Conversation: How do we hold on to hope?
In times of rising oppression, division, and unfolding genocides, hope has become a radical act. But queer communities have always found ways to keep the fire burning. In this conversation, artists, community organisers, and queer carers will share how they hold onto hope - not just for themselves, but for the queers around them. How do we build futures when the present is crumbling? And how do we keep each other from falling into despair when the world is trying to break us? Beyond false optimism or toxic positivity, there is the real, messy, collective work of keeping hope alive.
Moderated by Hayfaa Chalabi (she) - an illustrator and educator exploring how illustration can uncover and reframe silenced histories. A senior lecturer and Critical Practice coordinator at the University of the Arts London (UAL), where she challenges the idea of illustration and education as neutral or apolitical, inviting students to question dominant norms in Western visual communication. Her current research focuses on illustrating post-Baathist hauntologies as a form of history writing to cultivate hope rooted in Iraqi fiction.
In conversation with:
Khalda El Jack (she) - Khalda El Jack, an organiser at The Sudan Solidarity Network (SSN) and urban researcher at the International Center for Urbanism, works with communities on the intersections of displacement, resistance, and spatial knowledge through collective mapping and writing. SSN is a platform for the Sudanese diaspora in Belgium, uniting activists and individuals mobilising around the ongoing war in Sudan. Rooted in the 2019 revolution’s calls for freedom, peace, and justice, SSN organises actions, events, and spaces for cross-struggle solidarity.
Juliette (she) - an artist exploring relationships between humans, non-humans, and land through writing, collage, and domestic arts. Using tools like herbalism, foraging, and earth pigments, they reclaim art-making as a practice rooted in connection and resistance. Through their project Kin Hands, Juliette builds community by centering land - its heritage, emotions, and sensorial knowledge. Her workshops nurture joyful, inherited, and collective knowledge in opposition to hierarchies, expertise, and extractivism.
Rawan Kahwaji (she) - is an unapologetic nerd about justice, care, and systems change. With a background in social sciences and a passion for shifting power, she works at the often messy intersection of policy, practice, and lived experience. Currently a program officer at a philanthropic fund, Rawan supports grassroots organising and community-led research toward a more just world.
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Capacity: 40 people
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Registrations through the Paylogic platform, after getting your ticket.
