About us

Lesbian Feminist University (LFU) is an initiative set up in March 2010 as an autonomous space of educational, theoretic and artistic practices and actions for lesbians and women interested in lesbian feminism, antifascism and anticapitalism. The name “University” is meant to be ironic, as study methods are based on the principles of self-organization, autonomy, active participation and democratic decision-making of all the participants.

LFU meetings take place at club Tiffany (ŠKUC – Cultural centre Q) at AKC (Autonomous Cultural Centre) Metelkova. We believe in the inalienable right to women-only spaces and wish to provide a safe and, above all, free environment for women and the development of the participants’ own thoughts. Thus, LFU meetings are open exclusively to women.

Blog posts are written by LFU members, making the media space open for a variety of opinions and the expressive power of each and every one of us.

Contact us by e-mail: lezfemuniverza(at)gmail.com, you can also find us on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

LFU in media:

–  Reports, contributions and announcements of LFU events, Radio Show Sektor Ž – “Show for feminist society, culture and politics«, Radio Student, from May 2012 on.

– Short presentation of LFU, Slovenian version of Wikipedia.

– Feminist and queer festival Red Dawns: round table “Platform for gender cultural practices“, 13.10.2013, Menza pri koritu.

–  About LFU, Tribuna – thematic edition Overlooked genders, February 2011

–  Interview with one of the LFU organizers,  Radio Student, 22. April 2010

– Interview with two authors of LFU blog, Grassroot feminism, Autumn 2010

– Presentation of LFU blog, L-talk, July 2011

– Article about queer&feminist scene in Ljubljana, Von rot nach Pinklila, Jungle World, September 2011.

Publications of LFU:

– LFU leaflet Lesbian-feminist university, March 2013.

– Oblak, T (ur.). Lesbian, feminist and women studies. Bibliography of books, thematic journals and catalogues in Slovene (only in Slovene). Ljubljana: Lesbian-feminist university and ŠKUC Association, 2011.

Activities in year 2015:

Public statements:
– Statement of solidarity with lesbians at Belgrade, October 2015
– Support of Antirasist march, September 2015

Study reading group and debates:
– Study reading group at Social centre Rog: Women as protagonists of migrations (Sanja Cukut Krilić: Spol in migracija – Izkušnje žensk kot akterk migracij, poglavja Spol in migracija v različnih tipologijah migracij, str. 43-68, in Tematizacija žensk kot migrantk, str. 76-81; ZRC SAZU, 2009), October 2015
– Cycle on feminist, lesbian and queer pornography II. (Cherry Smyth: The Pleasure Threshold: Looking at Lesbian Pornography on Film), June 2015
– Study reading group ast Social centre Rog: Feminist analyses of precariousness, May and June 2015
– Cycle on feminist, lesbian and queer pornography I. (Sara Dunn: Voyages of the Valkyries: Recent Lesbian Pornographic Writing, 1990;  in Wickie Stamps: Against the Grain, p. 281-284, iz Best of the Best Lesbian Erotica, 2000), May 2015
– Study reading group ast Social centre Rog: Lilijana Burcar (Izkrivljanje in degradacija samoupravnega socializma v imenu liberalnega feminizma in novodobnega »antifa«”/ Distortion and degradation of self-management socialism by liberal feminism and new-age antifa/; in journal Borec (n.706-708, LXVI/2014), April 2015
– Study reading group ast Social centre Rog: Silvia Federici III. (Introduction, 2011, p. 5-12; On elder care work and the limits of Marxism, 2009, p. 115-125; in Revolution at point zero: housework, reproduction and feminist struggle, 2012), March 2015
– Adrienne Rich: On lies, secrets and silence II. (essays Lesbian in us is the one who…1976, p. 187-190, Work conditions: communal world of women, 1976, p. 191-202, We have to spread our love of women , 1977, p. 211-217; in On lies, secrets and silence, 2003), February 2015
– Study reading group at Social centre Rog: Silvia Federici II. (Feminism and the politics of the common in an era of primitive accumulation, 2010; iz Revolution at point zero: housework, reproduction and feminist struggle, 2012. 138-148), February 2015
– Adrienne Rich: On lies, secrets and silence I. (essays Introduction, p. 5-23, Antifeminist, 1972, 63-76; Maternity, 1987, 245-257; out of book On lies, secrets and silence, 2003), February 2015
– Literary theory through science fiction viewpoint  III. – cyberpunk (Storm Constantine: Immaculate, 1991), February 2015
– Study reading group at Social centre Rog: Silvia Federici I. (Reproduction and feminist struggle in the new international division of labour, 1999; iz Revolution at point zero: housework, reproduction and feminist struggle, 2012. p. 65-75), January 2015

