Art

8 Queer Photographers on Instagram

Photography has always surrounded the lives of LGBTQ + people. It is impossible to deny the importance of photography as an art form – be it documenting the facts of the fight

Queer Flamenco

Author: Nino Bekaia ”A dark stage, a dancer dressed in a long, traditional red dress stands in front of the audience. The sound of a guitar is heard, Eres una rosa – ” You are a rose ” – a

The Blue House – Frida Kahlo

Just a few weeks ago, a new book, Frida Kahlo: Her Universe, was released, which includes photos of the personal belongings of the legendary

Friedrich Naumann Foundation held a presentation of the documentary film

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Equality 17 is an organization working on queer and feminist issues since 2016. While advocating human rights, the team of the organization uses different fields of art such as social theater and documentary cinematography.

In 2019, together with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the organization worked on the documentary film Caucasian Metamorphosis, which was dedicated to queer issues. In cooperation with the foundation, another documentary Another House was created at the beginning of this year, which tells the story of three queer emigrants from Georgia.

The characters of Another House – Selena, Gvantsa, and Tengo – are seeking refugee status and asylum in Belgium due to the unbearable situation in Georgia and threats based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The team of Equality 17 would like to thank everyone involved in the film-making process as well as the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for their strong support.

The online publication Queer, which is the media platform of Equality 17, presents the full version of Another House:

 

We can all tell our own stories- Moldova Queer Film Festival

On December 1-4, the annual queer film festival, Queer Voices, was held in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, for the fifth time, which was attended by queer representatives. The film festival (if one can even call this multi-faceted festival just that) mainly focuses on documentary films, and brings forth the voices of LGBTQ+ people living in Moldova and around the world. Most importantly, the festival gives local community members the inspiration and experience to become their own storytellers.

“Cinema can inspire people. The screen has this unique power to take one on a journey that teaches us many truths. It allows us to observe our thoughts reflected in the experience of others. Therefore, I believe that cinema has power, including in terms of improving queer rights,” says Maxim Cirlan, a Moldovan-Greek director, screenwriter and activist who launched the first and only Moldovan queer festival, Queer Voices, 5 years ago with the support of a Swedish institute.

In this article I will try to convey the ideas that became an obsession after attending (accidently) an amazing queer film festival in a snowy December Chisinau. We all have a story worth telling, and no one can do it better than us. I will also tell you about the idea of the festival and its program- that I will remember for years to come.

“Chisinau needs a queer film festival, why not?!”

“The idea of a queer film festival started with the organization of Moldox, a documentary film festival aimed at social change. As part of the festival, we decided to screen an LGBTQ film in my small hometown in southern Moldova, which was not easy. We didn’t know how people would react, but it was important to me because I’m gay myself and I wanted to draw people’s attention to LGBTQI issues. Nevertheless, I had some apprehensions. We screened the short film and the conservative public accepted it well, moreover, the response was excellent — no one left the hall, no one protested. So we thought, why don’t we have a full queer film festival in Chisinau? “Why not?!”, says Maxim.

According to him, in the first year of the festival, he did not expect to see new, unfamiliar faces, nor to have a large audience. But the first festival was attended by many people who had not actively participated in LGBTQ rights protection events prior to the festival.

“They wanted to see the films, they wanted to support the community and they were ready to get involved. Since then, the festival has been growing and getting stronger.”

The festival, which takes place every year during the winter, in a frozen, unrenovated historical building, Muzeul Zemstvei, makes you feel uncomfortable at first. But soon you realize that the community members, the organizers, all the people who are committed to this space, create the festival together. As Maxim later confirmed to me, “despite the challenges, and perhaps because of them, the event stands out from all other experiences and, moreover, it even helps in a way.”

The joint efforts of each person create an experience that cannot be compared to anything else. You can see the connections, the friendship that exists between the members of the community, and you also know for sure that because of this unity, it is impossible for the festival not to secseedee.

