Events QPG 2023
Neptune Frost is many things: a queer love story, an anti-colonial cyberpunk film, an afro-futuristic musical, a low-budget surreal sci-fi… And it works. You might think it becomes chaos when a movie has so many elements, but it works. Beautifully shot in neon colors, Neptune Frost takes a critical stance towards the exploitation of the African population in the bauxite mines by Western tech companies. This anti-capitalist message is accompanied by innovative costumes and an intriguing soundtrack.
The film is directed by multi-talents Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman. With little money and maximum imagination, they create a futuristic world in which dream and reality intertwine, and where time and gender become fluid phenomena. In short, this film has all the characteristics to become a true queer cult classic.
Event Information
Cost: Tickets are 5 euros, available online (vera-groningen.nl) and at the door
When: 22 May 2023 | doors open at 20.00, film starts at 20.30
Where: VERA Groningen | Oosterstraat 44
Language info: The film is in Kinyarwanda/Kirundi/Swahili/French with English subtitles. Introduction will be in English.
Accessibility info: VERA Zienema is wheelchair accessible. Report yourself at the front entrance, someone will pick you up and bring you in through the back entrance.
Come let your creative juices flow and make some fiber art with us! This is a collaboration with Radical Cross Stitch Groningen @radcstitchgroningen and the queer knitting group. You can learn about craftivism and make a small individual or large collective cross stitch with an activist message, or work on your own knitting, crochet, sewing or similar craft. All skill levels are welcome, whether you’ve never picked up a needle or are an experienced crafter. Materials for the cross stitch will be provided, and there are sewing machines and basic sewing/knitting tools you can use. If you want to use other materials in your projects, you need to bring them with you. You can also participate in Elze/ @elzes_threads craftivism project, rebuilding their destroyed pride flag to make a symbol of resilience and hope. For more info on that, see their post/account.
This event is hosted by @studiodraadkracht, a textile workplace in Groningen focusing on sustainability, DIY and financial accessibility. There is a participation fee of 4 euro. Please sign up via the Google form, that way the organizers know what to prepare 🙂
Event Information
Cost: 4 euros
Event Sign Up: Sign up here
When: 23 May 2023 | starts at 19.30
Where: Studio Draadkracht | Oosterhamriklaan 181
Accessibility info: the main sewing space is wheelchair accessible, but more seating and the toilet are up a few steps. There are multiple rooms, so one can be a sensory friendly/quiet space.
Queer Pride Groningen and GFN are collaborating to bring you an educational event on Rainbow Capitalism and Pinkwashing.
We’ll start with an introduction to the topic with an interactive presentation and move to a discussion on how pink-washing impacts OUR lives here in Groningen!
We hope to see you there and we are excited to learn alongside you!⭐️
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: 24th may | from 20:00 – 22:00 o’clock.
Where: Jimmy’s | Herestraat 103
Accessibility info: Jimmy’s is wheelchair accessible, but more seating and the toilet upstairs. There are multiple rooms, so one can be a sensory friendly/quiet space.
Friday night is karaoke night at @dorothys.bar.official, hosted by @curvalicious_diamond ✨Join Dorothy and friends for a great night out at everyone’s favorite drag bar!
See you there!
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: 26 May | starts at 20.00
Where: Dorothy’s drag bar | Pottebakkersrijge 2
Accessibility info: Dorothy’s is not wheelchair accessible, it’s too small for a wheelchair user to move inside. For sensory overloads, you will have to stand outside since there are no other rooms in Dorothy’s.
This workshop is full, e-mail for waitlist.
In this workshop from @spoukprint you’ll learn the basics of screenprinting. In the spirit of QPG this is the perfect opportunity to make your own pride merch, with (almost) every color available for you to print with. The goal is to have a fun afternoon learning with a group of people AND set you up for more DIY adventures at your own kitchen table. Zero experience needed! After this workshop you’ll have gained some practical experience, a bonus document with resources and of course some cool prints to take home!
There will be some prepared images you can print, as well as the option to make your own stencils for empty screens. You can print both on paper and fabrics – various options will be available, but if you want to print on specific clothing items, please bring them with you.
This workshop is taught by Marieke Pras, a professional designer and printmaker. Her design practice is called SPOUK (Gronings for ‘ghost’). The workshop will be hosted in her studio/printmaking workshop and entirely in English. There will be a maximum of six participants.
Event Information
Cost: All the basic materials you need are supplied by Marieke and financially compensated by QPG. Donations are optional (but welcomed). Coffee/tea + snacks are provided 🙂
Event Sign up: Sign up here
When: Sunday 28/5/2023 | 13.00 – 17.00 (including breaks)
Where: Henri Dunantlaan 2, Groningen
Accessibility info: while the studio is wheelchair accessible (ramp to the entrance + an elevator), the toilet situation is unknown at the moment. The workshop starts with a group explanation, but after that you’re free to take breaks and leave the room/go outside/put in earplugs in case of sensory overload. If you want to know more or want to request additional measures, feel free to e-mail!
