How would you describe Queer Asia’s mission statement?

Misha: Queer Asia, as a collective, has a few different aims. First of all, to provide a queer safe space for Asian people and other people of colour. It’s also a space for collaboration and for people to exchange ideas and practical solidarity, building campaigns or even personal coping networks. Queer Asia also seeks to displace the centrality of Europe and the US in discourses of sexuality and LGBTQ+ rights. While Western countries try to portray themselves as super progressive, this is not always the case and we need to build and engage with alternative histories, looking at the way queerness has always existed in other parts of the world, specifically Asia. We aim to decolonise knowledge and activism.

Ragil: We are contributing to an Asian-German queer history, archiving collectives that built the Berlin that we know today. It wouldn’t be the Berlin that we know without these amazing people trying to make a change. Queer Asia gave me a chosen family, friendships, knowledge and opened so many doors. In the early years, we focused a lot on academic work and conferences. We use different approaches to build community-accessible knowledge. We hope that, maybe fifty years from now, people will look back at the work we did, disrupting the narrative of what it means to be Asian-German. Germany is becoming multicultural now, and you can’t deny that. The dominant narrative is of white Germans, but Germany is not a white country. 

For each of you, what have been your proudest achievements with Queer Asia?

Misha: For me, it was directing the Queer Asia film festival together with Scarlett Ng, a PhD student and my friend at the University of Oxford. We had screenings outside London, in Coventry, Brighton, Oxford and other locations outside of the UK. I also hosted a non-academic Zoom round table about queerness in the post-socialist states. The co-founders are proud that we have pioneered a growing awareness of queerness in Asia as a collaborative inter-Asian project, which moves past our own nationalist and regional divides to explore our shared understanding, interdependence and solidarity.

Ragil: I would say all of the things we’ve organised! The film festival is on top of the list because that was when I was able to curate something specifically from Southeast Asia and look at queer films from my region. Southeast Asia and queerness in Germany are underrated. Having that platform together with so many incredible filmmakers and making that happen, it was sold out.

For those just learning about Queer Asia, how can we support the network?

Misha: Institutional funding has always been hard to come by, and unfortunately sometimes comes with rigid conditions. We have had amazing individuals and groups approach us about doing a project under Queer Asia, securing their own funding for that specific event. That seems to work better than us trying to manage everything top-down with funding. We have also had people approach us to volunteer for specific projects and events, or organisations who want to fund us doing something specific. If any readers are interested in a collaboration, they can always get in touch with us through social media or using the contacts on the website.

Ragil: It’s difficult to receive money in Germany if you’re not a registered NGO because of the tax situation. Mostly it’s the support we’ve been getting from grant funding from the Senate and the European Solidarity Corps. We are also open to collaborating and that’s how an audience can support us in sustaining the platform. We’re open to collaborating on new formats, workshops and things like that.

What is Queer Asia working towards right now? 

Misha: There are some projects that are not London-based. Some UK members are involved with the transnational weaving project, a queer weaving project inspired by transnational connections and the AIDS quilt. That’s a project they’re working on and there should be a website soon. Queer Asia is also in the very final stage of opening a chapter in India. There will be a smaller-scale film festival in India this summer or autumn, with some films taken from the London film festival last year. There will be more information on our website shortly.

Ragil: We are working on this ambitious exhibition in Berlin; we’re in the process of getting funding. I’m working with friends, a non-binary filmmaker, the Vietnamese-German funder of a collective of Asian-German activists, and the curation team at the museum. This is something we’re working on in Berlin. I’m organising a performance night in Hamburg because everything else has been in Berlin and a lot of places in Germany do not have the same set of opportunities. It’s a lot of work to curate something like that when you are being met with so many restrictions and bureaucratic language.

Currently reading this fabulous book. @TheQueerAsia pic.twitter.com/uI3GhytXhh

— Senthorun Raj ✨ (@senthorun) December 11, 2022