In the Mountains Festival – Platform for Queer and Feminist Arts

The project »In the Mountains Festival – Platform for Queer and Feminist Arts« is a collaboration between partners in the Caucasus region who are active in the fields of art and human rights and the CYNETART platform of the TMA Hellerau.

IN THE MOUNTAINS is one of the first bottom-up cultural festivals in the Caucasus region to experiment with collectivity and collaboration on queer and feminist issues across the fault lines that have deepened fractures between communities for over 30 years, with the cultural sphere of each country often instrumentalised for nationalist propaganda. This is all the more true for the struggles faced by queer and feminist communities in the region, where persistent divisions prevent effective collective strategies to address current challenges and rising authoritarianism.

The festival took place on 11, 12 and 13 September 2024 at ACUD Space and offered film screenings, panel discussions, drag shows, performances and community meetings: The focus was on the diverse processes of change that the Caucasus region is undergoing, the impact on queer and feminist rights and the question of how a transnational community practice can be created to respond to current challenges.

The festival came to an end on 14 September at Tipsy Bear.

»In the Mountains Festival – Platform for Queer and Feminist Arts« is co-funded by the European Commission through the Creative Europe program and by the German Federal Foreign Office through the program »Strengthening Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries«.