In Queer Listening Moon Bar, the moon appears as a celestial body of immense cultural, emotional and spiritual value that gets caught in the crosshairs of imperialist visions. As Marjolijn van Heemstra points out, this ancient being is to be broken down into single parts and turned into capital piece by piece. In view of the current age of indifference, Salomé Voegelin suggests using a blurred gaze–one that does not recognise, separate or profit from, but rather listens and connects. She encourages a way of listening in which the listener is becoming-with what is being listened to. A space can therefore be more than the sum of its parts, as is evident in Renée Steffen and Li Tavor’s film set depicting a lesbian bar. In cinematic fiction, a long-awaited, imagined place can be brought to life, providing bodies and space to unlived possibilities, and thereby making other lives possible. Such spaces are constantly subject to attempts to hijack, appropriate and control them, as Gina Dellagiacoma makes clear in her contribution. Yet their utopian power endures and extends beyond the screen–their portrayal is neither real nor fictional, but always both at the same time.

The magazine Release is being showcased as part of the exhibition ‘Valuables’ which is open to the public. At 3 pm, the Hammer Band will be giving a concert on two spinet (free admission).