in Brussels & Online
8 – 10 OCTOBER 2021
LESBIENNALE – dyke networking hub @Muntpunt
LOCATION
Muntpunt , Pl. de la Monnaie 6, 1000 BrusselsMuntpunt is transforming into Brussels’ lesbian meeting point for the Lesbiennale, open all day to connect, exchange, relax and read (?) – during 8-9 October, 2021 between 10am-6pm, On the 5th floor of Muntpunt.
Muntpunt is a library, a house full of information, a meeting point and your window onto Brussels.
Don’t miss the amazing exhibition of archival posters from the: http://scumgrrrls.org/rubrique1.html
Muntpunt will be displaying their collection of queer art books and magazines.
Lesbian Brussels Tour curated by L-Tour
LOCATION
RainbowHouse , Rue du Marché au Charbon 42, 1000 BrusselsStarting point: Rainbow House
End point: Muntpunt
Language: English (possible in French)
— reservations can be made by emailing : lens.marian@l-tour.be
Discover cosmopolitan Brussels in all its lesbian-coloured glory… This tour will take in cafés, bars, meeting rooms and other places where “women loving women” got together, whether to socialise and have fun or to change the world. Successes and milestones on the path to equality – in Belgium, Europe and worldwide – will be presented in an original way in order to highlight our voices and struggles, who can no longer remain invisible throughout the historical/herstory discourse.
The Black Swan, the Madame and Jeanneke will have no more secrets for you. La Pergola is a lesbian café that lasted for decades as from the 1930’s, where the lesbian who founded our first Belgian ‘homosexual’ association (1953) used to hang out.
You will uncover Brussels and its numerous lesbian and rainbow frescoes, and also the European area, with ILGA (the European and worldwide LGBTQI biggest lobby), and better, we will speak about ILIS, at the forefront of EL*C.
We will go back to 1976, where the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women took place, when the first worldwilde Lesbian Front was also created during this event.
And also between the Grand-Place and the Central Station, you will come along bookshop Artemys, created during the eighties, ‘the place to be’ for the Belgian lesbians. It was nothing less than the only lesbian-profiled bookshop in Europe, and one of the longest lasting lesbian and feminist bookstore in the world.
Presentation by Marian Lens, sociologist and pioneering lesbian activist.
LESBIENNALE Vernissage
Join EL*C & partners for the opening of the Lesbiennale!
Performance/reading by: Joëlle Sambi Nzeba, EL*C co chair
Speech by: Delphine Houba, Echevine de la Culture, du Tourisme, des Grands évènements et du Matériel communal.
Presentation of partners & guests.
Iris Brey on the ‘Lesbian Gaze’ – opening remarks by Joëlle Sambi Nzeba
LOCATION
CINEMATEK , Baron Hortastreet 9, 1000 Brussels>>>>> NB: this event is SOLD OUT until further notice!
“Would it be possible to conceptualise a “lesbian gaze”? How could we apprehend a lesbian gaze without essentialising the lesbian filmmakers to a category but on the contrary to see how the films which put in scene lesbian loves advance the filmic form? This conference will be an opportunity to analyse how filmmakers who have created female characters who can do without the male gaze have innovated cinema.”
Tickets can be purchased on the spot or in advance online.
— opening remarks by Joëlle Sambi Nzeba, EL*C co chair
— this presentation will be followed by Barbara Hammer’s “Sanctus” and Sue Friedrich’s “Damned if you don’t” : NB: tickets for this screening need to be purchased separately.
This event has been curated in partnership with Elles Tournent: https://ellestournent-damesdraaien.org/
Lesbiennale Grand Opening Party Mothers & Daughters x Crazy Circle
LOCATION
The Crazy Circle , Rue du Prince Royal 11, 1050 BrusselsCalling all hotties to the dance floor!
