Queer Gaze to the History of Architecture and Space
2023-02-19 13:00 - 14:30 (Europe/Helsinki) | Arkkitehtuurimuseo, Kasarmikatu 24, Helsinki, 00130, Suomi
Please note that booking is required!
Whose history are we actually talking about when we talk about Wivi Lönn’s history? How are gender and sexuality related to the history of architecture and urban planning? Or how have different spaces affected the visibility of marginalized identities? Starting from the Long Live Wivi Lönn! exhibition and continuing to the streets of Helsinki, the themed guided tour ‘Queer Gaze to the History of Architecture and Space’ encourages its participants to look at the exhibition and the history of architecture and urban space critically. During the themed guided tour, with an expert guide, we will discuss the relationship between power and the city space, the themes of visibility and invisibility, and where people belonging to minority subcultures met each other in 20th-century Helsinki.
The themed guided tour starts from the Museum of Finnish Architecture (Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki) and ends at Lasipalatsi (Mannerheimintie 22–24, 00100 Helsinki).
The themed guided tour series is a collaboration with the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Friends of Queer History association. The themed guided tour is scripted and guided by historian Jean Lukkarinen. The themed guided tour series is part of Long Live Wivi Lönn! public programme.
Welcome!
Friends of Queer History
Friends of Queer History is an association established in 2020, aiming to raise awareness on history of gender and sexual diversity, and advance researching, collecting and presenting queer history in Finland. The association promotes researching, collecting and presenting queer history in Finland by actively influencing relevant players, and we collaborate especially with memory organizations to achieve these goals. We organize the Queer History Month yearly in November. For more information: https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/en/ (link opens in a new tab)
Jean Lukkarinen
Jean Lukkarinen has MA in Cultural History and they have been focusing on the histories of gender and sexuality in their studies. Jean has for instance conducted research on the spatial experiences of transfeminine activists in Finland and worked in museums in queer history related projects. They are also a board member of Sateenkaarihistorian ystävät ry (Friends of Queer History) and motivational speaker of Seta (Finnish human rights and LGBTIQA+ advocacy organization).
Schedule
Sunday 19 February 2023 | 1–2.30 pm
Language: in English | Participation: 10/5/0 € / Museum Card
Sunday 19 March 2023 | 1–2.30 pm | Day of Equality 2023
Language: in English | Participation: Free of charge
Participation
Book your place with form: https://q.surveypal.com/Queer-Gaze-Spring-2023
A total of 25 participants will be admitted to one themed guided tour. Places are filled in the order of booking. The fee for participation is paid on arrival at the customer service point of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, with the exception of themed guided tours that are free of charge. Please note that the booking is binding and personal: only one booking can be made per person per form. Successful submission of the form is an indication of a successful booking. Instructions for participation will be sent to participants by email about a day before the themed guided tour. If you have to cancel your participation, please contact: jemina.lindholm@mfa.fi
Accessibility and Health Safety
Themed guided tour starts: Museum of Finnish Architecture (Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki)
Themed guided tour ends: Lasipalatsi (Mannerheimintie 22–24, 00100 Helsinki)
The themed guided tour starts at the Museum of Finnish Architecture, from where we move out into the public urban space. The duration of the themed guided tour is about 90 minutes. The total length of the route is approximately 1.7 kilometers. During the themed guided tour, stairs and unnecessary steps in the city space are avoided. Along the route, however, there are cobblestone sections, high curbs and, in some places, uneven terrain with elevation differences. On the themed guided tour, the pace is calm including several stops. There are no easily accessible seats or benches along the route. You can bring your own camping chair with you. The nearest public accessible and gender-neutral toilet is located at the starting point of the route at the Museum of Finnish Architecture. The guide uses a portable microphone during the themed guided tour.
The Museum of Finnish Architecture is not is accessible. You can find more information about the accessibility of the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link. We recommend using a face mask (applies to everyone over 12 years old). You can find more information about the health safety of the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link. On the themed guided tour we follow the principles of a safer space, to which we are committed to in all museum activities. You can find more information about the principles of a safer space in the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link.
For more information
Jemina Lindholm
Manager of Learning and Public Programmes
Museum of Finnish Architecture
+358 45 7731 0476
jemina.lindholm@mfa.fi

