Queer Futures: Day 2 of 2

Day 2
June 13, 2025

13:00-14:30 – In All Our Languages, In All Our Xaos
15:00-16:00 – decolonial thoughts on queer
Archives of Feelings
16:00-17:00 – POETRY & SHORT FICTION READING
17:00-18:00 – Divas of Darkness

Workshop Descriptions Below
No Registration Required

Workshop Descriptions

13:00-14:30: In All Our Languages, In All Our Xaos from: XAOS – Queer Care Club Vienna
Hosted by Iva Marković and Dami-Jan Ju-Lija Stranner

The Workshop is held by Iva Marković (she) and Dami-Jan Ju-Lija Stranner (they) from: XAOS – Queer Care Club Vienna. Association by and for people with chronic health challenges and their care networks. Iva lives with four different languages in her everyday life. She writes in all of them, constantly translating herself—linguistically and emotionally. Her work is grounded in everyday practices of solidarity, the redistribution of privilege, and community-centered approaches to mental health. Dami-Jan lives between Vienna and Athens and deals with various possibilities of participatory, research-based, trauma-centred educational and counselling work and uses artistic-creative forms of expression (such as podcasts and creative writing) as well as methods from trauma and grief work to create collective moments of resonance in group contexts and thus strengthen collective (un)learning moments.

Celebrates multiplicity, contradiction, and queer presence. We invite you to a writing workshop that explores the many layers of meaning that emerge when we write across different formats and languages.

Writing allows us to express a range of emotions, messages, and identities—and these shift depending on our audience, our vocabulary, and who we are in that moment. The form our writing takes also matters: visual layout, structure, and narrative chronology all shape how a story is experienced. Life isn’t linear, and neither are our stories.

Too often, we are pressured to simplify ourselves to fit into societal norms. In this workshop, we aim to resist that pressure. We will create a space where stories can unfold in their full complexity, with all their contradictions, disruptions, and chaos.

We are not here to imagine a queer future—we are here to hold space for queer existence in the present, especially where it has been ignored, suppressed, or erased

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15:00-16:00: decolonial thoughts on queer Archives of Feelings

Together with the group we would work on the concept of how decolonial action in queer spaces can present and have a little input session, thats also interactive in which everybody can share their thoughts on the topic. 

After that we would work on the idea of „queer archives“ and what a „queer archive” could be and how it could look like, by taking part in a creative session in which everybody can draw or craft something that represents an archive for them. 

During the entire process and timeframe, I would provide bits of academic input on different academic topics concerning queer theory. As I study social- and cultural anthropology in my second semester, I would touch on some anthropological concepts and also point out, which role the academic field takes in this discussion.

Workshop Descriptions

16:00-17:00: Poetry & Short Fiction Reading by Iva Marković

Geboren 1985 im ehem. Jugoslawien. Iva Marković ist queer-feministische Aktivistin, Produktionsleiterin für Kunst und Kultur, Performerin, Dolmetscherin und Community Worker mit langjähriger Erfahrung in der sozialen Arbeit in ehemaligen jugoslawischen Raum, in Ungarn und in Österreich. Seit zehn Jahren als Produktionsleiterin und Projektmanagerin in mehreren Ländern und Organisationen tätig; Zusammenarbeiten u. a. mit Vjetar – Verein zur Unterstützung von Menschen mit Dyslexie, der Kulturstiftung KRITERION, dem LGBTIAQ-Verein Okvir, Home – internationales Zentrum für Heilung durch Gerechtigkeit, WIENWOCHE („How long are you planning to stay?“).

2019 gründete sie mit Danilo Jovanović die Physical Theater Company Side Effect, wo sie als Performerin und Produktionsleiterin tätig ist.

Die Suche nach einem Weg, sich mit dem Körper und den Gefühlen zu verbinden, inspirierte Iva dazu, als Performerin auf der Bühne zu stehen. Ivas Motivation ist es, Möglichkeiten zu schaffen, dass persönliche Geschichten gehört werden, und die Bühne zu einem Ort für weniger sichtbare Erfahrungen zu machen. Iva ist Mitverfasserin des ersten Leitfadens zum Einsatz von Forumtheater in der Arbeit mit LGBTIQA-Personen in Bosnien-Herzegowina.

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17:00-18:00: Divas of Darkness: The Portrayal of Disney’s Female Villains Across Time and Media – A Very Short Introduction

This project is my PhD research, which I would like to briefly present within the time limit—a 30-minute presentation accompanied by selected scenes that complement the analysis, followed by a 15-minute discussion with guided questions and time for audience questions. In my presentation, I examine the Walt Disney Company’s female villains, the “Divas of Darkness,” such as the Evil Queen, the Queen of Hearts, Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Ursula, who are classified as primary villains. My presentation seeks to analyse how these female villains embody queerness. Furthermore, I will examine how Disney’s portrayal of villains has evolved over time, both in the creation of new characters and the reinterpretation of existing ones across various media. This research is particularly relevant due to the relative lack of studies on Disney villains. The Walt Disney Company has a considerable influence in shaping young viewers’ minds and attitudes, and the examination of villains is particularly compelling since they embody disruptive forces often framed as negative in contrast to the protagonists. Notably, they challenge social norms. As such, they serve as counterexamples of what is deemed “good.” However, despite their antagonistic roles, these villains are beloved and admired by audiences. This phenomenon is worth exploring, as there has been little comprehensive research considering a broad range of examples from all of Disney’s full-length animated films, especially when focusing on female villains and their subsequent portrayals across media.