Queer Voices got a new queer cafe not long ago. It works three days a week. According to local community members, this is the only LGBTQ entertainment space in Chisinau.

“Opening a queer cafe was possible thanks to QUEER VOICES. Last year this was an empty space, where you could grab a drink and relax between the screenings. The festival is held in winter; the building tends to get cold, so maintaining the audience between screenings was difficult. We thought about adding a similar space, which helped to strengthen the community, so the space organized within the festival continued to exist and helped bring people closer together,” Maxim says.

Anyone can make a film; the main thing is to want it

One of the main components of Queer Voices is screenings of international and local films. However, the main focus of the festival is still workshops, where participants present film ideas and short video outlines, and authors of promising projects can prepare full-length works for the next festival. Professional members of the Queer Voices team are actively involved in this process, and they share their experience with aspiring directors.

“We need to raise our voices and tell our stories. Who else cares about my story but me?”

I don’t even remember in which film in the festival program I heard this phrase, which I wrote down in my phone notes, but it is less important. The main thing is that Queer Voices develops around this idea and aims to empower the members of the community, to tell their experiences, to say something, to support the desire of making independent documentary films and to share their experiences, so that the final result is conceptually sound and interesting for the audience, and to give aspiring creators the opportunity to develop professionally; to establish themselves in the film industry and activism alike.

During the course of each festival, interested people can present their own film ideas, develop topics as a result of workshops, and prepare a short video synopsis during the 5-day period, which will be presented to the audience on the final day of the festival. A promising project is selected by a special jury, and the process of working on a full-length project with industry experts begins. Everyone has an equal chance to make their voice heard and to be involved in the scripting and shooting process of the film, which will be presented again during the festival next year.

When a queer festival or an LGBTQI organization itself supports the idea of equality and aims to improve legal status and visibility, at the same time, it tries to bring LGBTQI people out of a passive role, support their empowerment, provide opportunities for professional development and to maximize them turning their own experience into a step towards progress. When you create an environment, where one can focus their attention towards action, and contemplation on different challenges, progress becomes easier to achieve. Queer Voices focuses on these exact values.

The 2022 festival premiered Happy Land, a film based on the winning idea of the 2020 workshops, a documentary by three female directors: Vasilută Vasilache, Elena Culic and Toma Pan. Happy Land explores the answer to one central question — what is happiness and does everyone deserve it? In the course of the film, we get to know Chisinau’s LGBTQI community, we visit queer-friendly places and hear stories of mutual love, respect, family, friendship and human happiness seen in these spaces, counterbalanced by scenes of street surveys, some of which reveal a sad selective attitude — “everyone deserves happiness, but queer people do so less”.

Another film from this year’s festival, also developed from the 2020 workshops, is Between Two Worlds, which tells the story of a young queer person named Doy. Doy tries to see themselves outside the gender-binary lens and not lose their bearings on the emotionally exhausting journey of self-discovery, self-love and transition, despite societal pressures and mental health challenges. The directors of the film are Doy-Romanța Dochițan and Ana Gurdițan themselves, who directed the audience’s attention to the understanding of the individual experience of sexuality and gender identity acceptance, which I am sure will be similar to the stories of many community members.

A working version of Queerky Town, another film developed during the 2021 festival workshops, also premiered at this year’s festival. Director Christian Doroftei tries to explore the humorous layer of life by a survey of residents of Chisina. Doroftei tries to see the humor beyond heteronormative perception and takes the reader on a journey through the streets of a queer city.

The winner of the 2022 festival workshops was the brainchild of Stella Roxana, an aspiring transgender director who set out to tell the story of accepting one’s identity, dealing with family members and the challenges of transition. A full-length film created by Roxana is expected to premiere at next year’s festival.

Presenting queer art

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One of the main goals of Queer Voices is to promote the development of the local LGBTQI scene, so the organizers of the event plan different cultural and educational activities during each festival, which will help in community engagement. Vogue classes from 2021 festival is a good example of this.