Queer Gaze to the History of Architecture and Space
2023-03-19 13:00 - 14:30 | Arkkitehtuurimuseo, Kasarmikatu 24, Helsinki, 00130, Suomi
Note! Booking is required!
Whose history are we actually talking about when we talk about Wivi Lönn’s history? How are gender and sexuality related to the history of architecture and urban planning? Or how have different spaces affected the visibility of marginalized identities? Starting from the Long Live Wivi Lönn! exhibition and continuing to the streets of Helsinki, the themed guided tour ‘Queer Gaze to the History of Architecture and Space’ encourages its participants to look at the exhibition and the history of architecture and urban space critically. During the themed guided tour, with an expert guide, we will discuss the relationship between power and the city space, the themes of visibility and invisibility, and where people belonging to minority subcultures met each other in 20th-century Helsinki.
The themed guided tour starts from the Museum of Finnish Architecture (Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki) and ends at Lasipalatsi (Mannerheimintie 22–24, 00100 Helsinki).
The themed guided tour series is a collaboration with the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Friends of Queer History association. The themed guided tour is scripted and guided by historian Jean Lukkarinen. The themed guided tour series is part of Long Live Wivi Lönn! public programme.
Welcome!
Friends of Queer History
Friends of Queer History is an association established in 2020, aiming to raise awareness on history of gender and sexual diversity, and advance researching, collecting and presenting queer history in Finland. The association promotes researching, collecting and presenting queer history in Finland by actively influencing relevant players, and we collaborate especially with memory organizations to achieve these goals. We organize the Queer History Month yearly in November. For more information: https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/en/ (link opens in a new tab)
Jean Lukkarinen
Jean Lukkarinen has MA in Cultural History and they have been focusing on the histories of gender and sexuality in their studies. Jean has for instance conducted research on the spatial experiences of transfeminine activists in Finland and worked in museums in queer history related projects. They are also a board member of Sateenkaarihistorian ystävät ry (Friends of Queer History) and motivational speaker of Seta (Finnish human rights and LGBTIQA+ advocacy organization).
Schedule
Sunday 19 February 2023 | 1–2.30 pm
Language: in English | Participation: 10/5/0 € / Museum Card
Sunday 19 March 2023 | 1–2.30 pm | Day of Equality 2023
Language: in English | Participation: Free of charge
Participation
Book your place with form: https://q.surveypal.com/Queer-Gaze-Spring-2023
A total of 25 participants will be admitted to one themed guided tour. Places are filled in the order of booking. The fee for participation is paid on arrival at the customer service point of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, with the exception of themed guided tours that are free of charge. Please note that the booking is binding and personal: only one booking can be made per person per form. Successful submission of the form is an indication of a successful booking. Instructions for participation will be sent to participants by email about a day before the themed guided tour. If you have to cancel your participation, please contact: jemina.lindholm@mfa.fi
Accessibility and Health Safety
Themed guided tour starts: Museum of Finnish Architecture (Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki)
Themed guided tour ends: Lasipalatsi (Mannerheimintie 22–24, 00100 Helsinki)
The themed guided tour starts at the Museum of Finnish Architecture, from where we move out into the public urban space. The duration of the themed guided tour is about 90 minutes. The total length of the route is approximately 1.7 kilometers. During the themed guided tour, stairs and unnecessary steps in the city space are avoided. Along the route, however, there are cobblestone sections, high curbs and, in some places, uneven terrain with elevation differences. On the themed guided tour, the pace is calm including several stops. There are no easily accessible seats or benches along the route. You can bring your own camping chair with you. The nearest public accessible and gender-neutral toilet is located at the starting point of the route at the Museum of Finnish Architecture. The guide uses a portable microphone during the themed guided tour.
The Museum of Finnish Architecture is not is accessible. You can find more information about the accessibility of the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link. We recommend using a face mask (applies to everyone over 12 years old). You can find more information about the health safety of the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link. On the themed guided tour we follow the principles of a safer space, to which we are committed to in all museum activities. You can find more information about the principles of a safer space in the Museum of Finnish Architecture at this link.
For more information
Jemina Lindholm
Manager of Learning and Public Programmes
Museum of Finnish Architecture
+358 45 7731 0476
jemina.lindholm@mfa.fi

Seminar: Trusting queer archives 11.10.2023
2023-10-10 - 2023-10-11 | Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Hallituskatu 1, Helsinki, Suomi
(Image: Jonathan Moorhouse)
Time: 11.10.2023 (a pre-conference dinner will be arranged 10.10.2023)
Venue: The Finnish Literature Society SKS, Hallituskatu 1, Helsinki
Seminar streaming link: https://www.youtube.com/live/LlFQ3UAadx0?si=GhdRoIh538A4HXtz
Nordic Network for Queer History Archives and Activities (Nnaqh) invites archivists, museum workers, queer and history scholars, activists and other people interested in queer history to a seminar on queer archives/ queering archives and on creating trust in collecting practices. How do we address the biases and silences of archival practices and how do we enable trust and safety in archives from a queer perspective? And how well does the queer archival collections reflect the diversity of queer voices and history of the Nordic and Baltic countries? How can we decolonize archival practices?
The seminar in Helsinki is arranged by the Nordic network for queer history archives and activities and its local partner, Friends of Queer History, in cooperation with the Finnish Literature Society SKS and The Finnish Labour Archive. The seminar will be streamed and the premises are accessible.
The seminar is free of charge, but the pre-conference dinner (10.10) as well as the lunch (11.10) is at one’s own expense. The pre-conference dinner will be arranged in an accessible and not too expensive restaurant with vegan meal options. The prize of the dinner may vary between 20-50 euros and the lunch between 12-15 euros. Depending on the other costs of the seminar the network might be able to cover some of the costs for the lunch.
Registration to the seminar
Please register to the seminar Trusting Queer Archives through the following link by September 30th 2023: https://forms.gle/wcsNkqurW5oKAs4S8
NB! If you apply for reimbursements the DL for reimbursement is August 31st (see below for more information).

Reimbursement
Nnaqh has a small budget for reimbursing the travel expenses of participants from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states. However, Nnaqh cannot reimburse state financed organizations or participants from such institutions. We will prioritize reimbursement of participants from NGOs or alike with small or no funding. Moreover, we will prioritize NGOs or alike with no funds for participating in conferences, knowledge exchanges, or networking, etc. When Nnaqh allocates reimbursement, intersectional perspectives and geographical distribution will be considered.
If you are interested in getting your trip reimbursed please send us a motivation letter including a budget for travel costs and accommodation by August 31st to the following address nnaqh@qrab.org and enter Reimbursement in the subject line.
Please write a short motivation (500 words) on why you would like to participate in the open archive summit in Helsinki. Describe how the participation in the Nordic network for queer history activities and archives might benefit queer history activism and archives in your region. Explain in short how you plan to use the experiences from-, and the knowledge gained at the summit. Include a short description of your previous experience of archive or cultural heritage work, and/or of queer or LGBT+ archive activities; and/or of queer or LGBT+ history activities in general. Do also include your current connections to queer or LGBT+ organizations or activism or to archives or cultural heritage institutions.

