Göteborgs Konstmuseum.
Götaplatsen 6, 412 56 Göteborg
Mar 04 2023
CUM2GETHER: Alter ego Exhibition
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Not Your Habibi and Status Queer are collaborating to bring you an experimental and interactive exhibition
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Not Your Habibi and Status Queer are collaborating to bring you an experimental and interactive exhibition ❤️?CUM2GETHER❤️?
With Not Your Habibi bringing you Digital delights, saucy aesthetics and delicious dreamy vibes and Status Queer getting you to play with ridiculous tools, floor sized paper and cunty club kids. This exhibition is the queer intervention we all need right now! So strap on your alter ego and come enjoy the Sweetest sensations to welcome back the steaming hot spring ♨️?️
NOT YOUR HABIBI As queer persons from the SWANA region (Middle East, South West Asia, and North African region), we are a minority within a minority in Sweden. We are often finding it hard to find the right space for gatherings where we can feel comfortable cherishing and celebrating our culture, heritage, and LGBTQIA+ identities. For that reason, we believe there is a need for a space that will cater to folks from the SWANA region and of course their allies.
~
STATUS QUEER Status Queer is artist duo Kolbrún Inga Söring and Sam Message. Their colour-saturated playful work uses spatial and relational interventions to build an inclusive, caring and diverse LGBTQ+ community.
Mar 04 2023
Mar 05 2023
SJUKT x NOT YOUR HABIBI : Alter ego
11:00 pm - 4:00 am
We’re back! Club kids, bare nips and bouncing tits. For our extra special sweaty return we’ve
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We’re back! Club kids, bare nips and bouncing tits. For our extra special sweaty return we’ve teamed up with the fucking fantastically fabulous NOT YOUR HABIBI @notyourhabibi.se.
This SJUKT x NOT YOUR HABIBI collab is also bringing you an exhibition by Not Your Habibi and @wearestatusqueer. Keep your eyes peeled for more information coming soon <3
Not Your Habibi is a SWANA queer safe space founded with the main focus of celebrating the duality of our queer identities and cultural backgrounds. We have collectively experienced the lack of representation in queer spaces in Sweden and the underwhelming opportunities presented to queer margnalized artists. Our vision is to create a safe space as well as housing and honouring all creative expressions by queer artists from the SWANA region.
This event features only queer SWANA talent.
~~~
THE EVENT ?TBA: Released on the night ?Tickets AVAILABLE NOW ?4.March @ 23:00-late ❗️Economic support for priority groups available [read below]
?DJs? 23-12: Mavi 12-02: Rasuul 02-04: Noise Diva
~~~
THE DETAILS Calling all disgusting demons, cyber-pussies and naughty nibbling nuns. EMERGENCY ON THE DANCEFLOOR. So this one goes out to all you heavenly hoes, alien asseaters and sweaty superheros too.
There’s Queer/transphobic wankery afoot and we need to shake it, spin it and dip it the fuck out.
It’s time to take back the night and wrap ourselves in another evening of sweet, spicy and saucy queer love.
**For us by us bby** This is a queer / trans party. Well behaved straights allowed.
~~~
THEME: ??♂️ALTER EGOS?? Are you a voluptuous villain? Do chains and whips excite you? R u gunna come as a mouse? [duh] Super queero? Domestic goddess? Karl Marx (but even sexier? ??ahh) Whatever your alter ego is we wanna see you in your full glory[-?]
Fabulous looks get goodies on the door xoxoxo
Dressing up NOT REQUIRED! Just showered with love, power and attention
~~~
PRIORITY GROUPS ⚡ If you cannot afford a ticket and belong to one of @wearestatusqueer ‘s priority groups then message them and they’ll make sure you can come. ⚡ You belong to one of our priority groups if you LGBTQ+ *and* racialised, living with a disability, newly arrived, working class/economically precarious or a binary/non-binary trans person.
Dec 31 2022
Jan 01 2023
SJUKT: NEW YEAR’S EVE ***fantasy***
10:00 pm - 4:00 am
Are you ready to call in the ?new year? with a dose of your favourite ✨queer
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Are you ready to call in the ?new year? with a dose of your favourite ✨queer club kid✨ comrades? SJUKT is here for all your saucy filthy lil needs my loves?.
Its ?️ raining queer in GBG right now baby but lets not forget the biggest night of the year ?NEW YEAR’S EVE?. I don’t know what to tell you darlings. It’ll be fabulous??. And in this economy?? In this political climate?? What we need is a big blow out with our queer and trans comrades to shake it all fucking loose in a space FOR US BY US?.
For a little added glitz and filth we’ll be bringing a little taste of CULT madness ? to welcome in the new year.
?LINE UP?
? TBA
? Dress us to impress us my loves?. Extra effort for this special occasions plz – looks get goodies as usual ?
THEME: ✨FANTASY✨
You all know we need to a break from this bullshit ? of bad-ism’s we’re all living through – so lets escape into our fantasies ?
? What’s your fantasy?
⚗️ Witches, wizards and magical gremlins? ? Sexy space aliens come to service your every desire? ? Pussinator 5000 from the planet Glamtron? ? Jesus but he’s a lil gay and wants to get whipped? ? Half human half horsey? ? The ultimate crystal-queer-first-time-sign-guesser? (oh wait but what’s your moon sign? OMG makes total sense) ? We’re all just cats? Nothing weird, just pussy-licking good.
⚡ If you cannot afford a ticket and belong to one of @wearestatusqueer ‘s priority groups then message them and they’ll make sure you can come.
⚡ You belong to one of our priority groups if you LGBTQ+ *and* racialised, living with a disability, newly arrived, working class/economically precarious or a binary/non-binary trans person.
Nov 26 2022
5-Årsfesten: SAQMI X QRAB
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm
The ? biggest birthday ? of the year ? is nearly upon us so GET. YOUR.
SAQMI X QRAB X Status Queer. From pulsating punk? to pussy pussy pussy?, orchestra? to singer song-writer?, performance? to after-party??, we’re teaming up to bring you an evening you won’t forget?. Bubbles?, nibbles? and… dance-ibbles?? So come on friends of SAQMI & QRAB it’s time to raise (a number of) glasses? to our big 5 year bonanza.
?LINE UP? ? Christina Kjellsson ? Jon Ely Xiuming ? Queerorkestern ? Eva Warberg ? Vicious Irene ? Silas Lilo ? Divursula
All to be hosted by Status Queer’s very own ? @sammessage – AKA Köttungen ?
??And for those of you who just need a moment to soak up some queer history – we’ll be screening SAQMI’s Queer Moving History films throughout ✒️?
After this jam backed evening of queer delights ? we’ll be diving straight into the ?✌? AFTERPARTY. Check out @thisisthequeerspace for the biggest the baddest and the naughtiest ?party in GBGay(+): @thisisthequeerspace ‘s SJUKT.
