Safe spaces: Meet Queer Café
This article was produced in the framework of the "Unprejudiced" project with the support of the Eastern Partnership Programme and the German Federal Foreign Office in autumn 2022.
Author: Ilona Spesivțev
It is beyond doubt that ten years ago the LGBTQIA+ community of Moldova was dreaming about the safer spaces that we all have now. Smoother streets, pride marches with more members and allies, film festivals in the heart of the city. It was the effort and the dedication that is still making all these to happen, and we thank the community for the steps taken towards a safer future together.
When I first saw the news that the first edition of the Queer Voices International Film Festival was going to be organized, I could not believe my eyes. The first question that popped into my mind was whether the organizing team, the MOLDOX Association, felt safe about taking this step. Organizing a festival with no hate. A colorful one, that you will always miss. And now, it’s an event that is held for the fifth time in Chișinău, while the Queer Voices team continues to break the patterns, bringing us closer not only to films about and with the LGBTQIA+ community, but also to distinguished experiences – a ballroom with voguing and beautiful people, a drag queen workshop, an experimental summer camp to explore your writer’s side, voice, and body, a filmmaking workshop with creators from the community. The Festival has taken root in many people’s hearts, and, a few months ago, with the support of the Embassy Office of the Netherlands in Moldova, it has found the perfect place to open a new queer space of the community.
“The idea of opening Queer Café has derived from all the events that have previously taken place at the Festival”, says Lorelei Grigoriță, the administrator of Queer Café. “Last year, we had so many diverse workshops, including one for ballroom, with categories, with voguing, with everything, and, additionally, we had access to many more spaces that belong to the Museum that we thought could have been valued by any kind of community. At one moment, we were working on the project and, after half a year, we opened a new place, where our community enjoys a variety of cultural events and not only”, she added. Queer Café is located in the Zemstvei Museum, one of the favorite places of the local cultural community. This is the house of Oberliht Association and Zpațiu, you will also find Maxim Polyakov and his friends doing some photography magic in his workshop, artists and volunteers pleasantly spend their time here, and you can visit unique exhibitions on the walls of its long corridor. During the first edition of the Cultural Alternatives Spaces event, the Museum has hosted two simultaneous parties – a mini-festival, where those who wanted to be surprised by breakcore beats, would stay on the corridor, and the others would dance in Queer Café. Zemstvei Museum hosts a cultural mix, sprinkled with diversity and creativity.
Here, the Queer Café has become a space open to all kinds of cultural events – from DJ trainings, to upcycling workshops, to wonderful parties. "As a member of the community, I didn't know any other queer places in Chișinău where I felt safe to comfortably express myself as I am up until this space was opened. There were queer-friendly events, but not with a fixed location or happening regularly. In the end, Queer Café remains the only place that gives me freedom, where I communicate with people who understand me", Lorelei mentions. Some of the most appreciated events for the community were organized by GENDERDOC-M, one of the oldest NGOs of the country that actively promotes the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, including through educational and cultural activities. Last summer, after a two-year break, the Pride March 2022 came back to the Bucharest street of Chișinău and gathered more than 500 people under everyone’s sky to a solidarity march that reached its final destination still under the supervision of police, but with a little victory. The same day, Queer Café has hosted a soft opening of the space, where many people from the march had gathered again to discuss the beauty of the event, the difficulties of the last week or, simply, their mood and feelings. A soft but valuable opening. Another win for the community, but also a promising partnership.
By the way, there used to be an LGBTQIA+ bar in Chișinău, a safe haven for the community – Bar Tema – opened back in June of 2007 with the support of GENDERDOC-M. It was a small place for up to 40 people, where they planned to host art evenings, photo exhibitions, and film screenings. Bar Tema was active for one year only, though.
“We have officially opened in July. Since then, we've been hosting events every weekend, sometimes with 150 visitors”, Lorelei says. “My opinion might be subjective, but I adore the workshops that take place here, at our place. I like seeing people connecting to the creative processes, building new strong bonds and communicating openly. We had a DJing workshop, which resulted in the creation of a new community of beginner DJs that can come and experiment with their newly acquired skills at our parties. We held a photography workshop with people that were not a part of the queer community, but they had the chance to interact with our space, with us, and we got along very well”, Lorelei recalls.
According to the team, Queer Café is the place for the people that have their souls full of love, for community allies, for all those curious about art, about colorful events. "I think the community is well represented by this super creative space," Lorelei notes. There are also guests from abroad – drag queens, DJs, artists and others – people invited by Maxim Cîrlan, the director of the Queer Voices International Film Festival and Queer Café. The guests are excited about the changes that are happening for the queer community in our country, they feel good and comfortable in this environment. "The connection and collaboration is felt among the people in the community, because they know best that these changes are happening through an arduous process in less tolerant countries. And when they see that such events are being prepared by organizations that want equal rights for everyone, they get involved and gladly join us, feeling free," Lorelei describes.
There are also reading clubs, film clubs, evenings with board games and karaoke, exhibitions that can be organized by anyone who is an ally of the community. The team specifically insisted on choosing this space, in the Zemstvei Museum, because it inspired the idea of Queer Café – it had the right architecture, it is located in the city center, a coffee away from Ștefan the Great Park. "It took us some time until we had all the documents sorted out, but we are glad that the Zemstvei Museum was open to such an initiative. With a little color, we brought more life to the Museum", Lorelei mentions. There is also an interesting little bar at the entrance, and in the center of the Museum, you have access to a nice garden with climbing plants on the walls – this is where you can take a break after the parties.
The Zemstvei Museum, initially built as an orphanage in the middle of the 19th century, is a historical building of national importance, but it has been left to its own fate for several years now, as plans to redevelop the space have not been realized. That is why now, several initiatives and non-governmental organizations are hosted there, where they conceptualize various events for those interested in development through classical and alternative arts, research, production and other.
Lorelei points out that slight but tasteful interventions have been made so that the architecture of the space is welcoming. “Also in this edition of Queer Voices the community and its people will find us here, again. The Festival program is busy but, as usual, diverse and accessible," she adds. The biggest event of the IV edition of the Festival, the first ballroom tryout session in the Republic of Moldova, gathered around 200 guests for a marvelous party like in "Paris is burning", honoring and celebrating the history of the ballroom and the freedom of the queer Black community. Queer Voices then managed to negotiate the opening of the fencing hall of the Zemstvei Museum, a place with a special aura, spacious, with traces of the past and the shine of the present, with a floor that perfectly serves as a runway for anyone to feel great.
This year, we saw a new ballroom tryout session just as brave, just as exciting and bold in the same space.
The Festival-Museum relationship managed to create an attractive location for both queer and cultural communities, as well as for their allies and friends. Queer Café is not just a voice and an address on the map, but also a new initiative that respects the history of the Museum and contributes to its cultural value.
“I want to believe that Queer Café is and will stay as an interactive space for people, and surely a safe one. I wish it stays as a place where you can make beautiful memories, new friendships. As for the entire community, may its way be paved with understanding, love, and acceptance”, Lorelei adds.
To get to know the highly colorful program of the fifth edition of the Queer Voices International Film Festival, follow its Facebook page. And if you're interested in the schedule and what's happening at Queer Café, click right here. And don't forget that you are always welcome!
