Dear friends and allies,

On May 5^th we celebrated our third anniversary, as well as one year of The Pink Cube Manifesto. Since the launch of the manifesto it has been relatively quiet at The Pink Cube, though not for lack of effort. Over the past year we have focused on professionalizing our platform with a lot of reflecting and discussing amongst each other and with others from our community. Arlo and Iris stepped down from the board to focus entirely on organizing, and three new members joined the board. Now, with pride month and Roze Zaterdag Groningen fast approaching, we wanted to update all our friends on everything we’ve been up to. Consider this email a one time thing, if you would like to receive more updates like this in the future we’ve included a sign-up link at the bottom.

Thank you all for your continued support, and see you soon!

Arlo and Iris

OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE

We were invited by Blikopener Festival to organize a segment of De Avondblik, in which different organizations from Groningen are given a platform and the opportunity to represent their communities at the festival. We were eager to bring awareness to the massive waiting lists for transgender healthcare in the Netherlands. We are proud to announce the launch of a long term participation artwork titled OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE, a project surrounding the topic of waiting as a trans person.

In the Netherlands, the average waiting list for a first interview with a psychologist to get a gender dysphoria diagnosis is two years. This is not the beginning of treatment, but an assessment to see if you even qualify for specialized care. As of March 2023, the waiting list at the UMC in Groningen is 30 months long. 30 months equals 130 weeks. 30 months equals 912 days. 21.900 hours. 1.314.900 minutes.

The ongoing participation project OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE visualizes these endless waiting lists. A cadavre exquis is a poem or a drawing made up of multiple segments by different people to form an, often barely legible, end result. OUR EXQUISITE CORPSE is such a cadavre exquis, but time-based. We welcome everyone to contribute one or more tiles to a quilt spanning several meters. You keep track of how much time you spend on the tiles. Seconds, minutes or hours, as long as you want. All these minutes are added up. We keep going until we reach 1.314.900 minutes. 21.900 hours. 912 days. 130 weeks. 30 months.

The artwork will launch for the first time on June 7^th at the start of the festival. On June 8^th Iris and Arlo will give a lecture about the long tradition of art as a tool of activism in the queer community.

Tickets for Blikopener Festival can be purchased here (pay what you want). Our Exquisite Corpse can also be found in the central hall of Forum Groningen on Roze Zaterdag, June 22^nd, from 11:00 to 17:00. More dates will be announced soon.

Palari

On June 2^nd the very first edition of Palari will take place, a series of queer salons hosted in Grand Theatre!

Polari, Palare, Palari - different terms that refer to a code language spoken by queer people, sex workers, street performers, carny folk and criminals. An anti-language that allowed people on the margins of society to speak freely. For decades, the queer community has attempted to create spaces that are for them alone. At Palari: Queer Salons the queer community can freely speak, think and discuss among likeminded people.

Palari offers a space for individuals seeking to explore (visual) art within a queer framework, discover the rich history of queer culture, and engage with the local community. Each salon will center around a unique theme and we will feature diverse guest speakers.

This first edition is dedicated to Aaïcha Bergamin, a transgender pioneer from Amsterdam. Alex Bakker, historian and author of Transgender in Nederland: een buitengewone geschiedenis (2018), will talk about Aaïcha and what she has done for the emancipation of trans people in the Netherlands. Aaïcha Bergamin passed away in 2014 and was buried in an anonymous grave. Unacceptable, according to Bakker, who raised funds to give the pioneer a worthy headstone.

Now, ten years later, the grave rights to her resting place must be renewed. Therefore, in addition to discovering an important story in the history of trans care in the Netherlands, there is also the opportunity to donate for the preservation of her grave in Amsterdam.

This first edition of Palari is free, but you do need a ticket. You can reserve your spot on the Grand Theatre website.

Other events

Introducing the new board

At the end of last year Arlo and Iris stepped down from the board, and Lynden took on the role of president. We are very excited to introduce you to the new board of the Pink Cube.

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