trans*missions : stories from the archives and beyond
in partnership with Spinnboden Archiv, Magnus Hirschfeld Gesellschaft, das feministische Archive FFBIZ, Refuge Worldwide, 90mil Radio, JugendKulturZentrum Pumpe and Hopscotch Reading Room
Artistic archival sound art storytelling project for qt* aged 18-27
Did you know that …
Berlin was home to the first clinic for trans* people? That the first queer radio station was started in West Berlin in the 80ies?
Berlin has been home to queer and trans* people for a long time, some of which have left their traces and many who have not. We want to explore some of these stories and ways of transmitting, queering, un/learning and imagining our own xstories.
What is a „queer archive“ and what can you do with it? What would it be like to talk to someone queer in 1903? And will our gay text messages end up in a queer archive one day?
Are you interested in:
Learning about queer stories and speculative histories?
Learning about archival research, radio making, and zine creation?
Connecting with other young trans creatives and artists?
Find and explore your own voice in writing and making accessible radio?
Diving into transqueercrip archive practice & sound?
Participating in a live radio trans*mission?
Then join trans*missions, an artistic research project that dives into queer archives to unearth the stories of our trans*cestors: the stories and people that have come before us and reach into our own life stories.
We‘ll use creative writing tools, playful research methodologies, and sound production techniques to bring these stories to life in a final radio show and zine.
This is a special opportunity to participate in a process-based, educational, and experimental art environment, fully funded to be accessible for free to anyone aged between 18-27yrs.
What We‘ll Do:
<3 Archival Research: We‘ll visit Berlin’s queer archives
<3 Creative Workshops: Participate in workshops on poetry, creative writing, sound design, zine making, and somatic voice work.
<3 Artists Input: Learn from artists about queer history, radio production, and performance.
<3 Radio Production: Develop and produce segments for a live radio
<3 Zine Creation: Contribute to a zine documenting the project
Project Timeline April - August 2025:
April-June: 2 dates of archive visits & workshops per month
July-August: condensed collab week for final production and presentation
Who can apply:
Individuals aged 18-27
Anyone interested in transqueer archive practice & sound
People of all backgrounds with curiosity and a willingness to engage in a creative group process.
Bilingualism (German & English) is a plus, as some archival materials are in German, but facilitation will be in both languages.
Please send an email to trans_missions_radio@proton.me
with the subject line trans*missions
application
and include the following:
<3 your name and age
<3 a Brief Introduction: tell us a little about yourself and your interests.
<3 why This Project? What interests you most about participating
in trans*missions? (this can just be a sentence or two!)
<3 Creative Experience: do you have any experience with creative writing, poetry, sound recording, radio production, or zine making? (no prior experience is required, but let us know if you have any!)
<3 access needs: do you have any access needs or accommodations that we should be aware of? we will check elevator/ramp access for the archive visits and organize accessible working spaces for wheelchair users.
<3 language skills: which languages are you comfortable with speaking?
Deadline for Applications: 24th of March 2025
We especially encourage applications from trans*, queer and neuroqt* individuals.
about the project facilitators:
a.Monti (they/them) is a transdisciplinary poet and educator, born in Rome and now based in Berlin and New York. Monti writes queer-feminist texts for books, radio, and cabaret, translates Italian and English poetry, and is an editor for the Brooklyn based publisher Litmus Press. Monti regularly gives workshops on experimental poetry and transdisciplinary writing and has recently worked as a mentor for young authors as part of Pratt in Berlin.
lotti mani are an artist, researcher and educator in the field of queerness and dis_ability through embodied practices. They research spatial and performative strategies for neuroqueer bodyminds in collaboration with various life forms and practice embodied queer theory and presencing in academic and other education contexts. They have studied cultural studies in Hildesheim and London and performance & timebase media and Art in Context in Berlin.