NIGHTFALL – Queer Talks & Screenings #17 – Zafira Vbra Woodski

ENG: We are so excited about our upcoming Nightfall edition number 17 with SAQMI’s long time friend; artist, curator and educator Zafira Vrba Woodski. Zafira works with digital media, performance, video, textiles and pedagogy. Their work explores kinship, queer history, contemporary archeology and trans perspectives. Since 2023, Zafira also runs High Heel Funerals & Ceremonies, offering spiritual support and celebrations to the lgbtqia+ communities. Zafira is also a member of the grandiose fabulous band Punk Letters that take part in SAQMI series Queer Moving History. This will be the Nightfall you regret you missed out on so book your date and we promise you a warm, funny and kind evening with queer films and talks.

Voluntary entry. Arrive on time. Limited number of seats.
The doors open at 18:30, The film screening starts at 19:00.
Afterwards there is a conversation between Zafira Vbra Woodski and Sam Message. The conversation will be in English.

FACEBOOK EVENT

SVE: Vi är så exalterade över vår kommande Nightfall-utgåva nummer 17 med SAQMI:s långvariga vän; konstnär, curator och utbildare Zafira Vrba Woodski. Zafira arbetar med digitala medier, performance, video, textil och pedagogik. Hens arbete utforskar släktskap, queerhistoria, samtidsarkeologi och transperspektiv. Sedan 2023 driver Zafira också High Heel Funerals & Ceremonies, och erbjuder andligt stöd och firande till lgbtqia+-gemenskaperna. Zafira är också medlem i det storslagna fantastiska bandet Punk Letters som deltar i SAQMI-serien Queer Moving History. Det här kommer att bli kvällen du ångrar att du missade så boka din dejt så lovar vi dig en varm, rolig och snäll kväll med queerfilmer och samtal.

Frivillig entré. Kom i tid. Begränsat antal platser.
Dörrarna öppnar kl. 18:30. Filmvisningen börjar kl. 19:00.
Efteråt blir det ett samtal mellan Zafira Vbra Woodski och Sam Message. Samtalet kommer att ske på engelska.

Filmprogram – Zafira Vbra Woodski

Himlen är fejk (2017, 16:45 min)
On Animals and Cleaning (2019, 7 min)
Trans People Applauding ( 2021, 1:45 min)
I’m continuously crying tears of estrogen and tears of testosterone (2020, 5:30 min)
Death is my pronoun (2020, 14 min)
Total Length ca 50 min

(short break)

20:00 there will be a conversation between Zafira Vbra Woodski and Sam Message. NOTE: The conversation will be in English.

Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

Nightfall är en kväll med queera samtal och filmvisningar. Vi bjuder in konstnärer att dela med sig av och prata om sitt arbete och sin process. Nightfall är både en showcase för färdiga verk och en queer peer review för pågående arbete.

Zafira Vrba Woodski is a Czech-Swedish artist, curator, writer, Interfaith Minister and Death Doula based in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Zafira works with video, digital media, performance, text, textiles and pedagogy. Their work explores queer kinship, contemporary archeology and trans magic. Alongside their art, Zafira is an advocate for trans rights and accessible/non-ableist sex education and runs High Heel Funerals & Ceremonies, offering spiritual support and celebrations to the lgbtqia+ communities.
www.zafiravrbawoodski.com
www.highheelfunerals.com

Zafira Vbra Woodski är en tjeckisk-svensk konstnär, curator, författare, Interfaith Minister och dödsdoula med bas i Stockholm och Göteborg. Zafira arbetar med video, digitala medier, performance, text, textil och pedagogik. Hens konst utforskar queera släktskap, nutidsarkeologi och transmagi. Parallellt med konstnärsskapet är Zafira en sakunnig i transrättigheter och tillgänglig sexualundervisning och driver High Heel Funerals & Ceremonies som erbjuder andligt stöd och ceremonier till lgbtqia+ communities.
www.zafiravrbawoodski.com
www.highheelfunerals.com

Sam Message (they) is an artist and a community organiser based in Gothenburg. In their work, they explores how art and culture can be used to weave new connections between peoples in order to build a more inclusive society and a more sustainable LGBTQI community.