DJ set : Mel Juice
Screening: “Sanctus” by Barbara Hammer and “Damned if You Don’t” by Su Friedrich
LOCATION
CINEMATEK , Baron Hortastreet 9, 1000 BrusselsThe projection follows the presentation by Iris Brey on ‘Lesbian Gaze’
Barbara Hammer: https://barbarahammer.com/
Sue Friedrich: https://www.sufriedrich.com/
This event has been curated in partnership with Elles Tournent: https://ellestournent-damesdraaien.org/
Lesbian Brussels Tour curated by L-Tour
LOCATION
RainbowHouse , Rue du Marché au Charbon 42, 1000 BrusselsStarting point: Rainbow house
End point: Rainbow house
Language: English (possible in French)
— reservations can be made by emailing : lens.marian@l-tour.be
Discover cosmopolitan Brussels in all its lesbian-coloured glory… This tour will take in cafés, bars, meeting rooms and other places where “women loving women” got together, whether to socialise and have fun or to change the world. Successes and milestones on the path to equality – in Belgium, Europe and worldwide – will be presented in an original way in order to highlight our voices and struggles, who can no longer remain invisible throughout the historical/herstory discourse.
The Black Swan, the Madame and Jeanneke will have no more secrets for you. La Pergola is a lesbian café that lasted for decades as from the 1930’s, where the lesbian who founded our first Belgian ‘homosexual’ association (1953) used to hang out.
You will uncover Brussels and its numerous lesbian and rainbow frescoes, and also the European area, with ILGA (the European and worldwide LGBTQI biggest lobby), and better, we will speak about ILIS, at the forefront of EL*C.
We will go back to 1976, where the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women took place, when the first worldwilde Lesbian Front was also created during this event.
And also between the Grand-Place and the Central Station, you will come along bookshop Artemys, created during the eighties, ‘the place to be’ for the Belgian lesbians. It was nothing less than the only lesbian-profiled bookshop in Europe, and one of the longest lasting lesbian and feminist bookstore in the world.
Presentation by Marian Lens, sociologist and pioneering lesbian activist.
Screening & Talk: Lesbian short films with Serena Vittorini & Kis Keya
LOCATION
Muntpunt , Pl. de la Monnaie 6, 1000 BrusselsIntroductory words & moderation: Marie Vermeiren, Elles Tournent.
The screenings & talk will take place on the 5th floor at the auditorium (Muntpunt)
“En ce Moment” Screening and talk with Serena Vittorini (director)
Synopsis:
A love story between two young women during the lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They meet, fall in love and experience love in a limited time and space. The film portrays their failed attempt at communicating their emotions and needs in an alternation of intensity, suffering and passion.
Bio:
Serena Vittorini (born in 1990) is a visual artist based in Belgium. After graduating in Psychology, she developed an interest in visual arts. She graduated with honors in Photography from ISFCI (Istituto di Fotografia of Rome) and has a Masters in Advanced Photography from IED (Istituto Europeo di Design of Milan). At the beginning of her research journey, she decided to focus on the analysis of the modification of places and the relationship between human presence and representation of urban spaces. In recent years she has been working on the link between identity and memory, blurring the boundaries between the intimate and the public, reality and fiction. Her current research practice incorporates photography, installation, audio and video to allow for a multi-layered interpretation. In 2020 she directed her first short-film En ce moment, selected at the “Giornate degli Autori” of the Venice Film Festival.
“Deux Filles” Screening and talk with Kis Keya (director)
Synopsis:
Manon and Julie, two teenage girls, meet at a bus station. They both missed the bus. The next one is in 24 hours. They decide to not go home and wander together in the city, waiting for the next departure.
Bio:
Kis Keya is a writer/director based in Belgium. In the field of arts, she started very early with painting. But as time went by, she diversified her means of expression (painting, writing, sculpture, theater, film) to adapt to the subjects that were close to her heart or the sensitivities she wanted to convey. “I consider myself a committed artist. Art is my language, to take a stand in society; to fight against discrimination (sexism, racism, homophobia, …) and to pass messages.” The visibility of everyone on the screen is one of the main drivers of its creation. The representativeness of all is a necessity for the society in her eyes. Kis Keya has put together three theater shows with performances in Brussels, Montreal and Ouagadougou, before going into directing. In 2017, she created her production structure Madjiki prod, with which she edited a medium-length film entitled “Two Girls”. And in 2018, she launched the project Extranostro, the first French-speaking Afroqueer series.
