ACTIVATING THE QUEER ARCHIVE!
October 19, 2024. The Conference starts 9.00-4.30 a.m., the doors opens 8.30.
Scroll down for registration, information on reimbursement and program.
The Nordic Network for Queer History Archives and Activities (Nnaqh) invites archivists, museum workers, queer and history scholars, activists and other people interested in queer history to the third conference where we from different angles and depths will explore what activating the archive means. What are the meanings of a queer archive and for whom? Or is the queer archive a negation? See program below.
The conference is the third out of three conferences (2023-2024) in the Nordic and Baltic countries arranged by the project Nordic network for queer history archives and activities and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The conference ACTIVATING THE QUEER ARCHIVE is organised by QRAB. The conference is free of charge. Please join us for the social events surrounding the conference as well – see details below. (Some of the social events may carry small costs.)
Venue: Allégården, Södra Allégatan 4, Gothenburg.
Register for taking part in the conference Activating Queer Archives through online streaming. Registration is open until Friday October 18th.
Social events
Friday 18th:
- Reception – We extend an invitation to early arrivals and NNAQH members for a reception with beverages and snacks (vegan) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free of charge. At the reception queer archives and museums respectively, situated in Sweden, will present themselves in a pop-up exhibition. Venue: Gothenburg City Museum, Norra Hamngatan 12.
Saturday 19th:
- Dinner – A few dinner meal choices (vegan) will be provided for, at a special conference price, at a nearby restaurant (at your own cost) – after 4.30 p.m. Venue: TBA during the conference.
- Variety show – As an affiliated entertainment event, Queerorkestern (The Queeer Orchestra) offers a variety show at 7 p.m. They will present a string of deliciously deviant divas, giving a polyphonously perverse potpourri of queer musical history. Venue: Kulturlagret, Djurgårdsgatan 29.
- Night cap – The Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images (SAQMI) invites you for a night cap (at cost price) after the variety show. Venue: Friggahuset, Pölgatan 5.
EXTRA – Thursday 17th:
- Movie night – SAQMI invites very early arrivals to a premier of the documentary When we´re singing/När vi sjunger (1992). At Oct 17, 7 p.m. (doors opens 6.30 p.m.). Free of charge, donations welcome. Venue: Friggahuset, Pölgatan 5.
Reimbursement
Nnaqh has a small budget for reimbursing the travel expenses of participants from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states. However, Nnaqh cannot reimburse state financed organizations or participants from such institutions. We will prioritize reimbursement of participants from NGOs or alike with small or no funding. Moreover, we will prioritize NGOs or alike with no funds for participating in conferences, knowledge exchanges, or networking, etc. When Nnaqh allocates reimbursement, intersectional perspectives and geographical distribution will be considered.
If you are interested in getting your trip reimbursed please send us a motivation letter including a budget for travel costs and accommodation by September 19th to the following address nnaqh@qrab.org and enter Reimbursement in the subject line.
Please write a short motivation (500 words) on why you would like to participate in the open archive summit in Gothenburg. Describe how the participation in the Nordic network for queer history activities and archives might benefit queer history activism and archives in your region. Explain in short how you plan to use the experiences from-, and the knowledge gained at the summit. Include a short description of your previous experience of archive or cultural heritage work, and/or of queer or LGBT+ archive activities; and/or of queer or LGBT+ history activities in general. Do also include your current connections to queer or LGBT+ organizations or activism or to archives or cultural heritage institutions.
Accessibility
Accessibility at Allégården, the conference venue, and the City Museum follows Swedish standards and are fully accessible.
The language of the conference is English.
If you have any questions about the accessibility of the program or the social events surrounding the conference please contact nnaqh@qrab.org – and we will try to answer asap.
PROGRAM
Saturday Oct 19th
Venue: Allégården, Södra Allégatan 4, Gothenburg.
Streaming link: Will be provided after registration (see link above).
08.30 - 09.00: Registration and coffee.
