Participants

Stephan Olsdal and his project Digital 21

Guitar player and co-founder of the legendary British music band Placebo.

At the closing ceremony Stephan Olsdal and EDM old-timer Miguel Lopez Mora will perform music unlike the kind Placebo is known for. It is a synthesis of club music and classical instruments. In 2017 and 2018 Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal successfully performed at the venues of Madrid, Lisbon, London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.

Damien Frost

Graphic designer, artist, and photographer. Author of the photo series «Night flowers» that portray alternative night life of London’s queer community.

Frost was born in 1875 in Australia, studied fine arts at the university of Newcastle (Australia) and exhibited his paintings, illustrations, photographs, and digital works in galleries across Australia and the United Kingdom.

Later Frost founded his own label and hosted a show on the local radio for several years. In 1996 he became one of the founding member of Octapod — a public organization of new media and arts in Newcastle. As a graphic designer Frost specialized in work for theatre, opera and ballet.

In 2016 Damien Frost published his book «Night Flowers: From Avante-Drag to Extreme Haute-Couture». His photographs have been printed by such media as The Guardian Online, Vice Magazine and Slate.com.

At QUEERFEST he will be presenting his photo project «NIGHT FLOWERS».

Zalina Marshenkulova

Feminist, blogger, author for Snob.ru, TJ, Village.ru, w-o-s.ru, etc. Her Instagram channel «Women’s power» has around 30 000 subscribers. In January 2019 Zalina got famous for organizing an ad campaign #нивкакиерамки.

She will hold a lecture «Had it so good until the feminists came».

Tomas Gurnasson

Tomas Gunnarsson (born in 1982) is a journalist, photographer, and speaker, known in Sweden for his blog «Gender Photographer», where he analyses and brings the attention to stereotypical portrayals of women and men in press and advertising.

Tomas have held his lectures and masterclasses on critical approach to the norms of visual communication at hundreds of various establishments, municipalities, companies, museums, media organizations, and schools all over Sweden. His clientele includes Swedish Ministry of Defense, Stockholm City Administration, companies like IKEA, H&M, Google. Tomas have given his lectures in Norway, Finland, Latvia, Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine

Swedish gender photographer will exhibit his photo project «Images that change the world».

Olga Zhgun

Queer stylist and creator of a gender transformation studio QUERRPOINT. She’s been professionally working with gender transformations since 2009. In 2010 she began working with trans people. Within her capacity she participates in various projects that aim to help trans people: holds trainings, master-classes, and lectures. She creates projects that work towards accepting and understanding trans people, crossdressers, and help to get a glimpse of what does it mean to be transgender in a heteronormative society.

Olga will hold an event OPENSPACE: QUEER DOUBLE LIVE.

The author of the project’s photos is Stanislav Dolzinskiy, photo documentarian. In 2015–2016 he made a photo story about the only queer stylist in Russia. From 2015 to 2018 he depictured the story of transition of a trans man. From 2017 and onwards he’s been working on a project about a person’s right for their own body, and since 2018 he participates in a project «QUEER DOUBLE LIFE». He also collaborated with Meduza (internet media) on publishing a story of a trans man’s transition «Three years of a trans man’s life…»

Invited guest, a part of the community: Sabrina Utkina.

Evgenia Monastyrkaya

LGBT+ writer and activist from «Recourse LGBTQIA Moscow» organization. She’s been an activist for six years, leading offline and online support groups for LBT+ women. Evgenia runs a literature club for LGBTQIA people «Rainbow lamp» where both beginners and accomplished authors may take the floor. She also runs a Workshop for bloggers and writers.

Evgenia is an author of four books («Wormholes», «Tramontana», «LGBT+ families in Russia — real stories», «Lesbian fairytales for grown-ups»). She helps LGBT authors with the publishing: two compilations are already out («Literary coming out», «Erato») and one, «#StopHomophobia», is on the way.

Evgenia will carry out OPENSPACE «Asexual people»: narrative meet-up as part of series «Live stories of LGBTQ+ community».

Svetlana Lukyanova

Cofounder of a publishing house No Kidding Press and Write Like a Grrrl courses, writer and editor.

At Queerfest she will hold an OPENSPACE «Coming out, AIDS, and rage: underground queer comic books in the 60s-70s in the USA».

Vera Boitsova

Artist, theatre director, feminist, and LGBT+ activist. RSIOPA graduate of 2011 (Musical Theatre faculty), she has a Master Degree in Theatre and Performance (Queen Mary University of London, 2015). Her directors debut took place in 2011 at a Youth Spectator’s Theatre — in musical «Renata». From 2014 she’s worked at as an assistant at the following London Theaters: Barbican Art Centre, Opera Holland Park, New Wimbledon Theatre, Charing Cross Theatre. She also participated in various festivals and performed solo in theaters and galleries throughout Britain and Spain, in places like Camden People’s Theatre, Brighton Dome, Battersea Arts Centre, Birmingham MAC, Venice Art House, Palazzo Ca’Zanardi, etc. Since 2017 she has been working as a drama teacher at Beijing 21st Century International School (Beijing, PRC). Now Vera is an invited performer at Kucku Transfolk и Loviisa Contemporary (Finland), Hectolitre (Belgium), DIY Project (UK), holder of an art-grant Kone Foundation (Finland).

She will conduct an event OPENSPACE «Tales of Transitioning».

Nikolai Gorbachov

Nicolai Gorbachov, social researcher and founder of a Telegram channel «Pidori mechti» («Dream Faggots»).

At Queerfest he will hold a training OPENSPACE Pidori mechti \ Dream faggots: strategies of subverting homophobic insults.

Dima Mishka

Video blogger and an open gay man.

He will carry out OPENSPACE Promotion of LGBT+ content in Russia: problems and solutions.  

Виталий Клименко

Известный российский хореограф и педагог, чьи мастер-классы прошли в более чем 20 городов России. Является хореографом таких популярных проектов, как «Танцы на ТНТ», «Танцуют Все», «Bolero"и многих других. Виталий Клименко — официальный член американского vogue дома The Iconic House of Ninja и отец его русского чаптера.

Sindel

Это сценическое имя Артура Васильева, который прославился своим участием в первом сезоне проекта «Голос». Сейчас Артур является солистом театра «Гоголь центр», а его альтер-эго Sindel — живой голос клуба CENTRAL STATION (Москва).