BAD (Brussel Almanack Dykes) – Talk, edit-a-thon and queer map launch!
LOCATION
Muntpunt , Pl. de la Monnaie 6, 1000 BrusselsAt the occasion of the launch of BAD (Brussel Almanack Dykes) – a new online map and platform for an ever-growing collection of queer and feminist spaces in Brussels, Jessica Gysel and Mia Melvær host a talk and edit-a-thon about mapping queer archives & feminist publishing. Join in to add places to the map, leave a recorded testimony or or spend some time in the mini feminist library put together especially for the occasion.
This event is curated by members of Girls Heart Brussels.
Lesbian Archives afternoon drink
LOCATION
Muntpunt , Pl. de la Monnaie 6, 1000 BrusselsJoin Lesbiennale partners & organisers for a drink in between a workshop and a debate to hear about lesbian archives.
Former scumgrrrls members will be present to talk about their activism between the 1990s and early 2000s. In the context of the Lesbiennale scumgrrrls are also setting up a poster exhibition at Muntpunt featuring covers of their magazine published until 2011.
We’ll also get to hear from other festival partners such as Girls Heart Brussels about their work on queer and lesbian archives and their latest website.
The installation “Through You” by Italian artist Serena Vittorini will also be on display during the drinks: “Through You” is an audiovisual work that collects a set of conversations the author had with people she met through a dating app, after she broke up with her partner. The people involved stand in front of the camera and talk to her about what they look for in dating apps, their expectations in relationships, the recurring dynamics they experience in love stories and how those are linked to their childhood, and how they deal with break-ups. These encounters, which initially arise from the author’s need to deal with the end of a love affair, become an opportunity for her and for the spectator to question oneself through the other and to become aware of the different possible ways of experiencing a (love) relationship.
This afternoon drink is generously provided for by the Office of MEP Malin Björk (Swedish Left Party and the The Left (GUE/NGL))
“Lesbophobia in Public Space & in the Media” a political debate
LOCATION
Muntpunt , Pl. de la Monnaie 6, 1000 BrusselsModeration by EL*C board member Evgenia Giakoumopoulou, Head of the Council of Europe Program Office to Montenegro.
Opening remarks: Sarah Schlitz, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity, Deputy Minister for Mobility
Speakers:
-Malin Björk, Member of European Parliament (Swedish Left Party)
-Terry Reintke, Member of European Parliament (German Green Party)
-Dajana Bakić, Vice-President of Rainbow Rose, (SDP BiH), Bosnia and Herzegovina
-Gia Abrassart is an independent journalist and activist of decolonial culture, founder of Café Congo (Brussels)
-Andrea Ayala, feminist lesbian activist and refugee rights advocate from El Salvador
-Dorottya Rédai, one of the Board Members of Labrisz Lesbian Association, has been named as one of the most influential people of the world on the 2021 TIME100 annual list. She is one of the leaders of the ‘Getting to Know LGBT People’ school program and the coordinator of the ‘Fairyland is for Everyone’ project.
About lesbophobia :
‘Lesbian issues’ lie at the crossroad of structural androcentrism, misogyny and homophobia. The mixture of these stigmas gives rise to lesbophobia. The stigmas at the root of lesbophobia also explain how lesbians are paradoxically sexualised (misogyny) and ostracised (androcentrism) oftentimes simultaneously in society. This paradox in turn greatly impacts lesbians’ position in terms of societal power relations.
DYKE Party !!
LOCATION
Café Congo , 1A rue de la Petite Ile, 1070 BrusselsPERFORMANCES
Milka Mbunga Kongi – Celles qui manquent – 8 min
Née en 1988 à Kinshasa dans le quartier de Bon-Marché, Milka, AKA Zoulou Choco, est une plasticienne performeuse et activiste résidant à Bruxelles. Elle s’est faite connaître comme artiste, DJ dans le monde de la nuit et dans le milieu de la performance engagée.