09.00 - 09.10: Address by QRAB and NNAQH. Welcome & opening of the conference.
09.10 - 09.15: A Lovely Surprise!
09.15 - 09.55: Opening address by Tiina Pursiainen Rosenberg:
On Archivism: Safeguarding Queer Heritage for Future Generations.
Including discussion.
10.00 - 11.30: Queer archives and museums in Sweden:
Presentations of and by The Unstraight Museum, the Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images, the Archives and Library of the Queer Movement, the Archive of Pink Noises, and the Homografiska Museum.
Followed by a discussion moderated by Viktorija Kolbešnikova and Augustas Čičelis from išgirsti, Lithuania.
11.30 - 12.45: LUNCH BREAK.
Lunch served at the premises.
12.45 - 13.40: Madina Tlostanova: Archive as a decolonial worlding devise. Pro et contra.
Including discussion.
13.45 - 14.45: Artists Activating the Archive:
Conny Karlsson Lundgren will present The Gothenburg Affairs – on residues of desires and counter-narratives carried through body and monument.
Sam Hultin will present the project Eva-Lisa's Monument which highlights trans trailblazer and lesbian activist Eva-Lisa Bengtson (1932-2018).
Discussion moderated by Malin Holgersson.
14.45 - 15.15: Break, beverages.
15.15 - 16.15: Hannes Hacke:QueerSearch: Creating an umbrella organization of German-speaking Queer Archives, Libraries and Collections.
Including discussion.
16.15 -16.30: Summary and practicalities.
NNAQH and QRAB.
ABSTRACTS AND BIOS
ABSTRACTS to addresses and panels – in chronological order.
On Archivism: Safeguarding Queer Heritage for Future Generations
In a world where history has often been written by those in positions of power, the stories and experiences of marginalized communities—particularly those within the queer spectrum—have frequently been overlooked, erased, or distorted. Queer archivism emerges as a powerful and necessary response to this historical neglect, serving not only to preserve the rich and diverse heritage of queer individuals and communities, but also to ensure that these narratives are recognized, valued, and integrated into the broader tapestry of human history.
This opening address will explore the critical importance of queer archivism in today’s society, examining its role in unearthing hidden narratives, challenging dominant historical discourses, and fostering a more inclusive understanding of the past. We will discuss the unique challenges faced by queer archivists, including the ethical considerations of handling sensitive material, the complexities of representing diverse gender and sexual identities, and the ongoing struggle against societal prejudices that continue to impact archival practices.
Furthermore, this address will highlight the innovative approaches and strategies that queer archivists are employing to create accessible, representative, and dynamic archives. These efforts not only honour the lived experiences of queer individuals, but also empower future generations to understand their identities within a broader historical context. By Tiina Pursiainen Rosenberg.
Queer archives and museums in Sweden.
In this panel, three archives and two museums will present themselves and their activities followed by a discussion dwelling deeper into the Swedish archival turn, led by Viktorija Kolbešnikova and Augustas Čičelis from išgirsti in Lithuania. Participants are Anna Linder/ the Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images, Olov Kriström/ the Archives and Library of the Queer Movement, Johan Sundell/ the Archive of Pink Noises, Arne Öberg/ The Unstraight Museum, and Funny Livdotter/ the Homografiska Museum.
Archive as a decolonial worlding devise. Pro et contra.
Despite the current trend for decolonization of all and every aspect of human life, archives as special variants of preserving, interpreting and policing memories often escape these efforts due to their complex, contradictory, deceptive and potentially manipulative nature. The impossibility of fully decolonizing archives is obvious in genealogies with violated memories and total censorship, such as the no longer post-soviet collections, particularly in their postcolonial versions. Yet archives can also play an important generative role in politically imagining future(s) otherwise. Memory work with the darker imperial/colonial pasts should lead to a change in the present way of thinking, to revamping critical thought instead of complacency. Even the most inclusive archives remain useless if they do not help us radically rethink the ways we make sense of the world, including the way we remember. By Madina Tlostanova.
