In the face of growing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation —including the revival of “gay propaganda” bans and similar laws in parts of the U.S. and Europe —queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming people are once again being vilified for their existence, with politicians and media voices framing our visibility as something dangerous. This workshop reclaims the term “queer propaganda” as a tool of creativity, resistance, and liberation. Propaganda in this context means purposeful visual storytelling, shared to inspire, inform, or agitate.
From underground zines and flyers in decades past to today’s digital and meme cultures, queer people have continually used art, media, and messaging to connect, organize, resist, and celebrate. In this hands-on collage workshop, you’ll become part of that lineage. After a brief presentation on radical queer media and art, we’ll make our own pieces of queer propaganda using collage, a staple of DIY queer publishing and zine culture. You’ll combine text and images from magazines, printed materials, and anything you’d like to bring and share. No experience necessary, just your perspective and your creativity.
You’ll leave with your own handmade artwork and a better understanding of how queer communities have used visual language as a form of personal and political expression.
This program is not suitable for all ages.
Participant Bios:
Holly M. (They/Them) is an artist and educator based in Los Angeles. They work primarily in collage, using found imagery and paper to explore themes of play, magic, and identity.
Alexander Schneider (he/him) is a writer, editor, and arts worker. His project Homocommunist is an archive of radical queer histories, aesthetics, and political and liberatory struggles.
This program is organized by Alexander Schneider / Homocommunist and Holly M. as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025, presented by One Institute.
Giovanni’s Room (est. 2022) is a Hollywood based gallery that fosters and promotes under-recognized and emerging local and international artists, as well as new perspectives on established artists.