Elle est membre du collectif “faire-part” qui travaille autour des thématiques liées à la colonisation.
« Celles qui manquent » est une performance autour des femmes qui se sont battues contre les arrivées successives de colons en Afrique.
Partant du postulat que les hommes ont toujours occupé une place prédominante dans l’Histoire, Milka a effectué des recherches à partir du socle d’une statue de Léopold II afin de rendre visible les femmes qui ont monté une armée contre les colons et qui, en raison de leur genre, ont été effacées des récits liés à la décolonisation.
Milka Mbunga Kongi – Celles qui manquent – 8 min
Born in 1988 in Kinshasa in Bon-Marché district, Milka, aka Zoulou Choco, is a visual artist, performer and activist living in Brussels. She has made a name for herself as an artist, DJ in the nightlife and in the world of engaged performance.
She is a member of the collective “faire-part” which works around issues related to colonization.
“Celles qui manquent” is a performance about the women who fought against the successive arrivals of colonizers in Africa. Starting from the assumption that men have always occupied a predominant place in history, Milka has carried out research using the socle of a Leopold II statue in order to highlight the role of the women who led an army against the colonizers and who, because of their gender, have been erased from the decolonization narratives.
Insta : mac_coco
Mac Coco – Tout doit disparaître – 30 min
Ophélie Mac aka Mac Coco est une artiste afro-féministe activiste elle se définit comme céramiste-performeuse, depuis 2012 elle vit et travaille à Bruxelles. En 2019, elle ouvre FATSABBATS, un espace pour et par les femmes POC destiné à la communauté Queer POC. Son travail questionne sa double culture métissée, ses religions, ses croyances, son intimité et la relation au public.
A travers sa performance « Tout doit disparaître » l’artiste évoque l’absence du corps noir dans l’art contemporain, son exorcisation, les tabous, le care et met en parallèle le marché de l’art et le marché du sexe. Qui est elle ? Que vend elle ? Où ? Comment ?
Pour quel public ? Well now that you ask..
Mac Coco s’invite chez vous pour une démonstration « Tupperware » dans les foires ou les festivals afin de présenter ses Encastrables. L’encastrable, le godemichet en céramique fabriqué par ses soins ! Pour la Dyke Night, Mac Coco vous expliquera pourquoi la céramique c’est fantastique. Elle répondra à toutes vos questions, des plus techniques aux plus… intimes et la vente se fait en direct !
Une foire aux questions est ouverte après la performance. Don’t be shy boo, just ask !
Mac Coco – Tout doit disparaître – 30 min
Ophélie Mac aka Mac coco is an afro-feminist activist artist, she defines herself as a ceramicist-performer. Since 2012 she lives and works in Brussels. In 2019 she opens FATSABBATS, a space for and by POC women for the Queer POC community. Her work questions her mixed race double culture, religions, beliefs, intimacy and relationship to the public.
Through her performance “Everything must disappear” the artist evokes the absence of black bodies in contemporary art, its exotisation, taboos, care and puts in parallel the art market and the sex market. Who is she? What does she sell? Where? How? For which public ? Well now that you ask…
Mac Coco invites herself at your place for a “Tupperware” demonstration in fairs or festivals to present her Encastrables. The encastrable, a ceramic dildo made by Mac Coco herself !
For Dyke Night, she will explain to you why ceramics are fantastic. She will answer all your questions, from the most technical to the most… intimate and the sale is live!
There will be a Q&A session after the performance. Don’t be shy boo, just ask !
Insta : mac_coco
Site: lencastrable.com
PROJECTIONS
Esther C. – Much More Than Pussy – 35 min
Esther est engagée dans le milieu du cinéma art et essai. Elle assure à Bordeaux la coordination du Festival Cinemarges devenu ciné-club LGBTQ+ depuis 2000. Elle réalise des montages DIY queers qu’elle montre habituellement sous le manteau.
