IT’S TIME!!!

Hello wonderful queers! We’re so looking forward to seeing you all.

We have THREE important things we’d like you to remember:

1) NO DOGS !
The festival location is home to many cats who do not like dogs. We have also had bad experiences with Dogs in the past. We are a very small team and we want to make the festival as simple as possible for ourselves. If you have no option but to bring your dog please keep them on a leach and talk to the info desk.

(If you see a big brown cat he is very friendly and happy to be handled. There is a smaller cat with the same colouring and is very sensitive and does NOT like to be handled. She WILL tell you about it…)

2) NO PERFUME !
Please be careful not to wear scented products and perfumes as they can be very difficult for people in small spaces such as at our festival.

RESPECT YOUR FELLOW QUEERS AND ANIMAL FRIENDS!!

3) LOOK AFTER YOURSELVES
There have been reports recently of women being assulted in Vondelpark and Leidseplein. Please be careful at night and avoid the park after dark. If you are worried about walking home alone please speak to one of the organisers.
at5.nl/artikelen/174151/fietsende-vrouwen-slachtoffer-van-mishandeling-in-vondelparlk

See you there! X

RADICAL QUEER RESISTANCE

If you have been following us on our website you will know that we have been discussing our name for a while now. It is a complex topic with lots to think about and we will be posting a more detailed explanation about our decision in the future but for now let us announce that we will temporarily be calling the festival RADICAL QUEER RESISTANCE and we are arranging a workshop to be held at the festival where we will collectively work out what we should call this festival. We will tide you over in the meantime with the following points.

1) It is very important to us that we do not erase the significance and meaning of the name ‘Queeristan’. The name was never about putting something cool sounding on the end of the word ‘Queer’.

2) Organisers have always taken cultural appropriation very seriously and there has been discomfort over the name for sometime. The current team ultimately made the decision to change this years name because we do not want to dismiss the claim that it is appropriation and therefore inappropriate.

3) This is not about how many people of colour or white people organise the festival. It is about who can claim ownership over the suffix ‘-stan.’ We have found it important to discuss the name with the people who originally named the festival and are continuing this discussion.

4) Whilst we will be holding a discussion on how to actually name the festival at the festival itself, we also want to focus peoples attention on what this festival is actually about. We feel very strongly that ‘Radical Queer Resistance’ captures the drive, passion and force behind this festival and hope that all name suggestions in the future will keep this sentiment in mind.

—Our email and website will remain the same for the time being as this name is probably a temporary one, but for now be assured that this festival is called RADICAL QUEER RESISTANCE !!!!!!

CALL OUT 2017

Call For Workshops and Performers 2017!!!

Queer Space! Queer Identities! Queer Politics! Queer Togetherness!
Queeristan returns in 2017 (October 19 – 22) and is looking for workshops and performances. This year we’re particularly interested in workshops that address issues around white privilege, refugees, sex work, intersectionality, self-defense, and direct action skills.

Queeristan is an autonomous DIT (do-it-together) festival crafted each year by volunteers. The Amsterdam-based festival started in 2010 as a reaction to the lack of awareness in mainstream gay and lesbian culture on issues of political and social struggles. Queeristan began as a protest against the “gay card” and the festival continues to protest against pinkwashing and its ongoing use to justify harsh immigration laws against migrants and refugees. Queeristan aims to fight racism, segregation and homonormativity.

What unites queers with other marginalized communities is that we all struggle with the compulsory laws and values imposed on us. We are all queers (in the broad sense of the word) with very different backgrounds, each of us experiencing ways of oppression differently.

Queeristan invites you to Amsterdam for a weekend of radical queer empowering politics, workshops and performance.

Proposal Guidelines
FESTIVAL DATES ARE OCTOBER 19 – 22, 2017 (of which the 19th is a POC-day)
Please submit your proposal by JULY 15 to queeristan@gmail.com
Email subject line should state if you are proposing a workshop, performance or visual art.
– Let us know a bit about you, how you identify and what you want to do
– Keep it short and sweet – max. 500 words
– Tell us what you need ( e.g. microphone, projector, translator etc.)
– Estimated time required
– Will you need housing? For how many and for how long?
– Any special needs (dietary and ability)?
– Optional: Include a relevant image if you have one, we love visuals

Please be aware that Queeristan is a vegan space and respects the Palestinian call for boycott of Israeli products.

We are already looking forward to reading your proposals of dissent, pleasure and resistance!

QUEERISTAN 19 – 22 OCTOBER 2017!!

STAY TUNED FOR OUR CALL-OUT

QUEERISTAN 2017

! MEETING !
APRIL 16th
15:00
VRANKRIJK
Spuistraat 216 / Amsterdam

BE THERE…

Queeristan is a D-I-Y festival which means it doesn’t happen without people to make it happen!

We will be having an open meeting Sunday 16th April for anyone who is interested in helping out, curious about what we are, has something to say or just wants to listen.

There is no pressure to get involved in the actual planning by attending the meeting but as it stands we do not have enough people committed to make the festival happen. We want to reach out to see if there is anyone interested in helping bring it together this year, and if not, what can we do about it.

The meeting will focus on two main points:

1) What do we want Queeristan to be?
What do we want to create space for? What are we working towards? Why is this festival important to us?

2) How can we make it happen?
Who is able to make it happen? When will it be? What can we realistically do/achieve with the resources we have?

If you think having an autonomous queer political festival is important please consider coming to the meeting Sunday to hear the discussion on the realities of making a festival like Queeristan happen.

Queeristan has been an important part of our community for years but each year less and less people are able to commit to planning the festival and more and more people come to enjoy it. Queeristan is not supposed to be about collective consumption, it should be about collective creation. The more people who get involved the less work it is for everyone.

So clear your agenda (unless you have Easter or Passover commitments then email us!) and come down to Vrankrijk on Sunday. From 19:00 at Vrankrijk there is also a voku / karaoke / non-alcoholic cocktail bar benefit for the fword, another awesome festival here in Amsterdam, so don’t miss out!!

* Fword Benefit Info on Squat Radar *

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