***Tickets to the birthday party grant free entry to the afterparty***
It’s ☂️ dress to impress ☂️ – from slutty ? to conceptual ? to con-slut-cept ?️ and everything in between and far beyond we expect to see you dressed to the nines.
THEME: ✨STARS✨ ? Movie Stars ? Pop Stars ? Historical ? Collapsing red dwarfs and imminent supernovas are all valid and as are you my anti-royalist QT+ royalty
⚡ If you cannot afford a ticket and belong to one of @wearestatusqueer ‘s priority groups then message them and they’ll make sure you can come.
⚡ You belong to one of our priority groups if you LGBTQ+ *and* racialised, living with a disability, newly arrived, working class/economically precarious or a binary/non-binary trans person.
Nov 26 2022
Nov 27 2022
SJUKT: Stars
11:00 pm - 4:00 am
SJUKT is back baby ? and this time its all about the ✨ STARS ✨ darling.
GET.
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SJUKT is back baby ? and this time its all about the ✨ STARS ✨ darling.
This edition is a liiiiiittle special?. On top of our usual ? gloriously pulsating queer paradise ?, this time we’re teaming up with @saqmi_ & QRAB ? for their 5 year ? birthday bash??. Hosted by @wearestatusqueer, this event is going to be everything from drag? to orchestra?, queer history? to tasty nibbles? and from punk? to singer-songwriter?. Check out the full line-up on @wearestatusqueer ‘s insta.
?️ Tickets to SJUKT: ✨Stars✨ give you ***free entry*** to the main event – which will also be taking place at SJUKT’s queer castle?.
?LINE UP? ? TBA
You all know the drill by now, its ☂️ dress to impress ☂️ – from slutty ? to conceptual ? to con-slut-cept ?️ and everything in between and far beyond we want to see everything you’ve got my darlings so let it all hang out.
THEME: ✨STARS✨
? Movie Stars ? Pop Stars ? Historical ? Collapsing red dwarfs and imminent supernovas are all valid and as are you my anti-royalist QT+ royalty
⚡ If you cannot afford a ticket and belong to one of @wearestatusqueer ‘s priority groups then message them and they’ll make sure you can come.
⚡ You belong to one of our priority groups if you LGBTQ+ *and* racialised, living with a disability, newly arrived, working class/economically precarious or a binary/non-binary trans person.
Nov 17 2022
GRÖNGLÖD
4:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Hi! Did you miss us? We are here, waiting in the woods, all covered in moss.?
?WELCOME
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Hi! Did you miss us? We are here, waiting in the woods, all covered in moss.?
?WELCOME TO GRÖNGLÖD, an art project weaving together 7 different mediums: music, dance, film, photography, installation, illustration and painting.
Be careful not to miss this GLOWING evening debuting GRÖNGLÖD in all its forms.
?In order to protect vulnerable attendees, please wear a mask to the event.?
………………………………..
GRÖNGLÖD
17:e November The space is wheelchair accessible and has an accessible toilet. For more info on accessibility drop us a message!
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
PROGRAM:
16:00-17:30 SKOGSUPPRORET WORKSHOP (workshop held in Swedish)
Under workshopen kommer Lan Pham & Hanna Tebrand, aktivister från Skogsupproret, berätta hur Skogsupprorets arbete med att skydda de sista skogarna görs i solidaritet med långvariga samiska kamper genom folklig kraft. De kommer att försöka öka förståelse för vad det innebär att delta i civil olydnad, som metod för samhällsförändring.
17:17-18:30 TRANSDANCE WORKSHOP – Eli Edbom(they/he/dem/han) – (workshop held in Swedish and English)
In this workshop you’ll be invited to move, share and dance. Eli will be presenting core aspects of their artistic and pedagogical practise for you to take part of, in line with their project TransDance – dance for and by trans* people. Some parts of the workshop will be taken from the dance classes done within TransDance, other parts will be taken from the GRÖNGLÖD concept.
19:00 BIRTHDAY PARTY for @saqmi_ + GRÖNGLÖD Vernissage
19:30 GRÖNGLÖD SCREENING + ARTIST PANEL – facilitated by Status Queer’s Sam Message(they/den)
20:22 Eli Edbom – GRÖNGLÖD LIVE PERFORMANCE
? ARTISTS OF GRÖNGLÖD:
Mo Wiklund (they/hen) – music, artistic director, coordination, editor Eli Edbom (they/he/dem/han) – choreographer, dancer Amanda Almgren (she/hon) & Embla Berndtsson Tordal (she/hon) – videographers, directors, editors Lex Eliot Rose (they/hen/den) – art photography, documentation, director Mio Mikkelsen (he/they/han/hen)– illustrator Aija Sillén (she/hon) – sound installation
Mastring: Siri Landgren direction consultant: Jas Lin(they/them/ta), @allthatjasss
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Amanda Almgren and Embla Berndtsson Tordal are the two cinematographers of GRÖNGLÖD. They are a filmmaking duo, and have worked on several different projects together with reappearing themes of queer stories, environmental and social issues. Amanda and Embla have both studied film production and are currently studying documentary filmmaking together, with an interest in exploring the different genres and forms of film.
Lex Eliot Rose is a nonbinary artist and photographer. Intrigued by the borderland between photography and performance, they examine relations between body, spaces, and power. Lex’s artwork has been exhibited in Australia, Italy, South Korea, USA, as well as in Sweden. They have a Bachelor’s degree in Rhetorics, and by summer 2023 hopefully also a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art Photography. In GRÖNGLÖD, Lex has been photographing.
Eli Edbom is a non-binary, transmasculine and otherwise queer dance artist, choreographer and pedagogue from Stockholm. Using their main genre ballet as a starting point rather than shying away from it, he actively and critically works with its aesthetics to explore themes of identity, memories and transformation. Focusing on storytelling – they use character work and embodiment to find identity and ‘the genuine’, and to (gender)queer the ballet.
Mio Mikkelsen is a Swedish/Danish illustrator and comic artist currently studying at Serieskolan in Malmö. They mainly work within sci fi and fantasy, creating fantastical creatures and colourful characters, as means to explore new worlds as well as processing our current one. Within Grönglöd, he’s made illustrations for the poster and for the exhibition at the release event.
Aija Sillén (born 2001) is a composer and improviser with a great interest in electronics. She is currently studying composition at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. Her latest works try to bridge gaps between composition, sound art and improvisation, where generative and aleatoric elements are guiding forces both in composition and performance. In most cases, these works connect to themes of communication, social hierarchies and community.