Et pour la DyKe Night, elle nous préparé un montage DIY d’extraits de films illustrant l’évolution, sur 1/2 siècle, de la représentation du sexe lesbien à l’écran. Lucky Kitten !
De la Lezploitation, dans le cinéma érotique des années 70 au développement de films post-porn dans les années 2010, en passant par les années 80-90 marquées par le féminisme pro-sexe et l’arrivée des lesbiennes dans la production.
Où comment les clichés de la none, femme en prison, vampire et autres créatures de la nuit ont laissés place à des amours saphiques assumés, tour à tour tantriques, romantiques, vanilles ou BDSM. Butchs, fems, ciseaux, 69, gode-ceintures…et bondage, il y en a pour tous les goûts ou presque !
Esther C. – Much More Than Pussy – 36 min
Esther is involved in the art cinema scene. She is the coordinator of the Cinemarges Festival in Bordeaux, which became an LGBTQ+ ciné-club in 2000. She makes queer DIY films that she usually shows under the radar.
And for DyKe Night, she prepared a DIY editing of film clips illustrating the evolution, over half a century, of the representation of lesbian sex on the screen. From Lezploitation, in the erotic cinema of the 70’s to the development of post-porn films in the 2010’s, through the 80’s and 90’s marked by pro-sex feminism and the arrival of lesbians in production.
How the clichés of the nun, woman in prison, vampire and other creatures of the night have given way to Sapphic love assumed, alternately tantric, romantic, vanilla or BDSM.
Butches, fems, scissors, 69, dildo belts…and bondage, there is something for everyone !
Insta : cinemarges
Massimadi, Festival de films LGBT d’Afrique et de ses Diasporas
ENACTONE, a queer vampire story by Sky Deep – 52 min
Massimadi est un projet des «Identités du Baobab », asbl. Les Identités du Baobab est une association créée en 2008 par Frédérique Baudot, Florence Degavre, Marthe Djilo Kamga, Bénédicte Fonteneau et Florence Monewondo Nze. L’idée de cette association est de travailler, à travers la création et la diffusion d’œuvres artistiques, sur la question des identités culturelles, sociales et sexuelles qui traversent les individus, leur inscription et leur visibilité dans les sociétés où ils/elles vivent.
Le festival se joint à la Lesbiennale pour proposer un film primé du Pornfilmfestival Berlin 2016 : “Enactone – A Queer Vampire story“, un film réalisé par Sky Deep.
Sky Deep Dietrich est une productrice de musique, DJ, musicienne, cinéaste et activiste basée à Berlin.
Massimadi, Festival de films LGBT d’Afrique et de ses Diasporas
ENACTONE, a queer vampire story by Sky Deep – 52 min
Massimadi is a project of “Les Identités du Baobab”, asbl.
Les Identités du Baobab is an association created in 2008 by Frédérique Baudot, Florence Degavre, Marthe Djilo Kamga, Bénédicte Fonteneau and Florence Monewondo Nze. The idea of this association is to work, through the creation and the diffusion of artistic works, on the question of cultural, social and sexual identities which cross the individuals, their inscription and their visibility in the societies where they live.
The festival partners with the Lesbiennale by proposing an award-winning film of the 2016 Pornfilmfestival Berlin: “Enactone – A Queer Vampire story” a film directed by Sky Deep.
Sky Deep Dietrich is a Berlin based music producer, DJ, musician, filmmaker and activist — born in the USA.