According to Maxim, they want to “spark a seed of interest among the locals” so that after the end of the festival, people will have the desire and determination to better understand queer art and become performers themselves.

As part of Queer Voices 2022, three different activities are planned — a drag show, ballroom, and an evening of performative poetry.

Moldova’s local drag scene is in its early stages of development and you will only find a few drag artists. Therefore, Greek Drag performers were invited. They presented their shows to the guests, shared the art of drag, introduced their own drag houses, and in this way introduced the locals to the specifics of the drag scene.

One of the main events of the festival was Ballroom; the jury members and the host were also not local. Representatives from three different queer houses introduced the history and specifics of the ballroom scene to attendees. Locals took part in different ballroom categories.

The biggest innovation we saw during the festival was a performance by Berlin-based queer art group Queerdos – an attempt to explore the place of the queer body and identity in public space, the history of oppression, and the struggle for visibility in conditions of religious, social, economic, or political oppression.

Performers from Berlin took over the streets of Chisinau; cafes and study spaces where they voiced poetic manifestos. We walked the streets with the performers, listened to what they had to say in different locations, became part of the performance, and finally witnessed stories of acceptance and, in some cases, observed invisible oppression through an audio-visual performance.

What is the future of queer voices?

The most important part of the queer film festival was, of course, the screening of international films. The festival program included South American, Asian, and European films, which you can read about in our previous article. In addition, all festival days included screenings of short feature films and documentaries aimed at sharing international experience. You can read about this part of the festival in a separate article.

Although, as Maxim noted, Moldova has already made some progress in improving LGBTQI rights, there is still a problem “in terms of public acceptance. Queer representation in the arts is low. We don’t actually exist for the general society, and despite the lack of aggressive attacks, adapting families, learning spaces, environments in such a way that queer people don’t feel excluded is still a problem.” Therefore, the festival is no less needed now, if not more.

“We are a strong community, and I don’t mean just the LGBTQI community. We want to unite more people. We have great hope that even this space, where we have gathered now, will become a mainstream gathering place, so to speak, and we will promote dialogue between different social groups, create an environment in which all people will feel welcome. At the same time, we want the Moldovan queer culture to spread beyond the country’s borders,” says Maxim regarding the far-reaching goals of the festival.

Maxim also shared that he would like to involve more countries in the region, with experiences similar to Moldova, in the process, to create a support system by sharing common experiences, and get to know different countries, including Georgian, better, in order to see what is needed to be able to transform the environment in the region for the better.

After the end of the festival, we stayed in Chisinau for one more day, once again explored the streets of the city, which seemed to be frozen in time – even in the center of the city you will find ruins of buildings, next to which you will see new, ugly glass buildings or monuments of European architecture. Different times, monuments with different history and value co-exist here, although the most important thing is not visible on the surface -society is, slowly, but still developing. The move towards acceptance continues, and this is primarily due to the fact that active members of the queer community, each LGBTQI person is trying to be as involved and effective as possible, bringing progress for themselves and society. Maybe these are fragments of reality seen by an outside observer. But I know that we still have a long way to go, and the experience of other countries shows us that if the loss of strength and giving up does not hinder us in this process, we can continue to move steadily forward.

5 Best Films From The Moldova International Film Festival QUEER VOICES

On December 1-4, the International Queer Film Festival was held in Chișinău, Moldova.

Documentary and feature films were screened at the annual festival, which was held for the fifth time this year. The festival’s program offers both Moldovan films and films from different countries of the world: Chile, Argentina, Colombia, India, France, Lebanon, Spain, Norway, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Brazil.

LGBTQI+ people in Moldova face a lot of pressure from the state, traditional patriarchal values and religious groups. The goal of the festival is to create a platform where queer people can bring forward their issues and agenda.

The festival includes workshops, where interested parties get acquainted with the basic principles of documentary filmmaking, develop ideas, and make films every year. Participants are evaluated by a special jury, and the winner is given the opportunity to further develop their idea and make a full-length documentary film.