Rather than a corporate parade or just an open-air party sponsored by banks, oil companies or even colonialist states, pride should be a forceful statement of queer people’s rights to exist! But we don’t just want to exist in a world where our identities and experiences are merely tolerated or even incorporated into systems of exploitation and oppression – we want to fight for a world of freedom, equality and solidarity between all oppressed and exploited people, a world in which the working class is freed from the rule of capitalism.
We often hear the demand for “fully automated luxury queer communism” – a dream of a better future in which free time, enjoyment, and safety are not just accessible to the rich and powerful, but to everybody. But how do we get to this society of safety and queer joy? This question has been discussed in LGBTQ+ movements since their emergence. While groups such as the Gay Liberation Front situated themselves in solidarity with anti-colonial liberation movements and stated that our liberation is tied with that of the whole working class, others argued that because in their eyes average straight cisgender workers benefit from the oppression of queer people, we need high degrees of separation in which every identity group fights for its own rights – from our perspective this was a turn in the wrong direction. Our liberation comes not through internalizing the separations that capitalism places on us and raising them to be organizational principles, but by finding ways of struggling together as a class with shared interests.
Besides diving into the history of Pride as protest, this meeting will address questions such as:
• Why do we need to combine the struggle of the working class with that of queer people?
• What is a revolutionary perspective on Identity politics?
• What is the difference between fighting for LGBT rights and fighting for queer liberation?
• How can we understand the threat of the new far-right on queer lives, and how do we fight it?
Join us for this discussion as we connect the struggle today with a future of liberation – a future of fully automated luxury queer communism!
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: 29 may | starts at 19:00
Where: Lust | Oude Kijk in Het Jatstraat 58,
Accessibility Info: The Lust event is not wheelchair accessible, it’s too small for a wheelchair user to move inside, and the event will be held upstairs. For sensory overloads, you will have to stand outside since there are no other rooms Lust.
In preparation for Queer Pride Groningen – which will take place on Sunday 4th June, 13:00, at Grote Markt – we are hosting another sign making event! We will have a fun time creating new banners for each other, celebrating pride together 🙂
Do you have a sign for Queer Pride yet? Do you want to help create some for others who will be attending?
Suggested supplies to bring:
– cardboard for posters
– paintbrushes
– paint
– stickers
– markers
– glue/tape
– any art suppplies that you have at home 🙂
See you there!
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: 31st may | From 20:00 – 22:00 o’clock.
Where: Jimmy’s | Herestraat 103
Accessibility info: Jimmy’s is wheelchair accessible, but more seating and the toilet upstairs. There are multiple rooms, so one can be a sensory friendly/quiet space.
What do you know about Groningen’s LGBTQI+ history?
For this tour Fiona has gathered stories from Groningen’s queer past, from the late Middle Ages ’til today: painful and powerful, from persecution to activism and celebration. Join the tour and take a look at Groningen through rainbow glasses.
Event Information
Kost: The tour is donation based – sign-up is free, but an extra financial donation for your tour guide at the end is appreciated.
Event Sign up: via the FB page (Alternative Groningen Tour) or e-mail: alternativegroningen@gmail.com
When: June 1st
Where: bike tour through Groningen, sign-up to get the start location
Accessibility info: this tour will be by bike (bring your own!), with some walking and standing. The entire tour will be in English.
It’s VOKU time!
The wonderful folks @kraaienest_ are organizing their weekly voku/küfa at the Mutual Aid Bike Shop on 2 June. Join us for a nice vegan meal In addition, there will be a fundraiser for QPG that evening. Do you like the work that we do? Would you like to give us some financial support? Then you can donate at this event 🙂 If you can’t/don’t want to you are of course still welcome for a good time and a nice meal! After 20.00 there will be a talk + fundraiser by people from the Anarchist black cross Ukraine. If you stick around, you can listen to their talk, and after their talk they’ll collect money for solidarity collectives.
P.S. Bring your own Tupperware!
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: 2 June | 18.00 – 20.00 (after 20.00 anarchist black cross Ukraine)
Where: Mutual Aid Bike Workshop | Travertijnstraat 12
Accessibility info: this event is wheelchair accessible and for sensory overloads there are other rooms to calm down in.
The groundbreaking book ‘Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity’ by José Esteban Muñoz will form the basis for this mini-symposium on queer art and futurity. Queer art historian Anne van Lierop (they/them), one of the founders of queer art platform The Pink Cube @the.pinkcube, will give insights into Muñoz’ ideas and the way queer futures and utopias have been considered in queer art history. After this, there will be an artist’s talk by Sarjon Azouz (they/them) @_sarjon_, telling you about their work and their own speculations on queer futurity. We hope to provide an afternoon of open dialogue, daydreaming out loud and radical speculation, and we warmly invite you to participate in the discussion!
Event Information
Cost: Free
When: June 3 | start 15.00
Where: Rood Bastion/Backbone 050 | Travertijnstraat 12
Accessibility info: this event space is wheelchair accessible. All artist talks will be in English. For specific questions, please check in with The Pink Cube via instagram or e-mail.