Zeljko Blace, Tina Kadoić
qSPORT presentation-screening:
cca 15-20min talk and screening of short promo video clips abot qSPORT as a queer sport organization that works in the context of SouthEastEurope and its social, cultural and political agenda.
qSPORT is an instigator and incubator for queer sport and related. It is an agent of wider social change with it’s queer mission in society. It provides both lens for the queer perspective on sports and a mirror for continuous self-reflection. qSPORT is setup:
- to give impetus to local LGBTQ initiatives, groups and individuals who want to meet for sport and recreational activities, be it local sport practice or to take part in international LGBT sport events and institutional networks.
- to (re)present unique perspectives of developing countries within different international LGBTQ and sport institutions/organizations
- to articulate queer perspectives within of contemporary field Gay and Lesbian Sport as well as in other sport/cultural/social contexts
qSPORT is working in the conditions/contexts of South East Europe (with Zagreb as an origin), it’s highly dynamic ‘transitional’ and hetero-normalized society with strong homophobia, rendering qSPORT different and unique from known forms of sport clubs, city or national teams.
QueerSport lecture-presentation:
cca 30-40min talk (with visuals) about LGBT/Queer Sport realities, artistic and activist agenda of queering of sport by its instigator, organizer and researcher Zeljko Blace…
By Contesting and Contexting SPORT, Blaće looks into what can be learned from multiplicity of realities and imaginations, disruptive interventions, insular practices, minor theories, micro politics… as highly normative system like Sport is challenged in its foundations through critical thinking and creative expressions. http://www.QueerSport.info/
“QueerSport research project examines and instigates tensions between SPORT in its norms and regulations, and the notion of QUEER as a discourse, practice and performative act.
Contemporary sport (competitive, commercialized, institutionalized, politicized…) is often taken for granted in its capacity to normalize societies and cultures on a global scale. It is equally The source of countless traumatic, stressful and frustrating experiences for queer youth, trans individuals and others who challenge or do not fit its norms. If sport (as art) is considered as a laboratory, then it is potentially one of largest fields for social, cultural and political innovation in contemporary society in need of contemporary aesthetic articulation.
While simultaneously working as artist, activist and academic researcher I seek answers for:
- When/How/Where are tensions catalysts for innovation and radical change?
- How can artists challenge norms and contribute to the critique and development of sport?
- What are capacities for creative innovation in the niche (LGBTQ) sport movement?
- What are contexts (occasions, venues and resources) for emergence of QueerSport?
In this process of articulation QueerSport is used as a flexible term that accommodates different meanings and opens up a spectrum of possible interpretations that emerge from interaction with contexts of: academia, artistic/cultural field, professional/amateur sport, corporate/community media, political/social activism… I use different models and methods to chart directions for development of QueerSport as both a critique to normalization of once progressive gay sport movement, and proactive development of contexts for emergence of QueerSport as a cultural experiment and community work towards a particular social sculpture or better a social landscape.
My research outputs are texts, workshops, media, presentations and performances that create contexts for invisioning development of queer qualities in sport through interaction with individuals, groups, organizations from both LGBTQ sport and larger society.”
Invitation Politix: open to all