Here are the 5 best films from the Moldova International Film Festival Queer Voices:

TRAVESTI ODYSSEY | 2021 | Chile, Argentina

TRAVESTI ODYSSEY is a documentary by Nicolas Videla, which tells us about the cabaret theatrical productions of transgender and drag artists. The film, composed of shots taken with a hand-held camera, tells us about the complicated and complex relationships of cabaret actors, against the backdrop of the recent history of politically turbulent Chile. Filled with rich cinematographic techniques and haunting shots, the film was a real discovery of the festival and once again clearly shows the LGBTQI+ community’s struggle for freedom.

SWEETHEART | 2021 | United Kingdom

SWEETHEART is a feature film that tells the story of a teenage girl, AJ. AJ is a typical teenager whose life is full of rebellion, misunderstandings, and conflict with family. Things get more complicated on a family visit to an amusement park, which seems to bore the main protagonist. Yet, everything changes, once she meets a local life guard named Isla, and develops romantic feelings towards her.

EX | 2022 | Germany, Greece

EX is a half-documentary, half-feature film by George Markakis, a Greek-born director, which takes us on a journey to one of the most mythologized and mysterious places of one of Berlin’s nightclubs, the toilet. What is life of people, who live from weekend to weekend, from party to party, like. What topics do they talk about in the toilet of the club, in a few square meters – these are the questions that Diana, the protagonist of the film, tries to answer, while acting as a kind of guide in the underground world.

I AM MICHELE 2021 | Ukraine

I AM MICHELE is a 2021 documentary film that follows the life of a Ukrainian transgender woman and a model. 20-year-old Michelle, who lives in Kyiv and dreams of becoming a model, realizes that not everything in her life is as she had imagined, after achieving success on social media. That is why she decides to change her life and return to her native village in Western Ukraine, where the story of her transition had begun and where she first received support from her parents and people cose to her.

HAPPYLAND | 2022 | Moldova

What is happiness and how do you see it? The documentary film, on which three female directors: Vasilută Vasilache, Elena Culic and Toma Pan, worked for two years, tries to answer these questions. The film shows us different layers of Moldovan society and tells us a story about acceptance, love, relationships and human happiness. At the same time, the film clearly shows the attitude of Moldovan society towards LGBTQI+ people.

 

The road from underground to the big stage- MADLENA

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I am MADLENA, queer artist and a performer. My main inspirations are my feelings and emotions, i try to always listen to my desires, try to know myself better. One might say that my inspirations are my dreams and desires, which were always with me- i danced from a very early age, i was a choreographer, a designer. Now it is time for me to stand on a bi stage and tell my story through music. 

The birth of a star and manifesting love

MADLENA has existed for a while, she just lived only at nights. She was a true diva of underground spaces, who traveled a lot, met with various people and despite the fact that she never lacked attention from people, both in Georgia or outside it, she was not a performer or an artist- Madlena stopped existing in sunlight. 

My friends always told me that my talent and energy should not be spent only in underground spaces and that I should step on the big stage, for which I am very grateful to them. These very talented people: Datuna Sulikashvili, Grigor Devejiem, Irakli Rusadze pushed Madlena to emerge from the underground and become a world star. At first I was a little scared, because I always take everything with great responsibility, but I felt so much support from them that very soon all my fears disappeared.

I consider myself a very lucky person, because the most successful video maker and composer in Georgia, Grigori Devezhiev and Stephane, worked on my first single. Stephane created the composition and Grigory shot the music video and that’s how MANIFEST was born. It perfectly captures who I am, the fighting and defiant spirit of a transgender woman who manifests love from a political platform. This song is my calling card and tells the story of a strong woman who can speak up for her rights and needs, who demands peace, equality and mutual respect.