Mo Wiklund(they/them) is a trans/queer artist, composer, activist, cellist, vocalist and producer from Gothenburg, Sweden. Contemporary/experimental electronic music, free jazz improvisation(often at BRÖTZ @brotz_jazzklubb) and abstract painting and sculpture are the defining parts of their artistic expression, some living on their Instagram(@0m0.o0).
On their YouTube-channel you can currently watch the video “Okänt Namn/Name Unknown(2020)” magically honouring Trans Day Of Remembrance.
GRÖNGLÖD is supported by; ABF; Kultur Ungdom; This Is The Queer Space; The Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images; Region Västra Götaland; Göteborg Stad; Gothenburg Studios Development; Redrental Maan
Nov 08 2022
Rebel Drawing
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
⏰ Time for our next lil break from this bullshit ? queerphobic transphobic ? world with
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⏰ Time for our next lil break from this bullshit ? queerphobic transphobic ? world with our latest workshop Rebel Drawing hosted at Frilagret ?.
*** Confirmation emails sent 2 days before the workshop ***
——————
Here’s what you need to know:
Too many ?cooks? in the kitchen? What a load of tripe?. The more hands the merrier if you ask us?.
Join us in breaking down barriers, building up budding new ?? connections ?? and using Status Queer’s ‘together tools’ to scribble and scrawl our dreams and desires across the floor??️. Our new and improved tools are bizarre, playful and definitely require a lot of chefs in the kitchen to operate?️?. So I hope you’re ready to cook up a ?delicious queer melting pot?.
In this workshop we’re going to be exploring all our ?senses? to dig deeper into our lives as ?queer and trans? people in this city.
No ?️drawing?️ experience, skill or talent necessary – this isn’t like drawing as you know it. We won’t be getting too ?messy? but we’ll be using ink? so don’t wear anything too precious?, you never know whether you’ll end up with a stain or 2.
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? As always priority groups are first in line to get workshop places. Read more about our priority groups on our website.
?? The space is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet. For any other accessibility information or questions just drop us a message!
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CULT
What is CULT?
CULT is our drag night where drag creatures, cretins and performers get on stage to scream, shout and let it all hang out. CULT is radical, political, outrageous and entertaining. Prepare yourselves.
Why do we need CULT?
Drag As A Medium
Drag is a powerful medium. It is electrifying, engaging and gets an audience screaming and shouting. Done right, its a loud and proud expression of queer and trans joy which reaches across the broad spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community.
Drawing on drag’s long history of subversion and boundary crossing, we subscribe to the school of thought that drag should be funny and playful, outrageous and loud but also fiercely political and deeply empowering. With the support of tools developed by Status Queer, initiations uses the free-school format to encourage peer-to-peer learning to get us to explore ourselves personally and politically. Together we work to sharpen our perspectives, bring into being our political voice and practice shouting it out at the top of our lungs.
A Drag Family
With every round of Initiations we welcome more members to our CULT. The end goal is that the community will grow into a sustainable pool of performers, large enough to hold regular drag nights with diverse themes and packed with different styles and identities.
Cult of Consumption
Our first CULT night was a roaring success. We got messy, we got naughty, we laughed and we screamed. Packed to the rafters, Kolgruvan was vibrating with radical queer and trans joy. This was the first, and after that excpeirence it certainly won’t be the last.
Newcomers: Beyond Borders
After the success of our Debut, we were invited to perform at Newcomers Göteborg’s celebration Beyond Borders.
The Cult of the Climate Crisis
There is no climate justice without class justice. But let us tell you, there isn’t anything that tastes quite as sweet as having thousands of people chanting ‘eat the rich’ with you, well other than the delicious taste of eating the rich for real of course. Thanks to Climate Live Gothenburg and activists from Friday’s for Future for a stage as big as our ambitions.
More to Come
With another round of Initiations coming this autumn there’s plenty more CULT action to get in on. Hold tight, we’ve got much more up our billowing sequin-covered sleeves.
Drag performers Glen the Alien: Stian Temdahl Sundström(they/them) Meatling aka Köttungen: Sam Message(they/them) Sinfluencer: Kolbrún Inga Söring(they/them) Sissypuss the Insatiable: Leo Glitter(they/him)
The Receivers: Sara Lindquist(they/them) & Tove Pils (they/them)
Initiations is a drag free-school where participants meet over a number of weeks to develop their first drag performance, from their persona to their look, their concept to their performance. Each round has a different theme which participants make their performances to. Initations seeks to foster the growth of a radical, political, diverse, captivating and entertaining drag scene here in gothenburg.
At the end of the free-school participants are initiated into our drag family and debut their performances in our drag night CULT.
Why do we need Initiations?
Drag As A Medium
Drag is a powerful medium. It is electrifying, engaging and gets an audience screaming and shouting. Done right, its a loud and proud expression of queer and trans joy which reaches across the broad spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community.
Drawing on drag’s long history of subversion and boundary crossing, we subscribe to the school of thought that drag should be funny and playful, outrageous and loud but also fiercely political and deeply empowering. With the support of tools developed by Status Queer, initiations uses the free-school format to encourage peer-to-peer learning to get us to explore ourselves personally and politically. Together we work to sharpen our perspectives, bring into being our political voice and practice shouting it out at the top of our lungs.
Empowering New Artistic Voices
Initiations seeks to empower a new generation of artistic voices to take to the stage and get their message out with the eyes and the ears of the community on them. As with all our work, initiations prioritises the inclusion of those most marginalised in our community – which of course also intersects with those who have had least access to traditional pathways into the world of art and culture. Read more about our accessibility and inclusion strategies here.
Initiations: Cult of Consumption
In the first round of initiations we explored consumption – consumption of food, consumption of sex, consumption of the self, consumption of the very soil we live on. Check out our gallery for a glimpse of the behind the scenes, and our page on CULT for the fruits of our labour.
Initiations rounds 2 & 3
Due to such high demand and our thirst for a radical, raging drag scene in Gothenburg, rounds 2 and 3 of initiations are coming your way for autumn 2022. Keep your eyes peeled for our open call.
Drag performers Glen the Alien: Stian Temdahl Sundström(they/them) Meatling aka Köttungen: Sam Message(they/them) Sinfluencer: Kolbrún Inga Söring(they/them) Sissypuss the Insatiable: Leo Glitter(they/him)
The Receivers: Sara Lindquist(they/them) & Tove Pils (they/them)
This workshop seriesuses play, memory and collaborative making to explore lived experience as non normative and multiply marginalised people.
In Rebel Drawing we begin by using our social practice as a way to connect and open up the group. Here we build a safer space and create a common framework for exploration and negotiation.
Drawing on memories and lived experiences we share and collaboratively develop our ideas before picking up our Together Tools and getting stuck in.