Workshops:
– Ironical drag workshop “Female2Male”, October 2015
– Ada Lovelace Day 2015: workshop “Privacy in the time of control”, October 2015
– Trash workshop of stickings, wipepings and collages, April 2015
– Workshop of cleaning and repairing the bicycles, May 2015

Lesbian cinema club and debates:
– 22th anniversary of ACC Metelkova: Lesbian factory (2010), September 2015

Literary evenings:
– Literary-musical evening “Tove&Tooti: Fair play”, January 2015

Music listenings:
– Laurie Anderson (experimental music), USA, February 2015
– Big Mama Thornton (blues), USA, May 2015

Collaborations:
– 10. Festival of lesbian identities LIFT: workshop “Lesbian trassshhh group writing” and projection of the short movie “LFU in action”, Budapest, Hungary, November 2015
– Projection of the movie “LFU in action” during the lecture by Tea Hvala “Feminismen in Slowenien”, Festival Q., Halle, Germany, October 2015
– Social centre Rog: study reading groups, January 2015 – October 2015
– 22. Anniversary of ACC MEtelkova (club Tiffany etc. insie Metelkova), September 2015
– Tribuna/3buna: thematic edition of (chauvinism) ŠOUvinizem, May 2015

Actions:
– in collaborations with other feminist groups: May and June 2015

Activities in year 2014:

Public statements:
– Against criminalisation of Insurgent social workers, October 2014
– In Solidarity with Spanish Women! for the abortion rights, January 2014

Study reading clubs:
– Cicle of Virginia Woolf – III. part (Virginia Woolf: “Three guineas”, 1938), October 2014
– Cicle of Virginia Woolf – II. part (Diaries´s selection/Virginia Woolf/: “Moments to see”, 2012), October 2014
– Cicle of Virginia Woolf – I. part (Virginia Woolf: “A Room of One’s Own”, 1929), September 2014
– Cicle of Simone de Beauvoir – III. part (Simone de Beauvoir: “The Second Sex”, 1949), March 2014
– Cicle of Simone de Beauvoir – II. part (Simone de Beauvoir: “The Second Sex”, 1949), February 2014

Reading club Anonymous readers (in collaboration with SKUC-Cultural centre Q):
– My name is Rigoberta Menchu and this is how my Conscience was Born (2012, *cf), February 2014

Workshops:
– Group trash writing – Feminist flyers, messages and slogans, October 2014
– Ada Lovelace Day 2014: Feminist and lesbian computer games, October 2014
– Group trash writing – Feminist anthem and slogans – May 2014
– Cicle Lesbian health I, II, III, January – May 2014
– Workshop of fixing and cleaning of the bicycles – May 2014

Lesbian cinema club and debates:
– Flaming Ears (1991), September 2014
– Status quo? Unfinished work of feminism in Canada (2012), May 2014
– The Killing of Sister George (1968), January 2014