Accessibility at seminar
The accessible entrance to the SKS main building is around the corner from the main entrance, at Mariankatu. Press the button saying “Neuvonta” or call the number +358-(0)40 534 8933, and you will get assistance. You can access the conference hall with an elevator (the door is heavy, if needed call for assistance +358-(0)40 534 8933). There is an accessible toilet at the bottom floor that can be reached with the elevator. There is an induction loop in the conference hall. Assisting dogs are welcome.
The language of the conference is English. If needed we will arrange Speech-to-text-interpretation. Let us know about your needs upon registration, September 30th the latest! If you have any questions about the accessibility of the program or the seminar venue please contact rita.paqvalen@gmail.com.
We will inform you about the accessibility of the guided tours and the restaurant later.
Info in Finnish: https://www.finlit.fi/fi/yhteystiedot/esteettomyys#.ZFi4Pc5ByUl

About Nordic network for queer history archives and activities (NnAQH)
The network is a project by QRAB – Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek (Sweden), Friends of Queer History (Finland) and The Norwegian Queer Archive Skeivt Arkiv (Norway). The aim of this project is to create a network of queer history archives and activities in the Nordic and Baltic countries and to promote the sharing of experience and knowledge and to explore opportunities for partnership, infrastructure solutions, and financial conditions.
The building of the network is partly financed by Nordic LGBTI Fund/ NIKK.
Updates to the conference program can be found here:
https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/event/trusting-queer-archives/
More info on speakers and last minute changes also on the FB-page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1013939609735479/?ref=newsfeed
Program
Tuesday 10.10.2023
17.30-19.00 Queer guided tours (details will be published in September)
19.00-21.00 Network dinner together with people that has already arrived
(on your own expense, location will be published in Autumn)
Wednesday 11.10.2023: Trusting queer archives
Location: The Finnish Literature Society, SKS, Hallituskatu 1, Helsinki
Streaming link: Will be published on the conference page in Autumn and sent to all the participants.
9.00-9.15 Katri Kivilaakso (the Finnish Literature Society, SKS), Rita Paqvalén (Friends of Queer History) & Pia Laskar (QRAB): Welcome & opening of the seminar
9.15-9.20 Mandi Markkanen (producer, Friends of Queer History): Safer Space Guidelines
9.20-9.40 Pia Laskar: Why the need for Nordic network for queer history archives and activities?
9.40-10.00 Coffee/tea & mingle

Part I: Queering the Finnish archival institutions
10.00-10.20 Tuula Juvonen (Friends of Queer History): A brief history of queering archives in Finland
10.20-10.30 Iris Olavinen (The Finnish Labour Archive): LGBTQ collections in The Finnish Labour Archives
10.30-10.40 Katri Kivilaakso (SKS): Insights on Archiving and Queer Archival Collections of the Finnish Literature Society
10.40-10.50 Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch (SLS): Documenting minorities in the minority at the Archives of The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland
10.50-11.30 Panel discussion with the speakers and audience led by Runar Jordåen
11.30-11.50 Emil Uuttu: Dramaturgical work with archival fragments, historiography and researcher interviews in the play Ihana tytär Erika – Huomioita nimestä (Engl. Lovely Daughter Erika – Observations on the Name)
11.50-13.00 Lunch (on your own expense)

Part II: Decolonizing queer archival practices
13.00-13.40 Wisam Elfadl & TBC: On collecting Afro-Nordic queer history
13.40-14.00 Norena Shopland: From prohibition to promotion
14.00-14.30 Discussion with the speakers and audience led by Rita Paqvalén
14.30-15.00 Coffee

Part III: Queering archives in the Baltics
15.00-15.20 Augustas Čičelis & Viktorija Kolbešnikova: išgirsti: Lithuanian Queer Archive
15.20-15.40 Taavi Koppel: Archiving Estonian Queer History
15.40-16.10 Discussion with the speakers and audience led by Tuula Juvonen
16.10-16.30 End discussion led by Pia Laskar

Queer History Month 2023 in November
2023-11-01 - 2023-11-30
We challenge you and your organization to make the silent history a cultural heritage shared by all!
Friends of Queer History invites memory organizations, schools, art organizations and associations to celebrate queer history month every year in November. The goal of Queer History Month is to examine Finnish history and culture from the LGBTQIA+ perspectives and record them as part of our common cultural heritage.
You can register your event directly on our website: Add your event.
For ideas and inspiration for different ways to get involved, browse the event archives of previous years (mostly in Finnish).
Queer History Month is a series of events open to all, and we will compile a calendar of events on our website.

Here are some ways to participate as an organizer:

1) By organizing an event or an exhibition:
The programme is realized with the own funding of the participating organizations and contributors. The organizing body is responsible for its own marketing. The team coordinating Queer History Month moderates the event calendar on our website and adds the events announced there.
2) By making queer history visible in everyday life:
Libraries can participate, for example, by organizing related book recommendations and other material exhibitions. Schools can participate by organizing theme days related to the topic, by inviting experts in the history of gender and sexual minorities to speak, or through various workshops or group work.
3) By writing about queer history:
On our website, we publish texts on queer history from a variety of perspectives. Read more on our website and propose a text by contacting us: https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/en/instructions-for-authors/
4) By communicating about queer history:
You can also participate by sharing material, images, texts or reflections related to queer history on social media with the hashtags #Sateenkaarihistoria #Queerhistoria #QueerHistory. You can link or tag our profile either on Facebook or Instagram (@sateenkaarihistoria) – we highlight tagged posts or posts with above hashtags on our own channels.