Together tools
These are tools that can only be used by multiple hands at once, working together in negotiation. Our together tools focus on trans and queer joy and fill the room with laughter. This lets us delve deeper and make meaningful connections to our experiences, our bodies and each other.
Why do we need Rebel Drawing?
This society was not made for us. While some of our community has been welcomed into the warmth of the mainstream, many of us have been left sitting in the cold. We’re more likely to face alienation, minority stress and poor mental health, yet our community is often scattered and fractured.
That’s why we need queer and trans rebels to come together, cheer each other on and push back.
Through art we can build connection, understanding and community
TITQS is a Gothenburg based platform for LGBTQ+ culture for and by LGBTQ+ people. It’s the glue that holds our newly forming community together, providing valuable safer social spaces. Events include everything from mouthwatering thumping bass to chill nights in to queer company for cultural celebrations.
TITQS is here, its queer and thats true throughout the whole goddamn year.
The platform is a Facilitated Open Space. This means that if you come with a vision and a desire to make something happen, TITQS can give you the tools and the means for you to make that vision a reality.
Contact us now if you want to organise something through This is the Queer Space! We want to make spaces for all kinds of people and all kinds of culture so fire off your ideas, we’re all ears!
TITQS is also a support structure for Status Queer and other LGBTQ+ creators in and around Gothenburg. Get in contact if there’s a project you want support with!
Why do we need This is the Queer Space?
Gothenburg has an acute lack of spaces for LGBTQ+ people. Many of us have had terrible experiences in those very few spaces that exist. We need a space for us, by us, where we can shut out the transphobic, queerphobic and all the other bad phobics and isms outside the walls of our queer castle.
Pride comes around once a year, but TITQS is here to get us through the long dark Swedish winters together. It is here to bring us together as a community and cement all the community building we do in our social practice as artist duo Status Queer.
QUEER OPEN SPACE
Much like the work we do as artists, This is the Queer Space seeks to empower new voices. Those can be artistic voices, political voices, community voices etc.
That’s why we draw on the Open Space concept:
the idea that it is the community itself that decides how to use the space. While in the future we are working towards everyone being able to freely engage with this Open Space, right now there are many intersections in our community who often don’t feel like they have the access to projects like this. Read more about our position on that here. That’s why TITQS is a Facilitated Open Space. That means TITQS is there to help you gain the tools to realise your own ideas. Those ideas could be an art project, a workshop, a clothes swap, a watch party, a board game night, a dance session or just a hang out to name just a couple ideas – it can be whatever you want it to be!
TITQS is not just a platform, but also a support structure helping new LGBTQ+ artists, cultural producers, activists and community builders to burst into bloom.
If you have an idea for TITQS then don’t hesitate to get in touch!
NON
NON is Gothenburg’s primary gender devour party. Working alongside Ballroom Exchange, NON brings underground queer culture into the city’s more established venues. In doing so, NON puts LGBTQ+ artists, performers and designers (aspiring and established) in the spotlight to get the love they deserve.
Photo: Status Queer
Photo: Status Queer
SJUKT
SJUKT is a place of queer and trans euphoria. A safe haven where we let loose and get dressed up to the absolute nines. Every SJUKT has a theme and oh boy does our community know how to kill a look. Club Kids, drag artists and dancers abound, SJUKT is the space we all need to shake off all the shit of the cis-het world outside. Quite simply, it’s our space.
DJ's DJ DEMBA (he/him)
DJ NALA (she/her)
DJ NESSA (she/her)
Fia Fomo (she/her)
Gimme Signal (she/her)
Livets Elektriska
Mamdouh (he/him)
Åke Falk (he/him)
WE WERE THERE
What is We Were There?
In this workshop series we imagine what Gothenburg’s museums might look like if the stories of nonnormative people, of marginalised and oppressed peoples, of border-crossers and of gender defiers were as represented as the powerful favoured by the patriarchy (read: white, rich, upperclass, cis-het, male, able-bodied).
Why do we need We Were There?
LGBTQ+ is a modern phenomenon — but boundary-crossers, norm-breakers and diversity in sexual orientation & gender identity have been recorded throughout written history and across the globe.
Our heritage is constantly being written and rewritten. It affects how we think about who we are and where we come from. But not all stories in our heritage were born equal. What survives has been filtered by the ableism, ageism, classism, queerphobia, racism, sexism and transphobia, which continue to plague our society today. Quite simply, our stories are often hidden, lost or never even recorded in the first place.
But we were there. In this workshop series we are asking: what would Gothenburg’s museums look like if our stories were as proudly present as those of normative and powerful people? In the workshops, participants explore alternative narratives and fabricated historical artefacts to play, experiment and get in touch with both non-normative lives in Gothenburg and their own experiences of the city.
We’re collaborating with a number of Gothenburg’s museums on this project, of which we can announce Göteborgs Konstmuseum and Göteborgs Stadsmuseum as hosting 2 of our workshops this autumn. Watch this space for more soon.
In this workshop, participants will make fake historical objects that will evidence the lives of non-normative people. Drawing on the museum’s on-display collection, participants will explore both their lives as non-normative Gothenburgers and the real and hidden queer histories that surround them.
Here participants will write queer and trans alternate histories to works in the museum. Participants will both draw on the hidden queer histories of works in the museum’s collection and use narrative and writing as a way to explore a queer future through an imagined past. The works will then be turned into a publicly available audioguide.
This programme encompasses a variety of training sessions, workshops and tools we use to help organisations and individuals become more welcoming and inclusive to marginalised people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. To do so, we draw on our scholarly work, our Gothenburg-specific research and a variety of local and international collaborations to put together a series of different inclusion tools. We know that everyone needs to do their bit, that’s why our diversity and inclusion work is designed to be as accessible and practically applicable as possible.
Our philosophy is rooted in a deep and textured intersectional analysis, you can read more about our own approach to diversity and inclusion here.
Our goal is to give these tools to organisations, working groups and individuals seeking to build more inclusive working, studying and social environments – so please don’t hesitate to get in touch to see how we can help you be more inclusive.
For professional engagements, our fee is available on request.
Why do you need our Diversity & Inclusion Programme?
We all have a role to play in making this world more welcoming and inclusive to all different intersections under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, so please get in touch to see how we can help you change your workplace or study environment.
We tailor our work to your specific needs, so whatever your situation we can design a programme with maximum lasting impact.
MOTGIFTET
What is MOTGIFTET?
MOTGIFTET (the antidote) is a space we make in Gothenburg to come together as a community, unwind, tool-up and heal. This workshop series serves up local and international talent from across a variety of different artistic and cultural disciplines to get us exploring ourselves and each other.
Why do we need MOTGIFTET?
We live in a racist, ableist, ageist, queerphobic, transphobic and all-the-other-terrible-ists-and-phobics world. We need MOTGIFTET to exchange knowledges and skills, and to give space for us to celebrate ourselves and enjoy each other.
