Project description: The “Just Spaces: Igniting Queer Retrospective” project, through a series of innovative artistic events, has made a significant contribution to improving LGBTI+ visibility, preserving culture, and social transformation in Serbia.
One of the main goals of the project was to provide platforms for education, artistic expression, and dialogue. This was achieved through Pride Queer Studies lectures and events at the Pride House, which encouraged engagement with the concepts of sexual rights, non-binary identities, and intersectionality.
The project “Just Spaces: Igniting Queer Retrospective” transformed KC Grad into a Pride House during Pride Week, establishing it as a central venue for LGBTQI+ activities. Throughout the week, the venue hosted numerous panels, performances, and social events.
The exhibition “Queer Lives of Russians and Ukrainians in Belgrade” highlighted the importance of cross-cultural understanding by telling the stories of displaced queer individuals navigating life in a new environment. Similarly, the event “Perreo Peripheri” promoted inclusion by breaking down cultural stereotypes within the music industry.
The most significant part of the project is certainly the exhibition “Arkadia – Where We Were”, held at the Miljenko Dereta space as a multimedia retrospective of archival material from the LGBTI community of Serbia. This exhibition offered a tangible representation of the history of LGBTQI+ activism, showcasing materials such as photographs, letters, and videos. By documenting the experiences and struggles of activists from the 1990s onwards, the project ensured that these stories would not be lost to time. Through her research, the exhibition’s author Jelena Vasiljević catalogued thousands of archivally preserved items, including newspaper clippings, flyers, letters and photographs, thereby giving a platform to the untold history that took place behind the scenes and beyond the public eye.
A key part of this initiative was the collection of oral histories and the digitization of private collections, further enriching archival content and ensuring the preservation of personal narratives that reflect the contribution of the LGBTI+ community to Serbian society.
Among the most notable and well-attended events was certainly the multimedia event “The Space Between”, as well as a panel on trans-inclusive feminism, which highlighted the systemic challenges faced by marginalized communities. This panel emphasized the importance of solidarity between feminist movements and LGBTQI+ activism, demonstrating the interconnectedness of these struggles.
Grant amount: 1,762,500.00 RSD