Artists Activating the Archive
In this panel two Swedish artists with extensive experience in working with archival data and artefacts, will present some of their work, followed by a moderated discussion.
Conny Karlsson Lundgren will discuss The Gothenburg Affairs – on residues of desires and counter-narratives carried through body and monument. And Sam Hultin will present the project Eva-Lisa's Monument which highlights trans trailblazer and lesbian activist Eva-Lisa Bengtson (1932-2018). The presentations are followed by a discussion between the artists, audience and a moderator (the latter TBC).
QueerSearch. Creating an umbrella organization of German-speaking Queer Archives, Libraries and Collections.
In this session, we will explore the development of QueerSearch, a network founded in 2017 to unite German-speaking archives, libraries, and collections with LGBTIQ materials. Now comprising fifteen member organizations across five countries, QueerSearch remains volunteer-led without permanent funding. The talk will cover the challenges and successes of this model, including
collaborative structures, funding obstacles, and balancing representation within the LGBTIQ+ community. We’ll also discuss strategies for shared learning, addressing exclusions, and the challenges of creating of a joint online collection database for queer historical materials. By Hannes Hacke.
BIOS in alphabetic order
Anna Linder, see Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images.
Archive of Pink Noises: Johan Sundell is one of three founders of the archive. The aim of The Archive of Pink Noises is to collect, archive and publish queer culture production in sonic form and we view sound as a bearer of history. We do this in collaboration with archives, artists, activists and scholars. By collecting, archiving, reading and arranging public events we explore what pink noise and a queer sound archive can be. https://www.rosabrus.nu/
Arne Öberg is the chairman of The Unstraight Museum (TUM). Born in Kalix in the very North of Sweden, lives in Solna outside Stockholm. Works as a developer. www.unstraight.org
Olov Kriström is a founding member of QRAB, the Archives and Library of the Queer Movement. With the responsibility as QRAB’s archivist, they try to manage the intersection of inveterate hoarder, queer history nerd, and scantily clad civil servant. www.qrab.org
Augustas Čičelis is together with Viktorija Kolbešnikova curator of “išgirsti” Queer Archive (isgirsti.lt) and they co-organises the Vilnius Queer Festival “Kreivės” (festivaliskreives.lt) as well as the queer cultural and social space in Vilnius. Both are active participants in the queer and feminist movements, have a background in gender studies, and base their practice in the broader fields of social justice, self-education and self-organisation. isgirsti.lt
Conny Karlsson Lundgren’s works in film, text, image, installation and performance traverses the boundaries between social, political, and private identities. The ephemeral traces that challenge existing narratives are a reoccurring fascination, with attention to the archive as both carrier of information and a mechanism of control. He shares his time between Stockholm and Hoby Mosse in the South of Sweden. In 2024 he had a major mid-career solo exhibition at Bonniers Konsthall in Stockholm and has created Gläntan/The Glade, Sweden’s first LGBTQI+ monument. www.karlssonlundgren.se
Funny Livdotter, see Homografiska Museet.
Hannes Hacke is a Berlin-based curator, researcher, and community organizer with a focus on LGBTIQ+ collections and exhibitions exploring the history of sexuality. He co-founded QueerSearch, an umbrella organization uniting German-speaking queer archives, libraries, and collections, and is co-organizer of the Queering Museums Berlin network. Currently, Hannes is leading a participatory collection and exhibition project on everyday beauty practices at the Deutsche Hygiene-Museum in
Dresden. www.queersearch.org
Homografiska Museet: Funny Livdotter founder and curator of Homografiska Museet (eng: Homografiska Museum). Homografiska Museum shows the world where representation, diversity and variation are the key. History has always had a tendency to be subjective depending on who is listening and who is the one to tell. Our love for storytelling gives you this museum. https://homografiska.se
išgirsti is a space for queer social and cultural action. Our activities encompass queer culture, archiving, psychosocial welfare. We create safe spaces for cultural and social initiatives where the community can express themselves and find their voice to speak to the society at large. We care that the queer community’s self-expression, visibility and acceptance be seen in a wider context of human rights, social justice and ecology. isgirsti.lt
Johan Sundell, see Archive of Pink Noises.