The series seeks to empower new creators and artists-to-be. We do this both by introducing participants to new mediums and by acting as a platform where artists and knowledge holders of all different levels of experience can have the chance to develop and lead their own workshops.
MOTGIFTET also gives us a framework to continue developing our collaborations with our international partners from The Queer Agenda.
MOTGIFTET builds on the work we started in Sparkplug 1.0 by providing the framework and the glue needed to keep sticking us together as a community.
MOTGIFTET #1: Club Kids Then and Now Screening Drawing on the long history of queer boudary crossers and gender benders, Sam Message put together a snap shot of the Club Kid culture with a series of long and short films. This workshop was produced in collaboration with This is the Queer Space in preperation for the launch of their party SJUKT where attendees are encouraged to get wild with their aesthetics. MOTGIFTET #2: Club Kid Drink & Draw In this playful workshop, Sam Message and Kolbrún Inga Söring broke down the ‘I can’t draw’ narrative with a variety of exciting and experimental drawing techniques. Featuring 3 stunning club kid models. Participants played with tools like ‘edward-charcoal-hands’ and huge bendy foam rods to capture the naugthy club kid aesthetic.
MOTGIFTET #3: Teaching To Transgress Toolbox For this workshop Sam Message and Kolbrún Inga Söring created a workshop with the material produced by the TTTT working group ‘Who’s in the classroom?’. The workshop focused on the many aspects of the Pronoun go-round and focused on three main elements, ice breakers, name and pronoun and accessibility. The main focus was to explore more intersectional and inclusive educational and working environments and give participants the tools to apply them to their own contexts.
MOTGIFTET #4: Feminist Culture House This workshop explored collaborations and agreement writing in the arts and cultural field. Peer support, collective sharing, and community building are central elements of Feminist Culture House’s practice, so this workshop was conversational—together, we practiced thinking about our needs and created small zines about them. Through their guidance and experience of feminist practice in approaching collaborations, they introduced tools for welcoming trans artists and arts workers into safe collaborative relationships.
MOTGIFTET #5: Daniel Mariblanca Taking the artistic process from 71BODIES as a starting point, this workshop got us engaging with each other by exploring self boundaries and dancing together through improvisational tasks all while working through physical and mental challenges. Through Daniel’s guidance, we focused on searching for personal and unique dance qualities with every participant.
Most of all, we had fun, experimented with the body and expanded our contact with others.
MOTGIFTET #6: Secret Sound Gardens
This workshop series with sound artist Isabel Taube(she/they) was centred around designing soundscapes. It was an introductory workshop for anyone who has ever wanted to try out music software and was raring to add to their self-expression toolbox and those who already had dipped their toes into sound’s soothing waters. The workshop was a space for participants to explore queer utopia’s through sound and experiment in a relaxed and supportive setting.
Daniel Mariblanca (he/him)
Daniel Mariblanca has 15 years of experience dancing professionally and a degree from l'Institut del Teatre, in Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after beginning as a dancer with the Norwegian National Company of Contemporary Dance/ Carte Blanche, Daniel created his own company 71BODIES; a transgender inclusive dance & performance company.
Feminist Culture House FCH is a Helsinki-based non-profit working with and for underrepresented artists. They work towards equitable futures and advancing feminist politics in the arts through providing learning opportunities for individuals and institutions. They focus on creating tools for change to create fair working conditions, better representation, and more inclusive institutional structures.
Gabbe Arvidsson (he/him)
Gabbe is a Shape shifting performance lover doing whatever they want.
Jonathan Hatila (they/them)
This fierce fashion feast is a non-binary, glitter loving and genderfucking godess who hates all kinds of norms.
Kolbrún Inga Söring (they/them)
Kolbrún Inga Söring is a gender queer artist working in Gothenburg whose work spans several areas of artistic expression from performance, video work and site-specific installation to community cultivation and cultural production. They currently run the organisation Status Queer.
Leo Glitter(they/he)
Leo is a genderbender extraordinaire, ready to challenge cisnormative bullshit with genderfuckery, glitter & chaotic sex appeal… as soon as they get up from the bed & their tv marathon with their depression in check.
Sam Message(they/them)
Sam is an artist and activist working with the spatial & the relational to explore connections between people. As a drag-performer they put their bizarre, playful and punk-like aesthetic to explore the surreal, the subversive and the political. They are both a researcher of queering practice and theory and a curator specialising in queer and feminist histories and themes. Other work includes inclusion, accessibility and engagement consultation, education and evaluation.
Teaching To Transgress Toolbox “Based on peer-learning and collective research practices, Teaching To Transgress Toolbox* is a research and study programme on critical pedagogy in the arts. Funded by the European Union and developed transnationally by three art schools: erg (BrusselsBE), HDK-Valand (GothenburgSE) and ISBA (BesançonFR) this Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership (2019–2022) consisted of workshops, public events and an open access publishing platform that shares the resulting works, methods and tools with others to use in their specific educational contexts.” Read more: http://ttttoolbox.net/
who's in the classroom? who’s in the classroom? Is a collectively written educational material which includes text, video and audio interviews, drawings, Pronoun go-round guides(EN/SE/FR) and lots of resources. The work was written by Åke Sjöberg, Eva Weinmayr, Flo*Souad Benaddi, Kolbrún Inga Söring with great additional help from MC Coble, Nika Dahlberg-Melin, Sam Message, Tori & Håkan, Kasra, Jean Paul and Reb.
GLORY POCKET
We’re super excited to say that we took part in Open Out festival 2022 in Tromsø!
Our participation came in the form of a large scale site specific spatial work called Glory Pocket, which used intense sensory experiences and encouraged both scripted and non-scripted interactions to get participants playing with the space and with each other. Employing our mouth-watering aesthetics that spans across a variety of disciplines. We explored themes including ritual, utopias and the bizarre. Glory Pocket also included a soundscape made by Isabel Taube.
During the festival Sam Message put on a performative lecture on Glory Pocket, where they emphasised and encouraged non-scripted interactions, radical play and disruption of the passive audience ritual of artworks, and in particular, this artwork.
More coming from Glory Pocket soon!
What is Open Out?
Here’s how Open Out describes themselves:
‘Open Out is an annual festival that consists of various exhibitions, performances, film screenings, as well as educative events like seminars and workshops, in different locations around town. The unifying theme for the festival is queerness.’
Isabel Taube (she/they) Isabel Taube is a sound designer/artist who explores storytelling and self-expression through the creation of soundscapes. She has been working with Status Queer on a number of performance based projects including Initiations and Cult, running her own workshop called Secret Soundgardens as well as an installation for the upcoming Open Out festival in Tromsø.
