Lecture: Gender and Body in Ukrainian art. Queer Perspective

Practices and stories of gender-queer and sexually non-conforming artists in Ukraine from the 11th century to the present day. Lecture on Sunday, 23 November, 6 pm, at the Lesbian-Queer Centre LeZ.

In the lecture, Maria Vtorushyna explains how desire itself becomes a claim to visibility and recognition in a heteronormative society. Our guest shows how queer bodies perform acts of political will, resist normative patriarchy and colonial oppression and create new futures.

Still from the movie Dubravka 1967. Director Radomir Valisylevskyi, Odesa Film Studio
Still from the movie Dubravka 1967. Director Radomir Valisylevskyi, Odesa Film Studio
Seventh-century icon of Saints Serge and Bacchus, joined by Christ. Originally from the monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now in the collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv.
Seventh-century icon of Saints Serge and Bacchus, joined by Christ. Originally from the monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now in the collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv.

Maria Vtorushyna (they/them) is a curator, researcher and author with a particular interest in concepts of freedom, queer and feminist epistemologies. They conducted research at the Centre for Gender and Diversity at Maastricht University and served as editor-in-chief of the Artslooker magazine.

From 2016 to 2022, they directed Kyiv Art Week as its director, worked at Künstlerhaus Bethanien and in the international department of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Maria Vtorushyna is currently pursuing a PhD at Europa-Universität Viadrina. 

Gender and Body in Ukrainian Art A Queer Perspective
When Sunday, 23 November 2025, 6 pm
Where Lesbisch-Queeres Zentrum LeZ, Müllerstraße 26
Admission free
Organised by: Munich Kyiv Queer, CSD Munich, LeZ, Cultural Department of the City of Munich; event in English

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via https://www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support queer people in Ukraine who are in need or on the run. Why? Because not all LGBTIQ* are organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. This help is direct, fast and free of charge if you choose the option “For friends and family” on PayPal. If you don’t have PayPal, you can alternatively send money to the private account of Conrad Breyer, speaker of Munich Kyiv Queer, IBAN: DE427015000021121454.

All requests from the community are meticulously checked in cooperation with our partner organisations in Ukraine. If they can help themselves, they take over. If the demands for help exceed their (financial and/or material) possibilities, we will step in.

HELP FOR LGBTIQ* ORGANISATIONS To support LGBTIQ* in Ukraine we have helped set up the Alliance Queer Emergency Aid Ukraine, in which around 40 German LGBTIQ* Human Rights organisations are involved. All these groups have access to very different Human Rights organisations in Ukraine and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people. Every donation helps and is used 100 percent to benefit queer people in Ukraine. Donate here

VULNERABLE GROUP And here you can find out why queer people in war need our support.

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/help

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