Many parties fly rainbow flags during Pride month in June. If you are organizing activities during Queer History Month, November can also be a good time for flagging. In addition, flagging communicates that the organization has activities related to the topic.

More information:
Mandi Markkanen
Producer
Friends of Queer History
mandi.markkanen@sateenkaarihistoria.fi

Queerhill Histories
2023-11-30 17:30 - 19:30 | Outokummun kirjasto, Koulukatu 7, Outokumpu, 83500, Suomi
What does Queer mean in this time and place?
How can Queer history be defined and what even is history itself?
We will share a common space where being Queer in any way is welcome to explore these topics. Together, we offer Queerhill Histories as a space to be discovered, to emerge, to take shape, and to be articulated into something new.
Each meeting has a theme or topic and the event series will be facilitated by the organisers so you can just show up — there’s no need to prepare!
Meetings will be held once a month from November 2023 to March 2024.
The event series is intended for anyone who — in one way or another — feels the desire and need to share a space dedicated to Queer people. We are inspired by the following definition of Queer, as proposed by the Institute of Queer Ecology (2019) as “an expanded understanding of Queer Community that includes nonhuman kin and prioritizes anyone subjugated, regardless of race, class, nationality, ability, income level, sexuality, gender or species.”
Under 15s must be accompanied by an adult. There is no upper age limit.
We adhere to the principles of safer spaces. You can find out more here.
The concept and the event series are part of Rainbow History Month, a project organised by the Friends of Rainbow History in November 2023.
Queerhill Histories / Kvääriä Okuhistoriaa is created in cooperation with ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Nadja Leham and Helmi Räisänen and supported by the Friends of Rainbow History.
At our first meeting, ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS performance collective will share some of their Queer history research interests, including the 2023 project reexamining the paintings and life of Reidar Särestöniemi from a Queer perspective. We will also talk about our plans for the upcoming meetings and what we hope to discover and share together.
We ask:
How can we activate an interest in the specific Queer history of Outokumpu?
Are there any notable figures or written histories?
Are there other hidden ways to trace Queerness in the area?
How do we create layers of Queer history ourselves through our meetings?
Event information
When?
The first meeting is on Thursday, 30th of November 17:30-19:30.
Further meetings will take place once a month.
More details will be announced soon.
Where?
Outokumpu Library, Koulukatu 7, in ‘The Gallery’ room. We will meet you at the main entrance.
Language
The working languages for the project are Finnish and English. Some material will be presented in English or Finnish only. We will do our best to translate or assist with understanding where needed and to accommodate other languages.
Further questions
info@oncewewereislands.com
Accessibility information
There is a wheelchair ramp outside at the entrance. There is a three centimetre threshold at the entrance. There is a wheelchair accessible toilet. We do not have a sign language interpreter at the event. The meeting is held in a space called ‘The Gallery’, on the left-hand side of the main entrance. In the room there are windows facing the library corridor, from which one can see into the space where we are meeting.
You can participate in the meeting in a way that is suitable for you. You can either just listen, or participate in the conversation. You can leave and come back to the space in whichever way is good for you. It is OK to sit on the floor or change position. There will be snacks and soft drinks available at the meeting. The food will be vegan and nut free.
If you have more specific accessibility needs you would like us to know about or in case you have additional questions, you are welcome to write to us at: info@oncewewereislands.com

Queering Nordic Borders: NNAQH seminar in Bergen 2024
2024-04-19 - 2024-04-20
Queering Nordic Borders – the second conference of the Nordic Network for Queer History Archives and Activities (NNAQH) will take place in Bergen on April 20, 2024 (with pre-conference activities and dinner the night before). The conference addresses the arbitrary nature of national borders within the Nordic and Baltic regions. How can we through our practices as archivists, activists and historians question, cross and “queer” those borders?

There will be a pre conference reception and informal dinner on April 19th at 6 pm. See below for a preliminary programme of the conference.

Queering Nordic Borders – the second conference of NNAQH addresses the arbitrary nature of borders within the Nordic and Baltic region, and the consequences for marginalized people, e.g. queer people and indigenous people. The Sámi people have been particularly repressed by colonial practices, and by borders drawn with little consideration of the real lives of people living in the Middle and Northern parts of the Nordic Region.
At the conference we discuss how queer archives and historians can question the Nordic colonial past. How have assimilation policies shaped queer indigenous lives? And how do we preserve, disseminate and research queer histories? The preservation, dissemination and research of Sámi queer history in particular, will be the topic of one of the sessions. Other questions discussed include how queer history and queer archival practices can “queer” and transgress national borders within the region.
VENUE:Nygårdsgaten 5 (NG5), which is the building of the administration of the University of Bergen. Nygårdsgaten 5 | UiB Tjenesteutvikling | UiB
The pre-conference dinner will be at Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archive) at the Faculty of Humanities Building (HF-bygget), Sydnesplassen 7.
Registration for the conference will open February 15, 2024 and close April 1, but if you want to apply for travel grants, please read the following information as soon as possible.
Nnaqh has a small budget for reimbursing the travel expenses and accommodation of participants from the Nordic and Baltic countries. Since we can only support 5-6 participants or organizations, we encourage all participants whose trip can not be covered by their workplace or organization to apply for funding through Nordic and local/national funds.
NB! Nnaqh cannot reimburse state financed organizations or participants from such institutions. We will prioritize reimbursement of participants from NGOs or alike with small or no funding. When Nnaqh allocates reimbursement, intersectional perspectives and geographical distribution will be considered.