SPARKPLUG
What is Sparkplug?
Sparkplug is a festival of LGBTQ+ delights designed to bring together the most marginalised groups under the LGBTQ+.
For Sparkplug 1.0 we used large scale installation and jam packed week of exciting programming to kickstart the growth of a new, more inclusive, more supportive LGBTQ+ community here in Gothenburg.
Sparkplug 2.0 is in the pipeline, so hold tight Helsinki, you’re in our sights…
Why do we need Sparkplug?
Our community is fractured and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has been incredibly uneven.
We need a community so we can support each other and build a better path forward together, but to do this we need to harmonise. Harmonising doesn’t mean becoming the same, it means finding a way to all sing our own tune whilst resonating with others. It means that together we can create something more than just the sum of our parts.
As the starting point for a new harmonisation, Sparkplug 1.0 used two key types of tools to get this music flowing: relational ones and spatial ones. Where the spatial is all about sensory experiences like colour, form, texture and lighting, the relational is all about connecting with people in different ways.
This is part of a methodology we’ve developed called Community Cultivation. To give you a quick crash course, we’re using Community Cultivation’s spatial and relational tools to bring together new groups of people from different marginalised groups under the LGBTQ+ umbrella and get them to interact with each other. We use this methodology to guide different kinds of interactions with the ultimate goal of fostering new relationships and, in turn, lay the foundations for a more intersectionality diverse LGBTQ+ community.
SUSTAINABILITY
After Sparkplug 1.0 we secured a home for all our custom built furniture, which you can now find at Ringön based creative powerhouse and coworking space Kolgruvan.
Since the festival we’ve also used and re-used all the materials — whether that’s drag looks for CULT, tools for MOTGIFTET or materials for Initiations. The rest is waiting patiently for its second debut, so keep your eyes peeled, you might see some old friends in the future again.
The Spatial
We had two tasks with the spatial:
To create an environment which encouraged play and upset the rules.
OUR SPACE OUR RULES
Walking into the gallery, you were immediately confronted with a pulsating, mouthwatering interruption to the sleek yeet bland navy, beige and black Scandinavian world outside. Just as we as a community break with normative life we made our space to break with normative aesthetics.
Sparkplug 1.0’s captivating sensory experience set the stage to move away from the cis-het norms that dominate our social world. At the same time though, being in such an alien space also had us feeling a little alien. If this was going to be the springboard for a new community, for a new home, we first needed to claim this space for ourselves.
Throughout the festival, workshops continually added to the space. We hung up our work, painted directly on the walls and furniture, created freestanding sculptures and left our traces as we pleased. Through our work and our play we claimed ownership over this space together. This built a special connection between us and the space – in turn this allowed the space to become a medium through which we could connect to those we hadn’t directly worked with.
THE SPACE THAT HUGGED
photo: Henrik Zeitler
While the first space was a place to get wet and wild, we also needed somewhere to collect ourselves, connect with ourselves and savour a slice of cooling calm.
At the back of the project space lay a shrouded entrance. Through this entrance came an outstretched peace offering: a hand holding a plant-cutting. In Gothenburg this plant is known as the ‘lesbisk nässla’ or ‘lesbian nettle’. The origin of the name is said to come from how easy it is to take cuttings from it. As the folklore goes, once one lesbian gets one, it spreads like wildfire through their circle. Textile artist Esse McChesney based their work for the Project Space on this ol’ queer Gothenburg tale, taking the ‘lesbian nettle’ as a symbol for our community’s sharing and caring: queer love, if you will!
Plunging into this entrance took you to the source of our space’s otherness – the portal. The Portal Room was designed to expand the space’s versatility. The Portal Rooms’ cool throbbing lights, encapsulating fabrics and dampened sound created a stark contrast to the bustling vibrant room lying just beyond the entrance.
Throughout the week we used this space for reflection, and to take those quieter moments where we needed to get vulnerable with each other. With its completely different feeling to the Project Space, the portal room opened up a whole new set of possibilities for the kinds of relational work we could do with each other.
Sparkplug 1.0 was a space between spaces. It was a space between the world of ablist, racist, ageist, sexist, classist, cis-het bullshit outside and the queer utopia lying somewhere out of reach, beyond the portal. Sparkplug 1.0 sought to upset these overpowering systems; and even if we couldn’t override them completely, our two space’s gave us room to at least start that process.
To create a space which could host all of our relational work.
This is where the Swiss Army Space comes in: we needed a space to host everything from drag workshops to mural painting, embroidery to vogue, film screenings to karaoke, social space to open space. Furniture we built to make this happen included folding benches and tables that turned into room dividers.
Our furniture also needed to work as tools in our unscripted relation work. The flowing organic shape of our benches were made to be the heart of the room, where people naturally would collect. It became a place where people could meet in smaller groups, whilst also facilitating the mixing of these groups to make broader conversations. With the help of all our structured relational work, this became a space where relative strangers came together to share intimate experiences of being LGBTQ+ in Gothenburg.
Photo: Henrik Zeitler
Photo: Henrik Zeitler
Photo: Henrik Zeitler
The Relational
Once we had claimed ownership over the space together, the stage was set to build new relationships in our fractured community. Together, the workshopping and the spatial work paved the way for the crucial next step: getting into the nitty-gritty. We put on a buffet of different events from high energy – think a room full of hyped up queers and trans people chanting ‘gay power’ over and over again, an activity which deffinately did not upset the neighbours… thanks Speech Karaoke – down to careful contemplation.
This all fostered a lot of discussions – joyful ones, confronting ones, caring ones, difficult ones – and a lot of listening – listening to dreams, to frustration, to demands, to consolations, to play.
We had spontaneous discussions, structured discussions and prompted discussions. To spark these conversations, and to guide them, we used a variety of starting points from following scripts and our Together Tools (tools you can only use in collaboration with others) to film screenings and panel & round-table discussions.
These discussions helped us understand the different struggles, challenges and joys that we face across our incredibly varied community here in Gothenburg.
MAKING TOGETHER
Whether it was preaching impassioned speeches or sissying our swaying hips, embroidering rainy umbrellas or jumbling together non-binary characters, painting walls or painting faces, we did a lot of making together! Check out the gallery tab to get a taste of the action.
Our workshops were designed by and for people who belong to our 5 priority LGBTQ+ groups – racialised people, working class/precarious people, people with disabilities, elders and binary & nonbinary trans people. You can read more about our approach to accessibility and inclusion here.
Throughout the festival, we drew on the strengths of local talent and our international partners from The Queer Agenda to put on a deliciously varied spread of workshops to tantalise people of different tastes – we wanted to make sure there was at least 1 thing that got people’s juices flowing!