Aurore Morillon x PornProcess – Y’a Personne qui nous regarde – 22 min
aurore morillon fait ses premiers pas en photographie (La Cambre, BE) pour se diriger vers des problématiques performatives, autant à travers ses épidermes pixellisés, ses soins en collaboration de plantes, qu’aux travers de multiples capsules audiovisuelles (c’est une youtubeuse lente). Sorcière, poissons mais pas sirène, myope ascendant féministe, gouine, holobionte, blanche, meuf presque cisgenre sont les identités qui permettent aujourd’hui de la situer. Diplômée de l’ERG en Narration Spéculative, elle porte le statut de chômeuse comme un gant, mais de latex. Impulsion du PornProcess parmi d’autres, elle y archive autant de questions que de réponses : ce que l’intime et le politique peuvent bien faire ensemble, comment rentrer dans l’image ou bien la norme… avec en au-delà, la volonté de s’extraire de systèmes en démarche féministe et trans. Particulièrement mal à l’aise dans la dynamique du collectif, elle s’engage désormais à créer des communautés éphémères où l’amateur et le DIY sont les premiers privilégiés, à l’instar des hommes cis blancs hétéros.
Aurore Morillon x PornProcess – Y’a Personne qui nous regarde – 22 min
aurore morillon took her first steps in photography (La Cambre, BE) to move towards performative issues, as much through her pixelated skins, her collaborative plant treatments, as through multiple audiovisual capsules (she is a slow youtuber). A witch, a fish but not a mermaid, a myopic feminist, a dyke, a holobiont, a white girl, an almost cisgender chick are the identities that allow her to be situated today. Graduated from ERG in Speculative Narration, she wears the status of unemployed like a glove, but of latex. Impulse of the PornProcess among others, she archives there as many questions as answers : can the intimate and the political do well together, how to enter the image or the norm… with beyond, the will to extract herself from systems in feminist and trans approach. Particularly uncomfortable in the dynamics of the collective, she is now committed to creating ephemeral communities where the amateur and the DIY are the first privileged, following the example of straight white cis men.
Les PéPé.e.s – Insta : prn_prject
C’est le collectif qui a émergé du PornProject, désormais PornProcess. Ses définitions sont multiples, ses communautés/collectifs s’ancrent plus ou moins dans le temps, en quatre saisons pour l’instant.
[saison 3] Le PornProcess est un réseau en mouvement qui construit des récits pornographiques. Il s’active lors de temps communautaires expérimentaux. Le PornProcess démonte la hiérarchie d’un tournage classique en proposant à toustes d’en incarner chaque rôle. Par la transmission collective de savoirs, nous sommes et devenons performeureuses, ingénieur.e.s du son, cadreureuses, acteur.ices, monteur.euses, scénaristes, producteurices, diffuseureuses,…
[saison 1] Nous sommes un groupe de personnes non-binaires, gros.ses, lesbienne, racisé.e.s, neurodivergent.e.s, gouines, trans ft*, bi.es, meufs cisgenres, blanc.hes, travailleur.euses du sexe, pans, au genre fluide, queer, sorcières, précaires. La mixité représentée est la nôtre et nous n’avons pas l’intention de parler à une autre place que celle que nous occupons.
This is the collective that emerged from the PornProject, now PornProcess. Its definitions are multiple, its communities/collectives more or less anchored in time, in four seasons for now.
[season 3] The PornProcess is a network in movement that constructs pornographic narratives. It is activated during experimental community times.
The PornProcess dismantles the hierarchy of a classic film shoot by proposing to everyone to embody each role. Through the collective transmission of knowledge, we are and become performers, sound engineers, cameramen, actors, editors, scriptwriters, producers, broadcasters, …
[season 1] We are a group of non-binary, fat, lesbian, racialized, neurodivergent, dykes, trans ft*, bi, cisgender, white, sex worker, pans, gender fluid, queer, witch, precarious people. The diversity represented is our own and we have no intention of speaking from any other place than the one we occupy.
LIVE MUSIC
7-XY
Seven aka 7-xy sur son instagram est une jeune artiste bruxelloise d’origine Camerounaise,
Elle débute la musique en faisant des freestyles sur Instagram et c’est en décembre 2020 qu’elle sort son premier titre Officiel « Cash Flow ». Bien que sa musique valorise majoritairement des sonorités Trap& Hip-Hop inspirées des US, Seven combine dans son art plusieurs genre tel que l’alternative et l’électronique.