Madina Tlostanova is a feminist thinker and fiction writer, professor of postcolonial feminisms at Linköping University, Sweden. https://liu.se/en/employee/madtl83 She focuses on decoloniality, feminist social movements and theories of the Global South, the postsocialist human condition, fiction and art, critical future inquiries and interventions into complexity, crisis, and change.
Malin Holgersson is an artist working within performing arts, audio drama and sound art. Their work is interdisciplinary and combines sound, text, voice/s and body/ies. Malin’s current works are the sound piece “Raderat” (Erased) for Röda Sten Konsthall and the sound design for the performance “Rörelse Frihet – genom baba karam och andra danstillstånd” for Riksteatern. Several of Malin's sound pieces are to be found in the Archive of Pink Noises. Malin is also part of the queer art collective Ful and work as an audio describer. Instagram: @fulmalin.
Mia Sundkvist is a social worker and the chair of the Archives and Library of the Queer Movement. She loves stories and listening to where queer space has been created. She is leading QRABs story telling café evenings in Gothenburg together with others. The cafés are a collaboration to collect elderly queer people’s stories and to witness and listen to each other’s lives and important memories. www.qrab.org
Pia Laskar is a historian of ideas and an associate professor in gender studies. She’s working with the Archives and Library of the Queer Movement since 2017 as its secretary. Currently project leading the Nordic Network for Queer History and Archives (2023-2024) and cheating on everybody by working with The Unstraight Museum’s education assignments. During the conference she will chair some of the discussions. www.qrab.org
Sam Hultin is an artist based in Stockholm. Their work is based on an interest in queer history, identity and community and explores connections between personal experiences and political and social structures. Through city walks, sing-alongs and anniversaries, Sam often invites queer communities to activate parts of a queer history together. www.samhultin.com
Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images: Anna Linder has worked in the field of moving images as an independent artist, curator and producer since early 1990s. Recent projects to mention are the artistic research project Queer Moving Images (2013-2017) supported by The Swedish Research Council at HDK-Valand in Gothenburg and SAQMI - The Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images that Linder founded in 2017. SAQMI is a platform and an archive for queer moving images and an indisputable venue for talks, discussions, meetings, and screenings. www.saqmi.se
The Archives and Library of the Queer Movement (in Swedish: Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek - QRAB) collects, organises, preserves and makes accessible documentation and information related to queer movements and people. QRAB is a volunteer-run member organization with a yearly elected board. https://qrab.org
The Unstraight Museum is a Swedish non-governmental, non-profit, volunteer-run LGBTQ+ organization that uses culture as a tool for change. Through global collaborations with LGBTQ+ NGOs, it empowers the community by collecting and sharing stories from non-normative perspectives via exhibitions and digital platforms. Since 2019, it has worked in 14 countries and created over 25 exhibitions. https://www.unstraight.org/
Tiina Rosenberg is Professor Emerita of Theatre Studies at Stockholm University, Sweden. She has previously held professorships in Gender Studies at Stockholm and Lund Universities and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland. Rosenberg's extensive scholarship explores the intersections of performing arts, feminism, and queer theory. www.ike.su.se
Viktorija Kolbešnikova is together with Augustas Čičelis curator of “išgirsti” Queer Archive (isgirsti.lt) and both are organisers of the Vilnius Queer Festival “Kreivės” (festivaliskreives.lt) as well as the queer cultural and social space in Vilnius. Both are active participants in the queer and feminist movements, have a background in gender studies, and base their practice in the broader fields of social justice, self-education and self-organisation. isgirsti.lt
QueerSearch, www.queersearch.org see also Hannes Hacke.