The GenderHouse Queer Arts Festival - Freedom for All
Once again, The GenderHouse Queer Arts Festival opens its doors to a plethora of artistic experiences that break norms, boundaries, and our everyday thinking, this year under the theme JUSTICE – JUST THIS.
Justice is the cornerstone in a world and a society where individuals are treated equally and with respect, regardless of their background and circumstances. A world where one can exercise their rights and live freely without discrimination and oppression.
For Himherandit Productions' artistic director, Andreas Constantinou, the desire for justice is paramount: "No more, no less, just this" – the simple, unwavering longing for diversity, justice, and equality. JUSTICE – JUST THIS.
The third edition of The GenderHouse Festival shines a spotlight on this theme and presents a powerful program as the stage is handed over to marginalized voices and perspectives from exceptional international artists. The audience can look forward to stories from, with, and about the queer, LGBTQIA+, feminism, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, neurodivergent individuals, and individuals living with visible and invisible functional variations.
The thought-provoking, the touching, and the provocative – all of which will undoubtedly spark conversations.
A house becomes a home when it is filled with love.
The GenderHouse Festival would not be possible without our fantastic collaborators, and this year, we welcome a new family member to the house. The Aarhus-based organization LGBTQplus Slænget is ready with a social program that envelops this year's festival, providing new meeting places, insights, and connections before and after the artistic program.
This year, we kick off the festival with Home Queer Home: Positive Perspectives in the City Hall Hall in collaboration with the AIDS Foundation in a very special version where the LGBTQ+ community confronts its own trauma from the 80s and 90s. Together, we heal and move forward in a destigmatized narrative about HIV and AIDS.
"We take over the City Hall Hall. There, we will weave a living rainbow-colored tapestry of stories, experiences, and testimonies from individuals living with HIV, highlighting their resilience and celebrating their diversity." - Andreas Constantinou
Himherandit Productions has been working on the art project Home Queer Home for several years, a community-building project that reaches out and creates connections between LGBTQ+ individuals and between the LGBTQ+ community and the wider society. The precursor to HQH Positive Perspectives was HQH Generation, which bridged the gap and created new connections between young and senior LGBTQ+ individuals.
Breaking norms – breaking economic barriers
The GenderHouse Festival is created to break norms, boundaries, and everyday thinking, and this year, we will also break with compartmentalized thinking and economic barriers," says Andreas Constantinou. This year, we are experimenting with a new ticketing system – Pay what you can, which is well-known and proven successful abroad. With "Pay what you can," we aim to lower the economic barrier, making it possible for everyone to attend and enjoy performances for just 50 kroner, even for those who may not have much for themselves but fall outside categories such as Youth under 25, Seniors, or others.
Non of us are free until all of us is free