Queerness knows many feelings. And they all have their place. Nevertheless, talking about them is often a challenge. It makes people visible and therefore vulnerable. At the same time, it creates a sense of connection and allows us to understand ourselves and each other better. Over the past year, Ruxin Liu has spoken to many different people about the experience of shame in workshops. This has also resulted in an exchange about situations, conversations and personal achievements that make people proud, without conforming to a conventional narrative of success.
At the Queer Bar at M.1 on 7 September, Ruxin will be showing an excerpt from their video A Kind of Lesbian Desire, which was created during these workshops. It becomes clear that shame is not a problem that needs to be solved. Rather, shame is inextricably linked to everyday and diverse experiences and can therefore be the starting point for trust, connection and strong alliances.

And for those interested in bees: our exhibition APIAN – A ministry of bees, which opens on Saturday, can be visited during the Queer Bar.

The QUEER BAR has been around since 2021, initiated by the curator Agnieszka Roguski with the artist Paul Niedermayer. Started as an art project, it has developed into a meeting place for the queer community in the region. The bar actively involves people from the local community and understands itself not only as a bar where people celebrate, drink, talk and laugh, but also as a platform and networking opportunity, a place for further education and a political statement. The bar's special guests invite us to think further, exchange ideas, join in and, above all, let go: of rules, clichés and prejudices, or simply of ideas about how and what gender should be.

The next Queer Bar, the last one this year, will take place on 28 September. More information will follow shortly.