Tunnelblick - Exhibition Captions

Video installation at the gallery

Grrrls Chor

A strong, democratic, queer-feminist choir

▷ Video: Grrrls Chor - Canción Sin Miedo (Jost von Harleßem, Larissa Nagel), 2025 - 4:03 Min

▷ More information: Grrrls Chor Infoseite

▷ Original lyrics & video of "Canción sin miedo" von Vivir Quintana (Spanisch)

In 2020, the Grrrls Choir was founded as a new initiative of the Grrrls Kulturverein. Here, committed queer feminists of all musical abilities – from soprano to bass – sing together: in rehearsals, on stage and in theatre productions. From the very beginning, the focus has been on making the choir accessible to all: anyone who can hit the right notes and is committed to singing with us is welcome to join. Every year, up to the capacity limit of 50 people, dedicated singers come together to foster a sense of community, develop their own skills and find the courage to perform.

New arrangements are commissioned annually from young composers. The selection of songs is a democratic process: throughout the year, all singers can suggest suitable songs for the voting pool – at the end of the year, the choir votes on these to choose the songs for the repertoire.

Following a turbulent start-up phase during the pandemic, the choir took to the stage in 2022. A trial concert at Café Wolf, which was packed to the rafters, was followed by the first end-of-summer concert at the inaugural STERRRN Festival 2022 – to great applause. Since then, the choir has performed in numerous concerts and four theatre productions: Summer concerts at STERRRN, sing-alongs, performances at Lendwirbel, the Dramatiker:innenfestival, for the Theater am Lend, on Women’s Day at the Schauspielhaus Graz, at feldstellen, demonstrations, a half-time show at a roller derby, Advent markets, a concert at the Antoniuskirche and an ensemble performance at the Camps Conference make up the choir’s colourful repertoire.

In 2025, the Grrrls Choir recorded its first music video: the song ‘Canción Sin Miedo’ by Vivir Quintana (arranged by Paz Court) is one of the most important pieces in the choir’s repertoire. The song, which addresses the issue of femicide in Mexico through heart-rending harmonies filled with anger and lament, has since become one of the most significant anthems of the global queer-feminist resistance against patriarchal violence. The choir sings the song during voluntary performances at memorial events and demonstrations.

At the choir’s concerts, ‘Canción’ is a must: femicides are, in Austria too, a horrific reality at the very heart of our society. It is our duty to take notice and to raise our voices against them.

Lyrics (excerpt):
“Nothing will silence me anymore! If they attack one of us, we’ll all react’
...
‘I am Claudia, Esther, Teresa, Ingrid, Fabiola, Valeria.
I am the girl you dragged upstairs by force.
I am the mother who weeps for her dead.
And I am the one who will make you pay for this:
Justice! Justice! Justice!’

Grrrls Night Out

A cross-disciplinary series of events with a feminist focus

▷ Video: Grrrls Night Out Vol. XVI (Verena Gross), 2015 - 4:56 Min

▷ More information: Grrrls.at Archive

The history of the Grrrls Kulturverein began with the first Grrrls Night Out on 12 December 2009 at the Forum Stadtpark. This developed into a cross-disciplinary series that, for ten years, brought together feminist perspectives, subcultural music and various forms of artistic expression. A total of 26 editions of Grrrls Night Out took place up to 2023.

Each edition had its own theme, which was explored from various angles. Live music, DJ sets, performances, fashion, styling and interior design intertwined to make Grrrls Night Out a holistic experience. The focus was on feminist themes and the visibility of FINTA* people in art, music and culture.

The series presented regional, national and international acts at events lasting one or more days across numerous venues in Graz and in public spaces, including the Lendwirbel, the annual neighbourhood festival in Graz’s Lend district. Grrrls Night Out was also active beyond Austria’s borders, including at the Slovenian festivals Red Dawns and Tovarna Rog in Ljubljana, as well as at C.M.A.K. in Cerkno and in Idrija.

The combination of various art forms centred on music, feminist themes and specially designed spaces became the series’ hallmark. In this way, Grrrls Night Out created a space for artistic experimentation, exchange and unusual encounters. Not only did it lay the foundations for many further projects by the Grrrls Cultural Association – it also later gave rise to the STERRRN fest/ival, which continues this cross-disciplinary and queer-feminist approach.

STERRRN fest/ival

Even if you don't see them, they are here

▷ Video: STERRRN 2024 festival movie (Luksuz Produkcija & Zavod Škatla), 2024 - 8:07 Min

▷ More information: STERRRN Website

Inspired by the much-discussed gender star, the Grrrls Kulturverein has been organising a multidisciplinary queer-feminist cultural format under the title STERRRN fest/ival since 2022.

STERRRN evolved from the long-running Graz event series ‘Grrrls Night Out’ and sees itself as a special open-air format with a clear cultural-political mission: to create visibility for FINTA* & queer artists, open up spaces and actively question structural inequalities in the cultural sector. In 2022 and 2024, STERRRN took place as a multi-day event in the Austrian Sculpture Park. In 2023, 2025 and 2026, STERRRN will return to Graz city centre as a one-day format.