Tbilisi Concert Hall and the first meeting with fans 

The presentation of the music video took place in Tbilisi Concert Hall. At that time I did not realize how many steps I was taking. Everything happened very quickly and we didn’t have time to think about all this, however, today, one year after the premiere of the clip, I realize that it was actually a very big event that Madlena appeared in the Georgian reality and that the presentation of the clip of a transgender person took place in the oldest and most historic concert hall of Tbilisi. The evening passed peacefully, there was no aggression. On the contrary, I received a lot of positive energy from my fans. I had no other expectations, because this song was created with a lot of love and I believed that the result would definitely be positive.

A bigger challenge was the concert held in the Monohall concert hall, which was attended by more than three thousand people. I was very nervous, I expected that there would be many homophobic people, but this evening also passed peacefully. For some reason, there is always a positive attitude toward me, love always follows me, although this does not necessarily mean that the stories of all LGBTQ people are the same. I know that homophobia is particularly rampant in our country, but I still believe that things are changing for the better, and Madeleine is proof of that for me. Whether I sang in the monohall or not, I had a lot of people come up to me and take photos, including a lot of straight people or people I knew from afar that weren’t kind to queer people. That night was special for me, a kind of sign that I must continue to do my work and move forward.

Georgian underground spaces and rapidly changing reality

Georgian underground culture starts from the 90s. Together with my friends, I opened the first Georgian gay club Aura, where we did shows with various artists, including Irakli Charkvian, and played techno electronic music. At first, all this was met with a lot of resistance, but soon Aura became everyone’s favorite place and brought many people together. Who would you not see there – people with criminal mentality, former officials, gays, lesbians. In our space, everyone was able to find a common language and there were rarely any problems. We only had a problem with the police, but in the end, they didn’t scare us either and we still held events.

Things have changed since then, today there are many queer people around us, and this fact makes me very happy. I get a lot of letters from them and I consider them as my people. Many new spaces for queer people have emerged, including Drag Ball, where very talented young people are given the opportunity to express themselves, express their feelings and talk about the problems and challenges that are in our country. It makes me very happy that everything is changing quickly and I am one of the participants of this change.

MADLENA beyond stage and plans for future

Madlena is exactly the same behind the scenes as on the stage. Maybe that’s why I have so much love and support from people, because I don’t play and I don’t lie, I am who I am. I had to spend many years, a lot of work and a lot of energy to achieve this. The audience feels it too. This time I am working on two more songs, one will be in Turkish and intended for Turkish listeners, and the other for Germany. I’m not going to stop, I want to never stop moving forward.

Years later, I want people to take an example from me and see me as a fighting and revolutionary person who is not intimidated by societal pressures, norms or boundaries. I want to be an example for all those people who are afraid to take big steps, are afraid to get to know themselves better, to be accepted, to be recognized. So many people write to me and tell me that my story and my work have inspired them to be better. This is the greatest gift for me.

 

 

 

Protest, Euphoria and Queer Awakening — Meet Georgian Drag Queen BIPOLARA

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There’s a cliché that if you do drag, you must watch RuPaul’s drag race and know every queen’s biography byheart. I am not one of these queens- I think drag is more than RuPaul’s show and I expect more than claps and love from what I do. 

I never knew that so much artistic energy was hiding within me. Out of drag I seem to be quite talentless, but putting on eyeliner is enough to change everything- a new person is born, who has more skills and opportunities. 

“The First and the Last Show” — the birth of Bipolara 

It all started in 2020, during the pandemic. I ended up on one of the lives of- United We Stream through my work. It fully was dedicated to drag queens. I didn’t have much intersection with queer community back then, I was young, everything had stopped. I really liked the atmosphere and people I saw there. At that time, I didn’t even think that I would soon become one of them.  

