IQMF: On Being Turkish and Queer

Tickets for International Queer & Migrant Film Festival are sold through their website.

Join us for an evening of two talks and a spoken word performance that link the mediums of photography, performance and academia together to centre Turkish* and Queer* identity.

Erkan Affan is a queer and gender non-conforming activist of colour based between London and Berlin. With an academic background in ‘Middle Eastern’ politics (BA, SOAS) and global migration (MSc, UCL), Erkan’s recent research has focused most notably on the importance of club and performance spaces for Turkish-speaking queer migrants in Berlin, and on criticising the policies of UNHCR’s gender mainstreaming programmes in failing to offer trans* refugees adequate protection in legal charters. An avid believer of decolonising the contemporary structures of knowledge, they recently completed a curatorial residency funded by the European Commission in Germany and co-created a queer, of colour and Muslim festival in Berlin. They are the co-founder of Berlin-based artist’s collective Queer Arab Barty, curating social and political spaces in Berlin for Arabic-speaking LGBTQI+ identifying individuals.

Kübra Varol (Cupid) is a non-binary trans person of colour performing as Cupid. They utilize dance, music, text, spoken word, drag and comedy in their performances which they see as a way to heal and encourage healing. Performing is a way they confront their deepest fears and through vulnerability, radical honesty and openness to failure, they intend to empower themselves and the audience.

Ceren Saner is 1991 Istanbul born, now Berlin based self-taught visual artist Ceren Saner describes her approach as private documentary as her works are predominantly autobiographical. Since November 2016, she is based in Berlin and has been on tour (#isntitlovethetour) around Germany and Europe, giving lecture performances with her artworks centering upon perspectives on the intersection of art, queer scene, LGBTIQ+ movement and activism in Turkey.

For her talk at IQMF Amsterdam, Ceren presents ‘isn’t it Love?’ – entitled after one of her photography series. She will speak about her approach to art, both documentary and empathetic. Drawing on her artworks and experiences, Ceren Saner is giving a personal report on both the queer scene and the LGBTIQ*-movement experiencing many setbacks due to current political developments within Turkey while also being subjected to intimidation and oppression.

Supported by Goethe-Institut Niederlande