A travers son art Elle prône avant toute chose la liberté des femmes, mais aussi des hommes, (cis, queer, trans, peu importe) d’être qui ils sont dans la société et de sortir des multiples cases (religion, origine, sexualité, culture, langue) qui nous empêchent de nous connecter à notre vraie nature. Seven est une âme spirituelle connectée aux autres différentes, connectée au monde qui l’entoure.
Insta : 7-XY
7-XY
7-XY is a young artist from Brussels of Cameroonian origin,
She started her music career by doing freestyles on Instagram and in December 2020 she released her first official track “Cash Flow”. Although her music values mostly Trap & Hip-Hop sounds inspired by the US, Seven combines in her art several genres such as alternative and electronic. Through her art she advocates above all the freedom of women, but also men, (cis, queer, trans, whatever) to be who they are in society and to get out of the multiple boxes (religion, origin, sexuality, culture, language) that prevent us from connecting to our true nature. Seven or 7-XY is a spiritual soul connected to the other different ones, connected to the world that surrounds her.
DJs
Choco Zoulou – Insta : choco_zoulou__ // Wu-Tangu – Insta : Wu-tangu // Jess The Lez
VJING
Aurore Morillon x PornProcess – Insta : Aurore Morillon
VJ Clit’
LES WITTIGS: a collective reading
LOCATION
rile* , 62 Rue des Commerçants,1000 BrusselsJoin us for a collective reading of Monique Wittig’s epic novel Les Guérillères (1969) as a part of the first edition of Lesbiennale, Lesbian* Arts Festival. Together we will read an annotated version of the entire 144 pages of the novel, translated to english in 1971 by David La Vay.
Les Guérillères is an epic novel that follows a group of peop(el)le(s) in a fight for a new feminist epistemology written by Monique Wittig, a lesbian feminist writer, theorist and activist. Wittig’s novels are experiments in building worlds outside of hetero-patriarchal logics, unsettling seemingly self-evident relationships between language and reality, signification and subjectivity, and even, women and feminism. Les Guérillières, like all her novels, makes radical in(ter)ventions into gender through language; she demonstrates that the only way to speak toward a new world is with a new language.
Duration: 3-4hrs
You are invited to participate as both listener and reader—sharing the voicing of the novel. It is possible to come and go over the duration of the reading.
Hosted by Chloe Chignell
PS: If you would like to contribute to annotating the novel send Chloe an email: chloeechignell@gmail.com*
For more details:
https://rile.space/projects/reading-les-wittigs-a-collective-reading
A very Lesbian comedy show with Tahnee
LOCATION
Muntpunt Grand Café , Rue Leopold 2, 1000 BrusselsLesbian Brussels Tour curated by L-Tour
LOCATION
RainbowHouse , Rue du Marché au Charbon 42, 1000 BrusselsL-Tour organizes lesbian and rainbow tours and events to promote the history (herstory and history) of Brussels’
Starting point: Rainbow house
End point: Crazy Circle
Language: English (possible in French)
— reservations can be made by emailing : lens.marian@l-tour.be
About the tour:
The Black Swan, the Madame and Jeanneke will have no more secrets for you. La Pergola is a lesbian café that lasted for decades as from the 1930’s, where the lesbian who founded our first Belgian ‘homosexual’ association (1953) used to hang out.
You will uncover Brussels and its numerous lesbian and rainbow frescoes, and also the European area, with ILGA (the European and worldwide LGBTQI biggest lobby), and better, we will speak about ILIS, at the forefront of EL*C.
We will go back to 1976, where the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women took place, when the first worldwilde Lesbian Front was also created during this event.
And also between the Grand-Place and the Central Station, you will come along bookshop Artemys, created during the eighties, ‘the place to be’ for the Belgian lesbians. It was nothing less than the only lesbian-profiled bookshop in Europe, and one of the longest lasting lesbian and feminist bookstore in the world.
Presentation by Marian Lens, sociologist and pioneering lesbian activist.