COMMUNITY
We built a space that broke with the norms outside its walls. Then we helped our community claim it for their own. In doing so, those that took part built a special relationship with both the space and each other. This made people feel at home and created fertile ground for new relations to sprout.
During this time we also made room for ‘open space’ – giving the chance for those in the community to turn up and do what they wanted with the space. From impromptu lip sync competitions to drawing to runway presentation on the street outside we used the space how we wanted to.
So, did it work?
Since Sparkplug 1.0 we’ve seen the seeds we planted burst out of the ground. First they were just small shoots, but with our continued nurturing and fertilising with the help of all our fabulous collaborators we’ve seen these plants grow into sturdy young saplings. Read more about our artistic endevours, and the social spaces our siblings at This is the Queer Space to find out more!
Where there is plenty of work still to go, we are well on our way to the sustainable, inclusive and diverse LGBTQ+ community we dream of. Onwards and upwards Gothenburg!
Much of our work with Sparkplug 1.0 was informed and guided by our network of LGBTQ+ artist’s, cultural producers and community organisers The Queer Agenda. Read more about that here.
Demba Sabally (he/him) Demba is one of the Gothenburg leaders in the Voguing scene. He has walked balls in Paris, Oslo, Copenhagen and more. He goes by 007 in the main scene and Marciano in the Kiki scene. He mostly walks Butch Queen European Runway but he also walks Vogue femme.
THE DRIN (inside) PROJECT: DIVERSITY, REPRESENTATION, INCLUSION, NORM CRITIQUE The DRIN project wants to enable everyone to participate in our societies, focusing on children’s books. The project brings players in the field together, shares knowledge, forms networks of empowerment and promotes standards for more diverse children’s literature in the European context.
Elias Ericson (he/him) Elias is an illustrator and comic artist who has published three books: Åror (2013), Blompojken (2014) and Diana & Charlie (2021). Overwhelming emotions, LGBTQ experiences and mental health are all important topics and inspirations to what he creates.
Esse McChessney (they/them) Esse is a queer textile artist in Gothenburg that works with weaving, fabric collages and embroidery. In their work they investigte gender and sexuality from the point of being a queer non-binary transperson. Their work circles around gender and body; What do bodies have to do with gender? And where does gender identity exist outside the body and in feelings? In their work you can also find symbolism, a lot of color, abstractions and balance.
Kolbrún Inga Söring (they/them) Kolbrún Inga Söring is a gender queer artist working in Gothenburg whose work spans several areas of artistic expression from performance, video work and site-specific installation to community cultivation and cultural production. They currently run the organisation Status Queer.
Newcomers Göteborg Newcomers is a social platform and network for LGBTQI refugees and migrants. Newcomers is a part of RFSL Gothenburg which meets regularly to do activities chosen by its members.
Romas Zabarauskas (he/him) Romas is a unique cinematic voice from the Baltics, Romas is equally known in his home country as an openly gay, outspoken LGBT+ rights activist. His feature film Advokatas/The Lawyer (2020) is the first Lithuanian feature film focusing on a male same-sex romantic relationship and one of the very few fiction films about the LGBTQ+ refugee experience in Europe.
Sam Message (they/them) Sam is an artist and activist working with the spatial & the relational to explore connections between people. As a drag-performer they put their bizarre, playful and punk-like aesthetic to explore the surreal, the subversive and the political. They are both a researcher of queering practice and theory and a curator specialising in queer and feminist histories and themes. Other work includes inclusion, accessibility and engagement consultation, education and evaluation.
Speech Karaoke Speech Karaoke is a fun-loving, intersectional communal art project. Speech Karaoke resembles ordinary karaoke, but instead of doing a song, you do a speech. In addition to over 800 speeches in 17 languages already in our catalogue, we have new speeches curated and created especially for this event. Welcome, everyone!
This is the Queer Space This is the Queer Space is a platform working to bring Gothenburg safer LGBTQ+ social spaces. The platform works closely with Status Queer to strengthen and deepen relationships instigated by Status Queer’s Community Cultivation methodology.
We are so grateful to our funders, without which we would never have been able to lay the ground work for the little slice of queer utopia we’re trying to bring to earth.
Sparkplug 1.0 was supported by:
THE QUEER AGENDA
What is The Queer Agenda?
The Queer Agenda is a network of LGBTQ+ artists, cultural producers and community builders from across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Our fields vary from film making to illustration, intersectional organising to dance and more!
In our network we share knowledges across our different practices and Nordic/Baltic cultural contexts.
Why do we need The Queer Agenda?
As LGBTQ+ cultural producers, community builders and individuals we face lots of different and specific challenges. These challenges vary enormously depending on who we are, where we come from and in what situation we are in. In the face of these challenges we have learnt to be resilient and innovative in order to not just survive but to thrive. In our work as a network we seek to learn from each other’s success and mistakes.
We also work to strengthen the ties between marginalised LGBTQ+ people from around the Nordic/Baltic region to open up new opportunities for collaboration and cross-pollination.
Round 1
In the first round of The Queer Agenda, we explored our utopic visions and dreams for the future by drawing on our different experiences and knowledges from the past. Through a series of workshops we tackled issues facing us as LGBTQ+ organisers and artists and explored our desires for utopian queer spaces and relations.
Screenshot: Status QueerScreenshot: Status Queer
Sparkplug 1.0
We drew directly on this process for our contribution to installation for Sparkplug 1.0 and also developed 2 artist’s briefs – one for a local Gothenburg-based artist and one for an international partner organisation to respond to for the festival.
The first was a spatial brief which Esse McChesney responded to and the other was a relational brief, assigned to Feminist Culture House.
All members of the network were invited to contribute a progamme point during the festival, check out more about the exciting programme we put together here!
Round 2
Right now we are recruiting for round 2 of The Queer Agenda, so if you are or know an artist, cultural producer or community builder working within the LGBTQ+ community please get in touch here.
Our Priority Groups
Our inclusion strategy recognises that many marginalised LGBTQ+ people face barriers in accessing traditional pathways to the world of art and culture. That’s why we work to include voices which are excluded by the art world’s systems of ‘professionalisation’, especially those from our priority groups. So whether or not you consider yourself a professional artist, we still want to hear from you. Your knowledge is especially valuable, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.
Find out if you belong to one of our priority groups here.
Daniel Mariblanca(he/him) Daniel Mariblanca has 15 years of experience dancing professionally and a degree from l'Institut del Teatre, in Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after beginning as a dancer with the Norwegian National Company of Contemporary Dance/ Carte Blanche, Daniel created his own company 71BODIES; a transgender inclusive dance & performance company.
Feminist Culture House Feminist Culture House is an intersectional feminist organisation based in Helsinki working for and with underrepresented artists. Their vision is to advocate for ''intersectional and feminist values and working conditions, resulting in an art field working sustainably, and thoroughly occupied and built by different kinds of bodies and identities.''
