Queertopia
Hosted by Just Peace Festival & The Grey Space
Queertopia is a conversion machine: no matter what sexual orientation someone enters with, they emerge queer. Because in this imagined parallel reality created by the makers, sexual orientation is a choice.
This immersive experience magnifies the public discourse surrounding love and sexuality. In this alternate world, the LGBTQ+ lobby is thriving, and its “propaganda” has permeated every layer of society. The movement introduces a new method of conversion. As a participant, one has the chance to rediscover themselves by stepping into the conversion machine.
What happens when a world is imagined in which love and attraction are not defined, and love is no longer part of a political agenda? What remains is the realization that our diversity is our strength—that neither ourselves nor others need to be fully understood or categorized. In ambiguity, there is greater freedom.
With this project, creators Luit Bakker and Bart van de Woestijne open up the conversation around emancipation. Together with the audience, they explore new language for love. This personal experience invites participants to reflect on what queerness could mean for them.
In Queertopia, the artistic approaches of Luit Bakker and Bart van de Woestijne come together in a unified vision. Luit’s work seeks to humorously yet confrontationally disrupt traditional gender roles. She is socially critical and explores vulnerability—both her own and that of her audience.
Bart, through his Werkplaats van de Woestijne, transforms existential questions into thought-provoking experiences, challenging people to find their own answers to life’s complex issues. He deconstructs political topics down to their existential core, believing that genuine change begins with deeper self-reflection.
Queertopia is an event that happens during Just Peace Festival.
You can come watch the performance on June the 15th, June the 18th, June the 20th, June the 21st, June the 22nd, June the 25th and June the 26th.
You can get tickets for different time slots:
15.00 17.00
15.45 17.45
16.30 18.30
17.45 19.15
Depending on the day, check our ticketshop to book the ticket you want for the right day on the right time.
Especially for Just Peace Festival, Luit Bakker and Werkplaats van de Woestijne, in collaboration with The Grey Space, present a museum-style version of Queertopia. Step into the conversion machine—and come out queer. Be transported into a parallel world where the LGBTQ+ lobby is at its peak, and where participants are invited to choose who they love and rediscover who they are.
This program is part of The Grey Space’s residency program House Guests in which we facilitate the interaction between a work, the space and the audience. Each House Guest has a week-long mini-residency, culminating in a public event.
This edition of House Guests is supported by the municipality of The Hague and Cultuurfonds, Haagse Bluf Fonds.
This program was also partly financed by Just Peace Festival.
