Queer New York International Arts Festival (QNYI) is a new festival of contemporary performance and visual art that explores and broadens the concept of “queer (in) art.” Co-curated by Zvonimir Dobrović, artistic director of Queer Zagreb and the Perforations Festival in Croatia, and art historian and independent curator André von Ah, the festival aims to dispel preconceived and stereotyped notions of “queer,” and provides a platform for expanding the discourse about artistic practices and varying modes of presentation. The festival features works by an exciting line-up of artists including David Wampach (France), Stefano Ricci/Gianni Forte (Italy), Tadasu Takamine (Japan), François Chaignaud & Cecilia Bengolea (France, Argentina), Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Cape Verde), Silvia Costa/Plumes dans la tête (Italy), Biljana Kosmogina (Serbia), Željko Zorica (Croatia), Igor Josifov (Macedonia), and the East Village Boys (U.S.). The festival is presented in partnership with The Abrons Arts Center – QNYI’s hub, with additional events presented at The Invisible Dog Art Center and The Impossible Project.

In discussing the festival, Dobrović and von Ah have stated that they want to “break through dominant ideas that limit and marginalize queer art, by creating a new concept of queer as a wider platform for excellence in arts, capable of tracking, discovering, and interpreting new trends while daring to speak openly about the norms that constitute society and art practice.”

QNYI will include a series of discussions and public programs organized by Andy Horwitz and Jeremy M. Barker of Culturebot.org, an ongoing exploration and re-imagination of the role of the critic in the 21st Century. Launched as a blog for Performance Space 122 in 2003 and operating independently since 2007, Culturebot.org functions as an NYC-based magazine covering contemporary performance locally, nationally and internationally. On Friday, June 8, following the 8 pm performance of “Macadamia Nut Brittle” there will be the “The Impersonation Game: Ricci/Forte“, and on Tuesday, June 12, the long table discussion “How Queer Everything is Today!”. In addition to these events, they will also host artist talkbacks immediately after the performances of David Wampach on Sat., June 9; Tadasu Takamine on Sun., June 10; Marlene Monteiro Freitas on Mon., June. 11; and Plumes dans la Tête on Tues., June 12.

QNYI coincides with LaMaMa’s presentation of queer art during its 50th anniversary season.


For the whole programme:

www.queerny.org