15-20 Feb: Queer It Up Festival in Maastricht

Queer It Up Festival // Manifesto

The Queer It Up Festival is an independent project initiated by students from different faculties and different backgrounds in Maastricht, coming together to respond to a lack of activities surrounding queer and LGBTI issues in the student community. Sexuality is hardly discussed or negotiated, and there is a lack of a critical and political discourse on issues such as sexism, racism, heteronormativity and homophobia. The Queer It Up Festival aims to open up space where we can talk about sex, gender and sexuality, and everything related to this. Our central aim is to question heteronormativity; the social norms that value heterosexuality as ‘normal’ and that regulate sexual practices in a limited heterosexual framework.

We want to queer Maastricht up. Queer, for us, means an unfixed site where the “normal” and the legitimate sexualities can be questioned. Queer means questioning the current discourse where certain sexualities are more accepted than others according to social norms. Queer means being able and free to set your own boundaries to sexuality and gender. To “queer it up” means to speak up, to counteract, to make the normal strange, to ask critical questions and to blur boundaries.

We want to queer up knowledge, institutions and social life in Maastricht, by having the Queer It Up festival in February 2011. This one-week festival will “queer it up” through workshops, panel debates, films, lectures, an art exhibition, theatre and parties. The festival is open to EVERYBODY! We hope to see you at the festival to have a great week of discussion and fun.

Program Queer it Up Festival

Tuesday 15/02
19.00 // Sex, Identity & Politics: Do Gender and Sexuality Still Matter? // Panel Debate
22.00 // Queer Vibes // Concert @ Cultural Freezone Landbouwbelang

Wednesday 16/02
18.00 // Queer politics // Workshop
19.30 // Queer Art & Photography // Opening Exhibition
19.30 // XXY // Film screening + Lecture on intersexuality @ Lumiere Cinema
20.30 // Vagina Monologues // Theater Performance V-Day UM @ Derlon theater

Thursday 17/02
16.00 – 21.30 // Queer Art & Photography // Exhibition
19.00 // Transgender Movement // Lecture @ UCM Lecture Hall
19.30 // Travel Queeries // Documentary Screening @ Lumiere Cinema
20.30 // Vagina Monologues // Theater Performance V-Day UM @ Derlon theater

Friday 18/02
16.00 – 21.30 // Queer Art & Photography // Exhibition
20.30 // Vagina Monologues // Theater Performance V-Day UM @ Derlon theater
21.30 // Shortbus // Film Screening @ Lumiere Cinema

Saturday 19/02
11.00 – 13.00 // Workshops @ Various locations
14.30 – 16.30 // Workshops @ Various locations
22.00 // Queer Dub // Party @ Cultural Freezone Landbouwbelang

Sunday 20/02
14.00 // General Assembly // Meeting to discuss future opportunities
20.00 // Bonfire Evening // Relaxed evening to close off festival @ Mandril Squat

Check the website for more information: Queer It Up