Approximately one and a half years later, when the lockdown was over, I saw one of my closest friends, Matt Shally’s show, which I liked a lot. I started thinking about doing the same. I listen to the song Mate used in his show on repeat. I started imagining what I’d do with this song, what my performance would be like. Mate’s show was soon followed by Nia Gvatua’s offer. She asked me to do a show at Success. At first I was hesitant. I was not ready, but I still took this step with the condition that this would be my first and the last show. I would fulfill my desire once and that was it. 

Ovations from the audience and a more courageous BIPOLARA  

ფოტო: KOI

At the first show, to my surprise, I was not nervous at all. I felt very calm. Everything went well, Nia helped me perfect my ideas. I received very positive emotions from the audience after the end of the show; applause and ovations would not stop. I was told there were a lot of people left outside trying to get in and see my show. Their emotions reminded me that I was actually where I wanted to be since I was a child, and I got the feeling that I had always been missing.

I never tell people what my show will be like; there are no expectations. I always try to offer something new to my supporters and those who watch the evolution of the Georgian drag scene. My drag persona is also always changing. I try not to be predictable and linear. My shows are always dedicated to different themes; the messages also change, as well as my self-expression. I did the first show from the 1992 film Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep. At the beginning of the show, Bipolara is timid, scared, standing in front of the mirror and looking at her image in despair. But during the course of the show, she finds strength and shows a different side, bolder, stronger and defiant.

The feeling of euphoria that comes with doing drag 

At the end of the show, I don’t want BIPOLARA to end. I want the euphoria that comes with drag to stay with me. I try not to take off my wig, not to remove my makeup before going to sleep, and to prolong the feeling of happiness for a while. Then I fall asleep and when I wake up it’s like I’m a new person. After each performance, a new person is born, who is free from the fears I had before doing drag.

After every show, I feel that I am better, bolder, stronger. As I have learned to value myself, I am more confident. I learned when to say no to something, when to agree. Drag taught me to value myself. I was able to bring forth things that I had suppressed for many years.

Uniqueness of Georgian drag queens and Georgian drag

ფოტო: KOI

In recent years, the number of places dedicated to queer people and queer culture has grown tremendously. Every club has its series of queer nights, which has led to an increase in the number of Georgian drag queens, and what is most pleasing to me, no two drag queens are alike; they are all unique in their own way. It’s hard for me to single out someone in particular. I respect everyone’s work and creativity very much. I’m glad that they are so diverse, in terms of style, visuals, taste, artistic skills, manners, etc. I’m sure this diversity will bode well for all of us who consider ourselves a part of drag culture in the future.

According to my observation, Georgian drag differs from traditional drag in that there are more performance elements in Georgian drag shows and it is not just a classic drag with lip sync and movements. I like this very much, as we are less limited and have more room to share our feelings and experiences. The audience also wins because they never know what they will get at a particular drag artist’s show. 

Protest, queer experiences and advice for aspiring drag queens

I always try to incorporate the feeling of protest I get daily into my shows. It may not be evident to everyone, but the observant eye will definitely notice that my shows reflect the environment in which we queer people have to live. We cannot escape from this; the pain we experience during our lives is always conveyed directly or indirectly, in the shows of Georgian drag queens. Drag is not just about colorful costumes and entertainment, for us drag is primarily a way to tell our stories. 

Drag is fraught with risks in our country, and no drag queen is immune from homophobic society. In my case- I don’t have my family’s support, yet I took this step. I would advise others to do the same. Anyone, who wants to be a part of the Georgian drag family, should take the risk and make this step. I know it’s not an easy decision to make, but drag has completely changed my life. I assumed that everything would be fine, but the result exceeded my expectations and I got much more than I imagined: I met a lot of people. I felt a lot of support and love. I was once again convinced of this last week by the TURPHA series of erotic nights organized by JAMPROJECT at club TES, where my first song was presented. The risk and nervousness were all worth it.

Madonna Announces a New Album, FINALLY ENOUGH LOVE

Madonna has announced that she will soon release a new album called Finally Enough Love. The retrospective album will be accompanied by remixes of the hits of the legendary American musician.