Sunday Art Talks // hosted by Match
LOCATION
The Crazy Circle , Rue du Prince Royal 11, 1050 BrusselsRegister for this event here: https://bookwhen.com/matchbelgium/e/ev-sgu3-20211010133000
Saturday night might stay stuck with you for a little while, but Sunday awaits with another great and interesting artsy programme. After a long sleep, the Match Art Talks event starts at 2pm. Crazy Circle welcomes you with a relaxed atmosphere and a beautiful terrace outside – if weather allows. Grab a lemonade or beer at the bar and enjoy catching up on conversations of last night, meeting new interesting personalities and listening to our three speakers discussing art, queer bodies, linkages between craft and identity, activism and radicalism, inclusivity.
Let the festival smoothly come to an end with our DJ set in the afternoon, enjoy each others company, empower and recover.
Screening:
Artists:
Leïla la Boubou (B.R.A.V.E.)
(Zhe / zer)
(he / they)
Un coup de pédale à La Doyenne – récit photo avec Lucie Donnet
LOCATION
La Doyenne , Rue du Doyenné 35A, 1180 UccleLa Doyenne, un atelier vélo participatif, 100% géré et tenu par des femmes se transforme en galerie d’art le temps de la Lesbiennale. C’est le projet photographique ‘Pédale’ de Lucie Donnet y sera exposé.
Sur Lucie: Cycliste quotidienne – Photographe – Bordelaise d’origine – Bruxelloise d’adoption
Sur ‘Pédale’:
C’est un voyage en bicyclette de mai à juin 2018 une traversée de la France du Nord au Sud-Ouest en solitaire – C’est un récit de voyage écrit et photographique sur les minorités sexuelles hors des grandes villes
https://www.instagram.com/projetpedale/
“Lesbian Activism: Political Trajectories, Poetical Trajectories” with Alice Coffin et Joëlle Sambi Nzeba
LOCATION
Passa Porta , Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat 46, 1000 Brussels>>>This event is sold out until further notice.
This debate will be moderated by Peggy Pierrot : http://peggy.pierrot.work/
Alice Coffin (Le Génie Lesbien, 2020)
Joëlle Sambi Nzeba (Caillasses, 2021)
Tickets can be purchased on the spot or in advance online: https://www.passaporta.be/fr/calendrier/alice-coffin-jo%C3%ABlle-sambi
Language: French/ English
Alice Coffin & Joëlle Sambi
Venues d’univers différents, Alice Coffin et Joëlle Sambi forment un duo inattendu que beaucoup de choses rassemblent: elles sont toutes deux activistes lesbiennes et feministes, mais elles ont également choisi le même outil pour s’engager dans la lutte: l’écriture. Quelles écritures pour clamer sa colère, réclamer le changement, ou affirmer son existence ?
Poétique, politique, poético-politique
Ensemble, les deux autrices dessinent les trajectoires parallèles (et pas opposées!) que peuvent dessiner poésie, politique, et poésie politique. Une rencontre à la croisée de ces trajectoires animée par Peggy Pierrot.
À propos
En 2020, Alice Coffin a fait grand bruit avec Le génie lesbien, où elle tente de réhabiliter la notion de génie traditionnellement associée aux hommes. Elle est active dans la sphère politique en France.
Avec Caillasses, son premier recueil de poésie, Joëlle Sambi secoue nos cœurs et nos oreilles travers ses expériences de migrante, lesbienne, et afroféministe. Active sur scène depuis de nombreuses années, elle a créé nouvelles, romans, slams, poèmes, documentaires et lieux militants.
Toutes deux sont membres de EL*C.
Partners: Lesbiennale
Lesbiennale Closing drinks at Rainbow House
LOCATION
RainbowHouse , Rue du Marché au Charbon 42, 1000 Brussels-Join Lesbiennale organisers & partners for the festival closing drink
-Visit the Lesbiennale art gallery at Rainbow House where you can see exhibited the works of lesbian artists !