Contemporary Queer Art and Activism in Russia brings together academic and activist perspectives on the difficult last decade of modern Russian history, and the beauty and struggle of LGBTQ+ self-expression under increasingly authoritarian rule.
In the early 2010s the Russian government embraced homophobic rhetoric which culminated in the 2013 ‘anti-gay propaganda law’. The law, alongside other homophobic measures, made any form of LGBTQ+ visibility, activism and education harder than ever. However, the last 10 years simultaneously saw a radical increase in Russian queer media, art, public testimonials and self-expression; a kind of queer Renaissance. While queer life in Russia is mostly represented in terms of victimhood and suffering in international public discourses, Russian queer activists manage to thrive. Is there space for queer joy in Russia LGBTQ+ activism and self-expression? What is the role of Western LGBTQ+ culture and unique Russian queerness? What direction is Russian queer art and activism headed in considering recent political events and a crackdown on free speech and journalism?
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Olga Doletskaya is a PhD student at SSEES UCL studying queer parenting in Russia. Besides her academic work, Olga worked as a curator at Klassiki, a platform for Soviet and Post-Soviet film, where she curated Pride screenings. She also curated a screening of the first Russian queer webseries, Here I Come, at Flatpack Festival in 2021.
Anastasiia Fedorova is a freelance writer and curator based in London. She is a regular contributor to Calvert Journal, Dazed, i-D, 032c, Vice, Amuse, Broadly, The Guardian and SHOWstudio. She is the creator of Russian Queer Revolution, an online platform to support Russia’s LGBTQ+ creatives. She also curated the Russian Queer Revolution exhibition at Vogue Fabrics Dalston.
Professor Dan Healey is Professor of Modern Russian History at St Antony’s College, Oxford. He is the author of several books and articles on Russian queer history. His latest book, Russian Homophobia from Stalin to Sochi, published by Bloomsbury Academic, looks at the recent politics of homophobia in Russia in historical perspective.
Photograph by Victoria Guyvik exhibited at ‘Russian Queer Revolution’ at VFD (London), curated by Anastasiia Fedorova.
The event is part of the public programme around our current exhibition ‘Desire International’ and explores the realities of queer art and activism in a hostile state.