According to official Billboard data, the 63-year-old Madonna is the only artist to have managed to release 50 singles to the number one spot on the Billboard charts during her career.

To celebrate this fact, the artist will release two albums, a 50 remix of Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones and a 16-track version – Finally Enough Love.

It is noteworthy that most of the remixes that Madonna herself has selected will be heard for the first time. The 50-song album is arranged in chronological order, from 1983 to 2019.

Each remix was edited by Mike Dean, who was actively working on Madonna’s latest albums – Madame X and Rebel Heart. The new album will also feature the artist collaborating with the pop princess, Britney Spears and other musicians.

The online version of the new album will be available on June 24, and its purchase in physical format will start on August 19.

 

10-Day Residency Program for Ukrainians in Georgia

Untitled Gallery Tbilisi is announcing a residency program for Ukrainian queer artists together with Project Fungus and the Ria Keburia Foundation.

The residency program will run from April 20 to 30, and 5 queer artists will work on pre-announced themes, with an exhibition scheduled for May 1st. Ukrainian artists have until April 11 (18:00) to register for the residency program.

“The terror that we are all experiencing in the region is intensifying fears in different directions. In this situation, queer people and artists face one of the greatest challenges and traumas: they face the self-discovery of what it meant to be queer in the context of this warlike attack, have hopes and fears about how to build a life out of ruins, what awaits the recognition and protection of their basic human rights, which depends on who wins the war.

Mutation and solidarity will be the two main topics that the artists think will about while living in the residence of the Ria Keburia Foundation (Kachreti). For 10 days, 5 queer artists from Ukraine will work on these topics, followed by a presentation of the works and a 10-day period ending with an exhibition. After that, a public discussion will be held at Untitled Gallery in Tbilisi,” – reads the statement published by Untitled Gallery Tbilisi.

During the residence period, accommodation, meals and transportation from Tbilisi to Kachreti and back will be provided by the project organizers.

 

The Works of the Gori Women’s Choir Will Be Sent to the Moon

“The craziest project we’ve ever had! The voices of Gori Women’s Choir are already on the moon!” – reads a post from Gori Women’s Choir official Facebook page.

With the support of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration – NASA, SpaceX and Astrobotic Technology, Incandence Corp has created a digital archive called the Lunar Codex, which will be sent to the moon. The digital archive will include various works by artists from 90 countries around the world. Gori women’s choir was selected from Georgia. The author of the idea for the Lunar Codex is Dr. Samuel Peralta.

By the decision of the artistic director of the group, Teona Tsiramua, three works were selected for the project – composer Ioseb Kechakmadze’s “Exercice”, “On the Road to Lashari” and the Georgian (Abkhazian) song “Varado”.

All three songs were recorded on Leno Records. You can listen to them on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. All works to be sent to the moon will be placed in the 2nd capsule and will land at the destination in 2024.

Stream For Pride – A New Project by Tbilisi Pride

Tbilisi Pride recently announced a new venture to the audience, which aims to update the queer entertainment in the post-pandemic period, create a platform to support queer artists and raise funds to empower LGBTQI+ people.

Stream for Pride is an online streaming series whose listeners will be able to transfer money from all over the world. It should be noted that the money received from the first stream will be fully transferred to help Ukrainian LGBTQI+ people.

The first stream of Tbilisi Pride was recorded in Cafe Gallery, and the space was designed by visual artist ATIRAMA. The streaming series will be held periodically, and in the first stream you will be able to listen to the artists – NASI, GWÄN and 2HS (CrimeB2BSpeedball) -for this, on March 31, at 20:00 in the evening, you should watch the pages of Tbilisi Pride, KyivPride and InterPride. Queer has also joined this initiative, so you can listen to the stream on our Facebook page as well.

Homoerotic transformation of Iranian car in order to promote discussion about LGBT rights

This article is about – Iranian queer art. The material has been translated from English into Georgian. You can see the full English version of the text at the following link.

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