Reimbursements by NNAQH
If you are interested in getting your trip reimbursed please send us a motivation letter including a budget for travel costs and accommodation by March 1, 2024 the latest, to the following address nnaqh@qrab.se and enter “Reimbursement” in the subject line. The decisions will be made on March 6 and communicated shortly after. We can cover the travel expenses of 5-6 participants or organizations up to the amount of 500 euro each.
Please write a short motivation (500 words) on why you would like to participate in the conference in Bergen. Describe how the participation in the Nordic network for queer history activities and archives might benefit queer history activism and archives in your region. Explain in short how you plan to use the experiences from and the knowledge gained at the conference. Include a short description of your previous experience of archive or cultural heritage work, and/or of queer or LGBT+ archive activities; and/or of queer or LGBT+ history activities in general. Do also include your current connections to queer or
LGBT+ organizations or activism or to archives or cultural heritage institutions.

Other travel grants
The mobility funding of Nordic Culture Point is available for professional artists’ or cultural practitioners’ travel and/or stay within the Nordic and/or Baltic countries, that is to say: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Åland. The following application period for the mobility funding of Nordic Culture Point is 2.1-31.1.2024. Here is more information about the mobility funding: https://www.nordiskkulturkontakt.org/en/mobility-funding/
NB! If you decide to apply for travel grants from the Nordic Culture Point you need an invitation letter from the organizers. Please contact Runar Jordåen Runar.Jordaen@uib.no before January 20, 2024 if you wish an invitation letter.
NB! Check also out the different options for travel grants in the country you are based in. Remember that the handling time of applications for travel grants normally is at least 4-6 weeks, more often several months, so apply already in the beginning of the year 2024.

Program (subject to change)
See most recent program on the event’s website:
https://skeivtarkiv.no/nnaqh-seminar-bergen-2024
Friday April 19th
Location: Skeivt arkiv, The Norwegian Queer Archive, Sydnesplassen 7.
18.00-21.00: Pre-conference reception with pizza / drinks and tour of The Norwegian Queer Archive.
Saturday April 20th
Location: Nygårdsgaten 5 (NG5), which is the building of the administration of the University of Bergen. Nygårdsgaten 5 | UiB Tjenesteutvikling | UiB
Streaming link: Will be published on the conference page and sent to all the participants.
9.00-9.20: Welcome & opening of the seminar.
9.20-9.40: Elisabeth Stubberud and Dávvet Buun-Solbakk : Queering the gákti: Weaving tradition and identity in new ways.
9.40-11.00: Queer archiving and queer history in Norway
Chair: TBA.
09.40-9:55: Line Førre Grønstad: The history of The Norwegian Queer Archive (Skeivt arkiv).
9.55-10:10: Runar Jordåen: A short introduction to queer archives in Norway
10:10-10:25: Silje Gaupseth: Queering Polar History – queering the Polar Museum in Tromsø.
10:25-10:40: Tone Hellesund: Queer history in Norway: Status, research projects, challenges
10:40-11:00: Discussion, Q&A
Break 11.00-11.15.
11.15-12.15: Queering Sámi history part 1
Chair: TBA
Torjer Olsen: Gender and queer perspectives in Sámi research: Gaps and steps forward. (Digital participation.)
Sara Lindquist: Queering Sápmi – a retrospect
12.15-13.15: Lunch
13.15.-14.00: Queering Sámi history part 2
Panel discussion.
14.00-14.15: Break
14.15-16.05: Crossing Borders: Queer history and archivism beyond the nation state in the Nordic and Baltic regions
Chair: TBA.
14.15-14.45 Íris Ellenberger: Queer desires in Danish-Icelandic transnational spaces in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
14.45-15.15 Riikka Tavetti (University of Turku). Finnish Queer Histories and Shifting Nordic and Baltic Borders”
15.15-15.45 Peter Edelberg: Beyond Methodological Nationalism in Scandinavian LGBT+ Activist History: Some Norwegian Examples.
15.45-16.05: Discussion: How can we as queer historians and archivists transgress the nation state in our practices?
16.15-16.45: End discussion

The conference is supported by NIKK Nordic Information on Gender and Stiftelsen Fritt Ord.

Kirpilä Art Collection: Guided Queer Tour in English
2024-06-30 14:30 - 15:30 | Taidekoti Kirpilä, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 7, 6. krs, Helsinki, 00260, Suomi
Kirpilä Art Collection offers guided queer tours throughout the year, including during Helsinki Pride Week. The guided tour in Finnish is on Thursday, June 27 from 5 PM to 6 PM, and the English tour is on Sunday, June 30 from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM. Guide Antti Solin invites guests to view the collection from queer perspectives, challenging normativity.
Warmly welcome! Free entry, no pre-enrollment.

Meet the artist at Design Museum: Jessica Andrey Bogush
2024-08-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Designmuseo, Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki, Uusimaa, 00130, Finland
Tuesday, August 20, 2024, 18:00–19:00
FIX Arena, Design Museum (1st floor)
Fee: 20/10/0 € or Museum Card | Pre-regstration
Meet the artist of the FIX: Care and Repair exhibition, Jessica Andrey Bogush.
Jessica Andrey Bogush’s work “Speculative Absences as Queer Care (An Invitation) ” is an installation and a kind of alternative museum collection. Bogush examines the gaps and silences within the collections of the Museum of FinnishArchitecture and Design Museum. What objects does the museum choose to include in its collection, and what does it leave out?
Discussing the work and its background with the artist is Kaura Raudaskoski, Audience Engagement Producer at the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum and a visual arts educator, who is also the chairperson of the association Friends of Queer History. After the discussion and presentation of the work, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions to both the artist and the museum representative.
Welcome to meet the artist, artwork, and exhibition! Maximum capacity: 30 participants. You can join the event with the entrance fee to the museum exhibition.

