Queer.Lab is a five-day workshop dedicated to exploring, researching, devising and testing various artistic and activist strategies related to transcending the boundaries of identity, cultural norms and audience habits.
Here, ‘queer’ will not necessarily be understood as an identity category, but rather as a strategy, motivation and aesthetics for artistic or social actions.
We will begin by attempting to define the contexts that determine the ‘queerness of queer’, within which we will operate. We will examine theatrical performances, films and visual art that may inspire us. Drawing on these sources of inspiration and theoretical tools, we will explore examples of queer strategies in the history and contemporary scene of Ukrainian art.
This workshop is intended for individuals interested in developing their artistic and activist practices, and for those interested in examining discourse and observing cultural change. Both beginners and those with advanced experience of reflecting on queer theory and practice are welcome.
Queer.Lab comprises 20 hours of sessions spread over five days during Sep 3-7, 2026. The schedule features afternoon and evening sessions on weekdays, and early afternoon sessions at the weekend.
The working languages of the laboratory are English and Ukrainian. Conversational proficiency in both languages is required to participate.
The laboratory will be led by theatre historian Joanna Krakowska and director and curator Roza Sarkisian.
Participation in the programme is limited to a selected number of participants. To apply, please complete the registration form in English. The application deadline is August 5, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
Applicants will be notified of the results of the selection process by August 12, 2026.
Joanna Krakowska is a theatre historian, associate professor at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Theatre Academy in Warsaw. Recently published a book on the avant-garde queer performance in New York Odmiencza rewolucja (2020); two volumes of the history of Polish theatre: PRL. Przedstawienia (2016), Demokracja. Przedstawienia (2019) and three volume edition of materials for the women’s history of Polish theatre HyPaTia (2018). The co-editor of the English language anthology (A)pollonia. Twenty First Century Polish Drama and Texts for the Stage (2014) and Platform. East European Performing Arts Companion (2016).
As a member of theatre collective she co-authored two theatre pieces: Kantor Downtown (2015) and Pogarda (Contempt, 2016). Her research interests include queer performance, history of post-war Polish theatre, political and documentary theatre and drama.
She visited Jam Factory in Lviv in December 2025 to give a lecture on “Queer performance in times of hope”.
Roza Sarkisian is an internationally recognized Ukrainian theatre director and curator. She holds degrees in Theatre Directing from the National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky in Kharkiv (2012) and in Political Sociology from V. N. Karazin National University in Kharkiv (2009). From 2014 to 2017, she served as the artistic director of Kharkiv’s independent theatre DeFacto. From 2017 to 2019, she was the chief theatre director at the First Ukrainian Academic Theatre for Children and Youth in Lviv, and from 2019 to 2021, period, also worked at the National Academic Drama and Musical Theatre in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Her notable works include My Grandfather Dug. My Father Dug. But I Won’t (a Ukrainian-Polish co-production, co-directed with Agnieszka Błońska, 2016), The Great Filter Theory (Theatre of Contemporary Dialogue, Poltava, 2017), Psychosis (Actor’s Theatre in Kyiv, 2018), Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Times (First Theatre in Lviv, 2018), and Macbeth (Lesya Ukrainka Academic Drama Theatre in Lviv, 2019).
Additional acclaimed works include H-effect, based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine (a Ukrainian-Polish-German co-production, NGO “Art-Dialog”, 2020), Radio Mariia by Joanna Wichowska and Krysia Bednarek (Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw, 2022), Ship. Bridge. Body (a co-production of the Theatre of Playwrights in Kyiv, Schaubühne Lindenfels in Leipzig, and Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden, 2023), and Fucking Truffaut (Bliadski Circus Queelektyw, a co-production with Reszka Foundation, Dramatic Theatre in Warsaw, and Gorki Theater in Berlin, 2023), Karabakh Memory (Gorki Theater in Berlin, 2025).
In addition to her theatre work, Roza is a current member of Bliadski Circus Queelektyw, a feminist-queer Ukrainian-Polish artistic collective.
Roza has initiated and curated various artistic and educational projects, she was a lecturer at the Social Art Faculty of the University of Warsaw and in the Laboratory of New Theatre Practices at SWPS University in Warsaw.