Group music listening:
– Kathy Fire (folk), USA, October 2014
– Sookee (rap, hip hop), Germany, October 2014
– Menstruadora (rap), Mexico, September 2014
– Flying lesbians (rock, blues, off-beat), Germany, May 2014
– Team Dresch (lesbian punk, riot grrrl, queercore), USA, April 2014
– Carolina Brauckmann (lesbian chansons), Germany, January 2014
– Chavela Vargas (Mexican canzona), Mexico, February 2014

Protests:
– Protest against sexism, May 2014
– Protest against Spanish abortion law, February 2014

Collaborations and meetings:
– Ada Lovelace Day 2014, LFU together with ČIPKE, Ljubljana, October 2014
– 21st Anniversary of Metelkova mesto, Ljubljana, September 2014
– International meeting of activists from Berlin – Potsdam – Ljubljana, Safer spacef for women, lesbians and trans, Potsdam, May 2014
– 15. International Feminist and Queer Festival Red Dawns 2014, Ljubljana, March 2014

Activities in year 2013:

Public statements:

– Against demolishing heterosexism, sovinism and misogyny at people´s risings, March 2013.
– Statement against catastrophic journalistic reporting on LFU at All-peoples-rising 21.12.2012, December 2013.

Study reading clubs:

– Cicle of Simone de Beauvoir (Simone de Beauvoir: “The Second Sex”, 1949), December 2013.
– Self-defense for women and lesbians, November 2013.
– Postcolonial studies I: Lesbians in Arab world.  (Amer, S.:  Medieval Arab lesbians and lesbian-like women. Journal of the history of sexuality, 2009; 18(2):215-236; Nadine M., Meem. Arab queer Women and transgenders confronting diverse religious fundamentalisms:  the case of Meem in Lebanon. Awid: Women´s rights;  Al Ghafari, I.  Is there a lesbian identity in the Arab Culture? Al-Raida, 2002/2003: 2o(9)).
– Lesbian utopias I. SCUM Manifesto (Solanas V.: SCUM Manifesto, New York: Olympia Press, 1968), May 2013.
– Feminism and linguistics IV. – Feministična literarna veda, njena zgodovina in druge izbrane zagate (Moi, T.: »I am not a woman writer; about women, literature and feminist theory today«, Eurozine, 2009), April 2013.
– Feminist brainstorming, exchange and listenings, January 2013.

Actions:

– Street action on March 8th 2013.

Reading club Anonymous readers (in collaboration with SKUC-Cultural centre Q):

– Helen Zahavi: Dirty weekend (1966/2013, ŠKUC), September 2013.
– George Egerton:  Keynotes (1893, archives.org), February 2013.

Workshops:

– Workshop of cross-dressing and photography – “Masculinity” (Judith Jack Halberstam: Female masculinity, 1998), December 2013.
– Group trash writing: »LGBTIQ mythological stories«, December 2013.
– Workshop of video montage: “Let´s make a documentary movie – Trial&Error,” November 2013.
– Workshop “WordPress without web”, October 2013.
– Group trash writing: “One-night and eternal loves at Metelkova City”, September 2013.
– Group trash writing: »Dancing songs, lullabies, toasts, marches, reveilles«, June 2013.
– Workshop »Sexism among us«, Balkan anarchist bookfair 2013, May 2013.
– Cicle DIY: workshop on  cleansing, filling up, screwing and oiling of bicycles, April 2013.
– Workshop »Women, crisis and (radical) social work”, cooperation with Insurrected social workers, »HUB Meeting 2013«, April 2013.
– Group trash writing FEMANIFIST, February 2013.
– Group trash writing WOMANIFIST, February 2013.

Lesbian cinema club and debates:

– Short movies Doris (2009), Swedish independent filmmakers web Doris film, December 2013.
– The Aggressives (2005), November 2013.
– Outcast (2011), October 2013.
– Dirty weekend (1993), October 2013.
– A question of silence (1982), April 2013.

Group music listening:

– Sotiria Bellou (rembetiko, Greek folk music), June 2013.
– Claire Waldoff (cabaret), January 2013.