The FIX: Care and Repair exhibition brings together architecture, design, and contemporary art. The exhibition focuses on the repair of objects and buildings, the maintenance of the environment, cleaning, and the aesthetics of dirt and wear. The exhibition presents museums as places of care, where collection management and conservation preserve carefully selected objects.
Further information and pre-registration at the museum website.

The Archiving of the Early Queer Activism in Finland
2024-09-30 15:00 - 16:00 | Webinar
Nordic Network for Queer History and Activities and The Finnish Labour Archives in collaboration with Friends of Queer History present the webinar:
The Archiving of the Early Queer Activism in Finland
In this online seminar archivist Iris Olavinen from the Finnish Labour Archives will talk about the archival work: organizing and cataloguing the material of some early queer activists in Finland in the 1970s.
In Finland, the decriminalization of homosexual deeds took place in 1971, but the same year a new act was set: the encouragement for homosexuality was made criminal and homosexuality continued to be categorized as an illness until 1981.
Queer activism and history often reach beyond national borders. International influences, relations, and migration are also present in the materials of early Finnish activists as they were living their personal lives and establishing Seksuaalinen tasavertaisuus Seta (LGBTI Rights in Finland Seta), a new association for queer people – which celebrated its 50th birthday and ongoing work this year.
Olavinen will give a 20-25 min presentation, after which the floor is open for discussion. How can we make queer materials in archives in Nordic countries more easily accessible and available also for international researchers? How to balance the restrictions when it comes to sensitive material of queer collections and the aspiration to make queer history better known to the wider public?
When: September 30, 3:00–4:00 PM Finnish time (UTC+3) .
How: Registration here
We’ll send webinar link to the people who have registered (note, the limit is 100 participants!) a day before the webinar.

Via Ruuska | Self care self cure & Lifeline, 2024
2024-11-01 - 2024-11-30 | Titanik, Itäinen Rantakatu 8, Turku, 20700
During the Queer History Month Via Ruuska´s works Self care self cure and Lifeline will be on display on the artelaiset wall.
”The works express queer joy through self-discovery and ways and platforms for this expression. In Self care self cure a make-up brush kit serves as a protective case for my playful self-portrait. The red and black hearts, borrowing their colour from the anarchists, create the outermost protective buffer. In Lifeline, two glossy angels hover between the cover of my smartphone. They dream of a self-expression that transcends the boundaries of the web and the physical world. A force field glows in the dark around the protective shell.”
Via Ruuska is a visual artist working with sculpture and mixed media. Their work often explores the division between public and private, home and work, everyday life and leisure or gallery and city. Recently Ruuska has also tried to figure out the significance of their trans identity for their artistic work and in relation to the subjects that interest them, such as the city.

Details
Self care self cure
Oil on wood, inkjet print, plastic packaging, steel
30 x 21,5 cm, 2024
Lifeline
Wood, Plexiglass, inkjet print, photoluminescent film
21 x 15 cm, 2024
Photo: Via Ruuska

1.–30.11.2024
Location: Titanik
Itäinen Rantakatu 8
20700 Turku, Finland
Website: titanik.fi
Instagram: @titanikgalleria
Open:
Tue–Fri 12–18
Sat–Sun 12–16
Free entrance

Accessibility
Titanik is located at street level along Itäinen Rantakatu. In front of the gallery there is a sidewalk rising 9 centimetres from the street level, the nearest ramp is located at the Aurasilta junction, 70 metres from the gallery. The width of the outer door is 90/155 cm and the width of the inner door is 81/163 cm. The doors are not automated and the outer door is difficult to open. The entrance has a 6 cm high threshold.
The doorway to the rear of the gallery is 94 cm wide and the openings in the central partition are 160 cm and 150 cm wide. The doorway of the Titanik A.i.R Studio is 89 cm wide. The doorway to the gallery office space is 97 cm wide and the floor slopes upwards at the doorway. The gallery toilet is available on request and the doorway width is 91 cm. The toilet is relatively spacious. There is a support rod on the wall next to the toilet seat and the toilet has an alarm.
The lighting conditions in the gallery and the amount of free floor space vary from exhibition to exhibition. Titanik’s staff will provide assistance in moving around the gallery space if needed.
Safer Space
At Titanik everyone is accepted and respected equally without any presuppositions, and attention is paid to everyone’s needs. In the space no form of harassment or discrimination is tolerated.

Exhibition: M/S Baltic Queers – Experiences of LGBTQAI+ Migration
2024-11-15 - 2025-03-02 | Helsingin kaupunginmuseo, Aleksanterinkatu 16, Helsinki
Helsinki City Museum will highlight the experiences of sexual and gender minorities in a new exhibition on LGBTQAI+ migration in the Baltic Sea region from the 1960s to the present day.