With music projects, workshops, performative art actions, lectures, discussion rounds and visual forms of expression, STERRRN creates a space for interdisciplinary exchange and collective experience.

STERRRN sees itself not only as a series of events, but as an active intervention in existing power structures in the cultural sector. In a scene where FINTA and queer positions are systematically underrepresented, underpaid or made invisible, STERRRN consciously sets up counter-structures. This is not about a ‘women special,’ but about a concrete redistribution of visibility, resources and space through curatorial practice, fair stages and solidarity-based networking.

Grrrls DJ Crew: Playing music, sharing knowledge, opening up spaces

More FINTA* at the decks

▷ Video: Grrrls DJ Crew Movie (Alina Kozlova), 2023 - 6:52 Min

▷ More information: Grrrls DJ Crew

The Grrrls DJ Crew is a DJ collective founded in 2017 by the Grrrls Kulturverein. It was set up in response to the under-representation of FINTA* people behind the decks and in the line-ups of the club and cultural scene – a situation that persists to this day.

The crew now consists of 15 DJs, each bringing their own musical approaches, experiences and preferences to the table. Their sets are equally diverse: different genres, moods and personal styles come together. You can hear the Grrrls DJ Crew at parties, concerts, festivals and other cultural events; individually, in varying line-ups or together as a collective.

Part of the DJ work carried out by the Grrrls Kulturverein involves passing on knowledge and experience. In regular DJ workshops, women*, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people can learn the basics of DJing, try out different techniques and practise creating their first transitions.

The focus is on empowerment: participants are encouraged to realise that they, too, naturally belong behind the turntables and need not be afraid of mixing desks, cables, controls or other technical equipment. The workshops provide a safe and supportive environment in which questions can be asked, mistakes made and things tried out at one’s own pace – without any pressure to perform and without fear of not knowing something yet or of making a mistake.

Anyone who wants to carry on practising and develop their skills further is welcome to join the DJ Forum. There, you can get answers to any questions you may have, share experiences and play through your own sets at your own pace. Members of the DJ Crew are on hand to offer their expertise and practical tips.

During joint performances, the “Rookies” can finally put what they’ve learnt into practice straight away, gain their first experience in front of an audience and network with other DJs. This paves the way from their first attempts to their very first gig.

In this way, the Grrrls DJ Crew passes on its knowledge, supports new DJs as they take their first steps, and ensures that more and more FINTA* people are becoming visible behind the decks and on the line-ups.

Rrradio - Grrrls On Air

Queer-feministist topics, voices and sounds on Radio Helsinki

▷ Audio: [WIP] (Lilly Jagl)

▷ More information: GRRRLS NIGHT IN on Radio Helsinki

For over five years, the Grrrls Cultural Association has been a regular feature on Radio Helsinki 92.6 MHz, Graz’s independent radio station. Our radio programme combines queer-feminist perspectives, insights into the life of the association and a carefully curated selection of great music – ranging from personal playlists and DJ sets to live concert recordings from our events programme.

Our fortnightly programme, GRRRLS NIGHT IN – Sounds of Feminism, focuses on feminist issues and current developments. We report on what’s happening within the association, announce upcoming events and introduce acts and musicians who are performing with us. We also regularly welcome activists and other key figures from our community as guests.

Depending on the episode, we also address socio-political and cultural policy issues, such as the framework conditions for independent and feminist cultural work or developments in funding policy. In doing so, we draw on our own experiences and highlight what political decisions can mean for associations and the independent scene.

GRRRLS NIGHT IN takes place every second Friday from 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm.

Every second Sunday from 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm, we host GRRRLS NIGHT IN:VITE. For this, we mainly invite local FINTA* DJs from the Grrrls DJ Crew to present their sets. Musicians, activists and other guests also share their favourite songs and specially curated playlists.

GRRRLS NIGHT IN:VITE takes place every second Sunday from 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm.

Since 2022, Radio Helsinki has also been covering the STERRRN fest/ival as the festival’s official radio station. Through live broadcasts, interviews, concerts recorded on site and DJ sets, the festival can also be heard on the radio. The recordings are rebroadcast at a later date. Recordings of other events organised by the Grrrls Kulturverein also feature in the programme.

You can find even more carefully selected music from FINTA* artists on the GRRRLS CLUB. Specially curated playlists bring several hours a week of different genres, moods and musical discoveries to Radio Helsinki – and, in doing so, showcase just how diverse the music of FINTA* artists is.

All episodes are available to listen to free of charge and permanently in the Freier Rundfunk Österreich archive at cba.media.

The Ticker

▷ Alexander Schuc, 2025

A ticker is little more than exactly that – scrolling text. But words shape reality: when new FINTA* DJs perform at events, it’s important to refer to them by name. By displaying the artist’s name on the DJ desk, our acts remain more firmly etched in people’s memories.