Peter Nylund(he/him) Peter Nylund is an artist and activist, working in the intersections of racial, gender and sexual justice. Formerly a professional boxer Peter still always has a foot in the world of athleticism and loves to promote a healthy and active lifestyle to the community. Health is wealth, as they say.
Romas Zabarauskas (he/him) Romas is a unique cinematic voice from the Baltics, Romas is equally known in his home country as an openly gay, outspoken LGBT+ rights activist. His feature film Advokatas/The Lawyer (2020) is the first Lithuanian feature film focusing on a male same-sex romantic relationship and one of the very few fiction films about the LGBTQ+ refugee experience in Europe.
Speech Karaoke Speech Karaoke is a fun-loving, intersectional communal art project. Speech Karaoke resembles ordinary karaoke, but instead of doing a song, you do a speech. In addition to over 800 speeches in 17 languages already in our catalogue, we have new speeches curated and created especially for this event. Welcome, everyone!
Sindre Rydhard(they/them) Sindre is a performer, communicator and event organiser. They go by Sugar as a stage name because they sprinkle sweetness into everything they do even though they sometimes look scary. They are a part of the Gothenburg ballroom scene and the international ballroom house of Milan. Royal Iconic House of Milan.
THE DRIN (inside) PROJECT: DIVERSITY, REPRESENTATION, INCLUSION, NORM CRITIQUE The DRIN project wants to enable everyone to participate in our societies, focusing on children’s books. The project brings players in the field together, shares knowledge, forms networks of empowerment and promotes standards for more diverse children’s literature in the European context.
Introducing our newest project: SQ Shop! SQ shop is a great way to directly support LGBTQ+ artists and get your hands on some seriously fabulous pieces without spending an arm and a leg.
What’s on Offer? We’re constantly on the lookout for new and exciting artists to feature in our shop. Check out the gallery below to see what we’ve got on offer right now.
Where it all began: Gothenburg
Despite how accepting you might think Gothenburg, and Sweden more generally are, the sad truth is that many LGBTQ+ people still face harassment, hostile environments and even violence. This is especially true for LGBTQ+ people who also belong to other marginalised groups and for those of us who do not comply to what is expected as ‘normal’ behaviour with regard to our gender, sexuality or the ways we express ourselves.
On top of that, Gothenburg is a highly segregated city. Our city is divided along lines of class, (dis-)ability, economic precarity, country of origin, racialisation and more. These divides also cut across the LGBTQ+ community too, but it doesn’t stop there. We’re also split along lines of gender, sexuality and age.
Sadly, offer of spaces who advertise themselves as ‘LGBT’ is very limited and those that exist have been fiercely criticised from within the community as enabling and even directly committing ableism, racism, queerphobia and transphobia.
So that’s where we started as duo Status Queer: with a community that was fractured and shattered. Our work in Gothenburg is by no means over but we are starting to see the green shoots of a new community. Read on below on to find out more about some of the specific measures that we as Status Queer and that nonprofit This is the Queer Space use to actively bring together sustainable, supportive and intersectionality diverse groups of LGBTQ+ people.
While we continue to work in Gothenburg – and also continue to research its specific socio-cultural context – we’ve also been exploring our methodologies in other contexts, keep your eyes peeled for some exciting news on that soon!
Through our research into the specific cultural and social landscape of Gothenburg’s LGBTQ+ community we have identified a number of groups facing the highest levels of marginalisation. These groups are those most in need of a supportive community. That’s why we prioritise art & culture which is for and by members of our priority groups.
Our 5 (LGBTQ+) priority groups are:
Binary & non-binary trans people
Newly arrived people
People living with disabilities
Racialised people
Working class / economically precarious people
We have also identified an additional 3 key groups essential to include if we are to build a sustainable and broad community.
Our 3 (LGBTQ+) key groups:
Elders
Rainbow Families
Youth
Inclusion is never a passive process and, guided by feedback and research, we’re constantly evolving our strategies to reach and include more and more people.
Our research is built on three central approaches:
We draw on our own research backgrounds in accessibility and inclusion. These backgrounds encompass qualitative and quantitative research methodologies from the arts, cultural studies and social sciences. Through a variety of theoretical perspectives we form the basis of our analysis of the nebulous and overlapping systemic oppressions facing our community.
We commission specific targeting reserach to address gaps in our strategy. Here we favour in-depth qualitative research and work with researchers who use ethnographic methodologies to first map out a specific issue. The research continues by zooming in on specific issues and bringing in a variety of perspectives through in-depth interviews and focus group work.
Collaborations with organisations working with similar themes. These collaborations take either a direct research focus or come through a converging of working practices within other projects. Collaborators include amazing projects like Feminist Culture House, Teaching To Transgress Toolbox, Pedagogisk Peppar and Goethe institute Finland’s DRIN (Inside).
Some of the measures we use right now to include our priority groups include reserving spaces in workshops, paying for transport & waiving ticket fees, offering economic, advisory & administrative support to independent projects and prioritising work for and by our priority groups throughout our practice.
Through our diversity and inclusion training programme, we also work to spread best practice approaches to inclusion in the community, in workplaces and in classrooms.
Self Determination
We want to build a community built on trust, so we trust our community to know who they are and what they need. So when someone tells us they need access via one of our inclusion measures, we trust them, no questions asked.
Against Professionalism
We do not believe that art is more or less valuable based on how educated or professionally recognised the producer is. What is deemed to be ‘worthy art’ is a reflection of our society’s racist, xenophobic, queerphobic, transphobic & ablieist past and present. That’s why it is essential for us that we support and collaborate with artists and artists-to-be who do not conform to the art worlds professionalising norms.
But there’s another layer here too. Art and culture costs money to make, that’s the simple fact! While there are lots of different types of funding and financial support, many require that you are a ‘professional’ artist – which entails either university education in the arts or a number of years working as a ‘professional’ artist (a status hard to achieve without having had access to funding during those years…). Those who’ve had access to the ‘correct’ paths into the art world tend to be whiter, wealthier, more able bodied, and more likely to conform to norms around sexuality and gender.
If you are an artist or an artist-to-be belonging to our priority groups and you want support or advice for your project, you’re ever so welcome to get in touch with us.
Healthy Collaborations
The basis of all our work is an empathetic feminist working practice. That means setting clear boundaries and expectations for ourselves and others and placing people not performance at the heart of every project. Structure, negotiation and compromise are all essential to a healthy collaboration so if you want to work with us expect to be taken care of, just as we expect you to take care of us.
Want to become a member of Status Queer?
Want to know more?
What to get involved or help out?
Want to intern with our organisation?
Know about something you think can help us?
Have any questions at all about our activities or really anything else? Get in touch!
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