The M/S Baltic Queers exhibition, opening at the City Museum on 15 November, will shed some light on the theme of LGBTQAI+ migration, which has not been widely researched. It highlights the diverse life experiences and routes taken by people moving from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and the Baltic states as an important social phenomenon.
The journey begins in the departure terminal, and the exhibition explores love, friendship, activism, identity building and gay tourism. You can explore the theme in more depth through journal entries written by private persons, photographs and contemporary works of art.
The exhibition is curated by non-fiction author and journalist Antti Järvi and visual artist Kalle Hamm. The exhibition designer is Kristian Palmu, with Nina Andelin as the graphic designer and Eero Salmio as the producer. The exhibition has received funding from the Kone Foundation and the Nordic Culture Point.
M/S Baltic Queers – Experiences of LGBTQAI+ Migration
15 November 2024 – 2 March 2025
Helsinki City Museum, 4th floor
Aleksanterinkatu 16
Free entry

WORLD-MAKING REMEMBRANCES: NORDIC QUEER HISTORIES AND MEMORIES
2024-11-15 10:00 - 16:00 | Turun yliopisto, Arcanum, Arcanuminkuja 1, Turku, 20014
WORLD-MAKING REMEMBRANCES: NORDIC QUEER HISTORIES AND MEMORIES
Celebrating Rainbow History Month at University of Turku
Friday 15.11.2024 10-16 University of Turku, Arcanum, Arcanuminkuja 1
(Esteetön sisäänpääsy)
10.00-11.30 Arcanum A269 (NB: we start at 10.00)
KEYNOTE : Ingrid Ryberg (University of Gothenburg)
Queer publicity in the shadow of the Swedish sin: The reception of “homophile” film characters in the 1950s
Keynote speaker:
Ingrid Ryberg is an Associate Professor in Film Studies at the Department of Cultural Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. Her current project “Queer world-making in the welfare state”, funded by the Swedish Research Council, is a reception study exploring the role of audiovisual media in queer counter publics in Sweden between 1944–89. Ryberg is the author of the forthcoming book Swedish Film Feminism: Ambivalent Exceptionalism During the Second Wave (Bloomsbury, 2025), which offers the first in-depth historical account of the feminist film movement in Sweden in the 1970s and 80s and makes an original contribution to current methodological debates in feminist film studies. Ryberg is co-editor, with Anu Koivunen and Kata Kyrölä, of the volume The Power of Vulnerability: Mobilising Affect in Feminist, Queer and Anti-racist Media Cultures (2018, MUP), as well as a special issue on Nordic queer cinema for lambda nordica (2021). She is also the director of the documentaries An Army of Lovers (2018), about queer filmmaking in Sweden in the 1970s, and Dragkingdom of Sweden (together with Åsa Ekman, 2002), the short Phone Fuck (2009), made for the feminist porn collection Dirty Diaries, and the interactive performance installations The Setting of Desire: Cinemaoke in the Celluloid Closet (2016) and Invites: Cinemaoke in Bergman’s Closet (2018).
11.45-13.00 Arcanum A269
SHORT PAPERS
Varpu Alasuutari: The History of Nordic Queer Loneliness
Anu Koivunen: Tracing Queer History in Public Service Broadcasting Archives
Riikka Taavetti: Sweden-Ferries in Finnish Queer Memories and Histories
[Lunch break]
14-16 A355/257
PANEELIKESKUSTELU: Elämäkerrat sateenkaarihistoriana
Keskustelijoina Hannu Harju (Kajava – pelätty, parjattu, palvottu 2023), Jonimatti Joutsijärvi (Mirkka Rekola: Elämä joka ei koskaan tule kokonaan esiin 2023, Mirkka Rekola II: Elämä koko ajan käy ilmi salasta, 2024) ja Rita Paqvalen (Queera minnen. Essäer om tystnad, längtan och motstånd 2021).
Puheenjohtajana Anu Koivunen
Organizers: Gender Studies/University of Turku, SELMA: Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory, CRISSE-verkosto and IDA – Intimacy in Data-Driven Culture -consortium (Strategic Research Council 2018-2025),

Artist talk: Ron Athey in conversation with Jamie MacDonald
2024-11-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Kiasma-teatteri, Mannerheiminaukio 2, Helsinki, 00100
Performance artist Ron Athey will be visiting Helsinki for the first time in November. He will be speaking at the invitation of Uniarts Helsinki and Kiasma.
Ron Athey is an American artist and pioneer in Queer transgressive performance art. A self-learned artist, Athey’s artistic path stems from their activities in the subcultural post-punk and pre-goth music scene in the 1980’s. Athey’s work explores topics such as sexuality, the human body, trauma, and their interrelation.
Athey will be interviewed by Jamie MacDonald who is a Finnish-Canadian performing artist working in stand-up comedy, queer performance, and curation. He is currently working on a doctoral thesis at Uniarts Helsinki on transgender stand-up comedy.
The Artist talk is arranged in collaboration with Kiasma, Uniarts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy, and the Academy of Fine Arts.
Content note: The talk will include a presentation of Athey’s work, with visual depictions of sexuality, S&M, and Body Art.