Protests:

– People´s risings in Maribor, November 2013.

– 2.-5. Peoples´risings, Januar – April 2013.

Collaborations:

– Group trash writing workshop »One-night and eternal loves at Metelkova«, 20th Anniversary of Metelkova City, September 2013.
– Workshop »Sexism between us«, Balkan Anarchist Fair 2013, May 2013.
– Workshop »Women, crisis and (radical) social work«, collaboration with Insurrected social workers, HUB Meeting 2013, April 2013.

Activities in 2012:

Study reading club:
– Cicle: Feminism and linguistics – Feminist translation studies II (von Flotow, L: Feminism in Translation: the Canadian Factor (V Quaderns. Revista de traducció 13 (1)),December 2012.
– Cicle: Feminism and linguistics – Feminist translation studies  I. (Chamberlain, L: Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation (v Rethinking Translation: Discourse, Subjectivity, Ideology, ur. Lawrence Venuti, 57–74. London, New York: Routledge), November 2012.
– Idealised female media images (Collins, L: Pixel Perfect; James, R. Mainstream Feminism’s Demand for Realism: On “Fotoshop by Adobé,” aesthetics, and posthuman feminism), June 2012.
– Cicle: Lesbian communities in time and space – Berlin in years of 1920-1930 (Tamagne, F. History of homosexuality in Europe: The female scene; Berlin´s Lesbische Frauen; The lost bars of Weimar Berlin), June 2012.
– Cicle: Lesbian communities in time and space – Lesbian Harlem Renaissance (Faderman, L. Odd girls and twilight lovers: White slumming in Harlem; Watson, S. The Harlem Renaissance), May 2012.
– Cicle: Lesbian communities in time and space – Women of the left bank II. (Benstock, S. Ženske z levega brega. Lj: ŠKUC, 2004), May 2012.
– Cicle: Lesbian communities in time and space – Women of the left bank I. (Benstock, S. Ženske z levega brega. Lj: ŠKUC, 2004), April 2012.
– Invisible work (Hrženjak, M. Invisible work. Lj: Mirovni inštitut, 2007), March 2012.
– Lesbian sex/uality (Califia, P. Sapfin dotik. Lj: ŠKUC, 2005), January 2012.

Actions:
– Free Pussy Riot! Action in the front of Russian Embassy in Ljubljana, June 2012.
– street action, March 2012.

Reading club Anonymous readers (in collaboration with SKUC-Cultural centre Q):
– Alice Munro: Sovraži me, rad me ima, dvori mi, ljubezen da, mož in žena sva (Maribor: Litera, 2010), October 2012.
– Mariama Ba: Dolgo dolgo pismo. (Ljubljana : Založba /*cf., 2004), June 2012.
– Stanislava Chrobakova Repar: Slovenka na kvadrat (Ljubljana: KUD Apokalipsa, 2009), May 2012.
– Taja Kramberger: Z roba klifa (Ljubljana: Aleph, 2012), February 2012.

Lectures:
– Tanja Škander: Predstavitev berlinske organizacije LesMigras in pogovor o lezbičnih, biseks, queer in trans migrantkah/ih, september 2012.
– Alenka Spacal, PhD: Performance of Zvonka T. Simčič, Doulas “ad utero, ab ovo”, during 40th anniversary of SKUC Association, March 2012.

Literature readings:
– Teja Oblak: »Kadetke, tovornjakarice in tete«, book presentation (Ljubljana: ŠKUC Lambda, 2012), October 2012.
– »Lesbian trash«, presentation of stories from the workshops of group trash writing, September 2012, 19. Anniversary of  ACC Metelkova.