Sam Message (den) är en konstnär samt community organiser baserad i Göteborg. I sitt arbete utforskar den hur konst och kultur kan användas för att väva nya förbindelser mellan folk i syfte att bygga ett mer inkluderande samhälle och ett mer hållbart HBTQI-community.

More information about the films

Himlen är fejk (The sky is fake) (2017, 16:45 min)
In the 1960s, the neighbourhood of Hagalund was demolished to make way for the Million Programme housing project Blåkulla, eight fourteen-story buildings with sky- blue facades. The demolition still stirs feelings of disappointment, even though more than fifty years have passed. Both the old and the new Hagalund have a reputation
for being an undesirable and vulnerable place, but when generations of Hagalund residents speak out, completely different stories are told.
Himlen är fejk questions the stereotypical images of the Million programme, the politics behind housing reforms and the contemporary processes of privatization and modernization that risk repeating the mistakes of history. The film is a choreographic depiction based on memories and testimonies from the generations who have lived and still live in Hagalund in Solna.

On Animals and Cleaning (2019, 7 min)
During the first half of the 20th century, Sweden was a world leader in eugenics and assisted Germany’s Nazis with its “research”. The Swedish state sterilized tens of thousands of people in its celebration of purity. Only in 2013 was the sterilization requirement removed for transsexuals in gender confirmation care. The fascist obsession with hygiene still lives on today. There is absurd design in Sweden that tries to deceive us that “less is more”, that wood can be blond, or that
design or even a line can be “clean”. On Animals and Cleaning is about Sweden’s dirty history and is told through the absurd, performative act of cleaning.

Trans people Applauding (2021, 1:45 min)
Trans people are magical.
When we fill up a space, no one can doubt that trans is the future.
Trans People Applauding is a glimpse of what is coming.

I’m continuously crying tears of estrogen and tears of testosterone (2020, 5:30 min)
The history of people who transgressed expected norms around gender and sexuality is quite extreme. Our ancestors have experienced both love and hate, sometimes even at the same time. I’m continuously crying over our predecessors, friends, lovers, partners and parents who died far too soon. And for those who never got to be any of that. I remember you all. May your memory be a revolution.

Zafira Vrba Woodski plays a weeper in the film, with tears of hormone gel.
The testosterone gel is a gift from a friend who died in 2020.
The estrogen gel is the artist’s own.

Death is my pronoun (2020, 14 min)
If everyone throughout time had chosen the expected, the normative and linear, what would life look like today? If the courage to choose differently had not existed, humans would probably not exist. The queer courage – the courage to choose the unexpected, the radical and revolutionary – is what moves evolution forward. Those who today are called trans, non- binary, gender nonconforming, genderqueer or simply queer are vital to the development of (human) life. Death is my pronoun is a journey in time that begins in the 17th century witch trials and leads us towards a future that, after all, contains some gender euphoria.

ACCESSIBILITY – FRIGGA:
The program takes place on the ground floor, but there are some steps and small doorways. The narrowest door is 77cm. There is sound amplification but no ear loop. Feel free to contact us if you want to come and we will help you get a good place: info(at)saqmi.se or call: 070-6430151.

TILLGÄNGLIGHET – FRIGGA:
Programmet äger rum på bottenvåningen, men det finns några trappsteg och små dörröppningar. Den smalaste dörren är 77cm. Det finns ljudförstärkning men ingen hörslinga. Kontakta oss gärna om du vill komma så hjälper vi dig att få en bra plats: info(at)saqmi.se eller ring: 070-6430151.

The evening is held with the support of the City of Gothenburg.
Kvällen genomförs med stöd av Göteborgs stad.