Exhibition: Escape to Moominvalley & Rainbow Path
2025-10-10 11:00 - 2026-09-27 18:00 | Architecture and Design Museum, Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki, 00310
Photo: Tove Jansson and the cat Psipsina in her Helsinki studio, 1962 Photo: Finnish Heritage Agency
The Architecture & Design Museum’s new main exhibition Escape to Moominvalley opens on 10 October 2025, highlighting the global celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Moomin stories. The beloved Moomins, created by Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson (1914–2001), have become cultural icons in Finland and beyond. Jansson originally envisioned Moominvalley as a safe haven in turbulent times. Escape to Moominvalley explores how Jansson perceived architecture and design in her own life and how these elements are reflected in the stories of Moominvalley.
Escape to Moominvalley: Reflecting Reality Through Tove Jansson’s Imaginary World
The exhibition takes a fresh look at the connections between Jansson, the Moomins, architecture, and design. The journey begins with places and landscapes close to Jansson’s heart, before leading visitors into the imaginative spaces of Moominvalley. The exhibition reveals how places central to Jansson’s life, such as her Helsinki Atelier home and the remote summer island Klovharun, shaped her creative world. Through archived materials, personal objects, and photographs, visitors can step into these spaces and experience Jansson’s persona.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a reimagined Moominvalley where the stories’ environments are viewed through the perspectives of their inhabitants. What does “shared space” encompass in the context of the Moomin family’s bath house, a building ultimately claimed by Too-Ticky and the invisible shrews during the winter?
Moominvalley as Refuge
Jansson’s stories often reflect the turbulent reality of their time. She began writing them during World War II, amidst the bombings of Helsinki. Her first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), tells the tale of a family scattered by disaster searching for shelter, eventually finding a home and safety in Moominvalley. For Jansson herself, Moominvalley became a personal refuge.
In the same spirit, Escape to Moominvalley offers visitors both shelter from autumn storms and a mirror to the upheavals of the real world. Themes drawn from the Moomin stories, such as home and homelessness, solitude and community, safety and insecurity, present timely questions about the potential significance of Moominvalley and Jansson’s relationship to spaces for our modern times. In addition, the exhibition showcases contemporary approaches by designers and architects who explore the themes of survival, shelter, community, and resilience.
The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Moomin Characters.
Rainbow Path: Escape to Moominvalley
The Rainbow Path is a norm-critical path within the Escape to Moominvalley exhibition. It explores the diversity of gender and sexuality through the lens of Tove Jansson’s life and art. The Rainbow Path creates space for interpretation and personal reflection: how do spaces, objects, and cultural ideals shape identity, and what meanings might they carry from a queer perspective? The path does not offer ready-made answers but invites visitors to view the exhibition differently – with curiosity, empathy, and an appreciation for diversity. The Rainbow Path is available as a printed booklet at the museum. The booklet can be borrowed free of charge during the museum visit. The contents of the Rainbow Path are also available in text format on this website.
Accessibility and safer space
Architecture and design belongs to everyone. We at the Architecture and Design Museum want everyone to have the opportunity to have a safe museum experience and participate as themselves, without fear of discrimination or harassment. Read more about our principles for a safer space.
The Architecture and Design Museum is accessible. Read more about accessibility.

Webinar: “Contamination of the National Body”? How the Nazi Regime tried to intensify the persecution of Norwegian queer men, and why they failed.
2026-03-16 16:30 - 18:00
Skeivt arkiv, Norwegian Queer Archives, and the Nordic-Baltic Queer Archival Network are pleased to invite you to a webinar by historian Runar Jordåen on March 16 (Monday), at 15:30-17:00 CET.
“Contamination of the National Body”? How the Nazi Regime tried to intensify the persecution of Norwegian queer men, and why they failed.
In 1942, the German Occupation Regime and the collaborationist Quisling Government suggested changing the largely dormant prohibition against sex between men, Section 213 in the Norwegian Penal Code. Despite this initiative, which came from powerful circles and was justified with nazi ideology (homosexuality was described as “contamination of the national body”), the revision never happened.
During the webinar, historian Runar Jordåen will present a close reading of archive materials from public archives and will discuss why the proposal failed to be passed. The presentation is based on his research that was part of a collaboration with other scholars, and will briefly describe their research findings as well.
Runar Jordåen is a historian working at Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archives). Since 2022 he has been a part of a research collaboration with Maria Fritsche, Hans Wiggo Kristiansen and Camilla Hedvig Maartmann providing new knowledge about queer people during the Nazi occupation of Norway 1940-1945.
The webinar will be hosted on Google Meet. The link will be sent to the emails provided at the registration. Please register here until March 12. The registration can be stopped earlier, limiting the number of participants.
The webinar is provided by Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archives) within the framework of the Nordic-Baltic Queer Archival Network which is partially funded by the Nordic Culture Point. The network is a collaboration of išgirsti, Lithuanian Queer Archive (LT), Skeivt arkiv, Norwegian Queer Archives (NO), QRAB, Archives and Library of the Queer Movement (SE), Friends of Queer History (FI), and individual scholars (DK, EE, LV), continuing NNAQH initiative.

Kun saa rakastaa – sateenkaariseniorien ääniä ja queer-ihmisten mediarepresentaatiota vuonna 2026
2026-06-11 17:00 - 18:30
Tervetuloa keskustelutilaisuuteen, jossa puhutaan sateenkaarisenioreiden elämästä, näkyvyydestä ja vanhenemisesta Suomessa.
Keskustelussa mukana ovat Ylen Kun saa rakastaa -dokumenttisarjan ohjaaja Kirsi Liimatainen sekä sarjasta tuttuja senioreita. Tilaisuudessa kuullaan kokemuksia siitä, miltä valtakunnallinen näkyvyys ja omasta elämästä kertominen televisiossa tuntuivat ja mitä osallistujille kuuluu nyt sekä millainen merkitys sarjalla on ollut osallistujille ja katsojille.
Keskustelussa käsitellään myös sateenkaari-ihmisten vanhenemista, yhteiskunnallista ilmapiiriä sekä sitä, millaista on ikääntyä sateenkaarevana ihmisenä Suomessa vuonna 2026 sekä queer-ihmisen kapeaa mediarepresentaatiota ja sen vastapainona taas sarjan saamaa positiivista palautetta erityisesti nuorilta katsojilta.
Keskustelua ohjaa Setan varapuheenjohtaja Niilo Ciriaco.
Vapaa pääsy.
Järjestäjät: Sinuiksi ry ja Työväenmuseo Werstas.
Tapahtuma on osa Manse Pride 2026 ohjelmaa.