Workshops:
– Cicle: Feminism and linguistics II. – On male-female discurs in Slovene language, December 2012.
– Digital feminist intervention II: open-code programme Gimp for manipulation of photos and jumbo ads, December 2012.
– Digital feminist intervention I: open-code programme Gimp for manipulation of photos and jumbo ads, December 2012.
– Rejecting violence of financial capitalism, October 2012.
– Group trash writing: fairy tales , during 40th Anniversary of  SKUC Association, September 2012.
– Utopian lesbian places, during 40th Anniversary of  SKUC Association, September 2012.
– Free Pussy Riot! Making balaclavas and posters for upcoming demonstration, July 2nd 2012.
– LGBTQ and precarioussness, during Blockuppy MDDSZ, Ocuppy movement/99%, June 29th 2012.
– Idealised female media images, June 2012.
– Uniting with the Occupy movement in absolute rejection of reasons for economy! 19.3.2012, April 2012.

Lesbian cinema club and debates:
– Krč (1979, SR Slovenija), November 2012.
– Idealised female media images II: Miss Representation (2011, USA), July 2012.
– Rojene v plamenih (1983, USA), February 2012.
– Vsakič, ko se razidemo (1994, Croatia), March 2012.

Group music listening:
– Teneia Sanders (folk/blues), June 2012.
– Marlene Dietrich (cabaret), June 2012.
– Bessie Smith (blues), May 2012.
– Ethel Mary Smyth (classical music), May 2012.
– Edith Piaf (chanson), April 2012.
– Heather Peace (pop/rock, folk), January 2012.

Demonstrations:
– People´s insurrection (PreZaposlene in PodPlačane), Ljubljana, 21.12.2012
– Demonstrations against goverment, Ljubljana, 3.12.2012.
– Demonstrations against austerity measures, Ljubljana, 30.11.2012.
– Free Pussy Riot! Demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy in Ljubljana, July 3rd 2012.
– Anniversary of the Ljubljana Occupy movement, January 2012.
– We absolutely reject!, Occupy movement/99%, April 2012.
– Against ACTA, February 2012.

Collaborations:
– presentation of LGBTQ vocabulary, Ada Lovelace Day, October 2012, Kiberpipa.
– workshop Group trash writing: fairy tales, during 40th Anniversary of SKUC Association, September 2012.
– Literary reading Lesbian trash – short stories from the group trash writing, during 19th Anniversary of ACC Metelkova, Ljubljana, September 2012.
– Free Pussy Riot! Demonstration and benefit concert, with the festival Red dawns and festival City of women, July 2nd and 3rd 2012.
– Blockuppy MDDSZ, June 2012.
– lecture of Alenka Spacal, PhD, about the feminist performance »Ad utero, ab ovo«,  40th anniversary of SKUC Association, April 2012.

Group outings and post-event analysis:
– exhibition Mirror of time, 18. International festival City of women, October 2012,
– public discussion Feminism, education and art, Modern gallery, 18. International festival City of Women, October 2012.
– exhibition of Alenka Sottler – Good day, Alkatraz Gallery, April 2012.
– review exhibition of Metka Krašovec, Modern Gallery, April 2012.
– 13th Feminist and queer festival Red dawns March 2012.
– public guidance through the exhibition Slovene women during the modern era, The National Museum of Contemporary History, February 2012.
– public guidance through the exhibition of Tinca Stegovec –Grafics and drawings of the MGLC collection, International Center for Graphic Arts, January 2012.

Activities in 2011

Study reading club:

– Feminism and anticapitalism (J. K. Gibson-Graham, J. Cameron: Feminizing the economy: metaphors, strategies, politics. Community economies collective; Gender, Place & Culture 10(2), 145-157); October 2011.
– Feminism and capitalism (Lilijana Burcar: Post-feminizmi v službi neoliberalnega ´humanizma´: obstranjevanje kritične refleksije in delegitimacija družbeno-političnega boja. ProFemina, ur. Petrović J., Arsenijević D., 2011); September 2011.
– Lesbians and anticapitalism (Alan Sears: Queer anti-capitalism: What´s left of gay and lesbian liberation? Science & Society, 2005, 69(1): 92–112); September 2011.
– Economical-social status of women (Lilijana Burcar: Od socialistične k (neoliberalni) kapitalistični družbenoekonomski ureditvi: redefinicija državljanstva žensk. Revija Borec, Horizonti zgodovine,  657-661, 2009), April, May 2011.
– Lesbian history, biography of lesbians (Lilian Faderman: Who hid lesbian history, Frances Doughty: Lesbian biography, biography of lesbians. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, Lesbian History, 1979), March 2011.
– Femme lesbians (Joan Nestle: The fem question. Gay liberation and lesbian feminism, 1982, str. 542-548); February 2011.
– Butch-femme (Joan Nestle: Butch-fem relationships. Sexual courage in the 1950s); February 2011.
– Feminist zines (M. L. Fraser: Zine and Heard: Fringe Feminism and the Zines of the Third Wave; Angela Richardson: Come on, Join the Conversation! Zines as a Medium for Feminist Dialogue and Community Building); January 2011.

Workshops and debate groups:
– Technics of domination, September 2011.
– Women´s images in print media, June 2011.
– Sexism, May 2011.
– Femmale-to-Femme 2, drag, design, photography and self-discovery, March 2011.
– Femmale-to-Femme 1, drag, design, photography and self-discovery, February 2011.

Feminist collaborations:
– LFU – We publicize!, presentation of publications of LFU and SKUC-Cultural centre Q, + Heavenly brain sparks, collaborations with 12.festival Red Dawns, KUD Apokalipsa and SKUC-Cultural centre Q, Ljubljana, March 2011.

Reading club Anonymous readers (in collaboration with SKUC-Cultural centre Q):
– Dubravka Ugrešić: Štefica Cvek v krempljih življenja; novel; October 2011.
– Barbara Korun: Pridem takoj; poems; July 2011.
– Milena Mohorič: Zgodbe iz tridesetih let; short stories; May 2011.
– Mihaela Hojnik: Maločudnice; short stories; April 2011.

Group music listening:
– Pia Beck, jazz, October 2011.
– Pauline Oliveros, experimental instrumental music, October 2011.
– Gaye Adegbalola, blues, September 2011.

Exchange platform:
– first-time, 14. September 2011.

Debates:
– Femininity and lesbians, 1. anniversary of LFU +  Women party, May 2011.

Exhibitions:
– Katarina Hršak: Femmale-to-Femme, photography, May 2011.

Lesbian cinema club and discussions:
– In focus: Su Friedrich – Skrivalnice, July 2011.
– In focus: Su Friedrich – Lezbične maščevalke požirajo tudi ogenj, June 2011.
– In focus: Su Friedrich – Preklete, če ne, May 2011.
– Lesbian history and documentary movie, March 2011.
– In focus: Maria Beatty – Prevezana, February 2011.
– In focus: Maria Beatty – Črna rokavica, Svileni rokavi, February 2011.
– Mute film in correlation with race and lesbianism – Mejna črta, February 2011.
– Mute film in correlation with race and lesbianism – Čarovnija na Floridi, February 2011.
– documentary Levičarji: Angry Wymyn, January 2011.

Group outings:

– poems-prose marathon Womens´ stage, 17. festival City of women, Trubar`s house of literature, October 2011.
– literary reading with translators Simona Škrabec and Špela Bibič, Maria Merce Marcal: »Pasijon po Renée Vivien«, Renée Vivien: »Prikazala se mi je ženska«, SKUC-Cultural centre Q (club Tiffany), October 2011.
–  debate Delavke med svobodo, izbiro in revščino, 17. festival City of Women, SKUC Galery, October 2011.
– presentation of anthology Rdečke razsajajo! + benefit party for festival Rdeče zore, SKUC-Cultural center Q(club Tiffany), September 2011.
– literary reading with the writer Vesna Lemaić about the novel Dumping ground, SKUC-Cultural center Q (club Tiffany), March 2011.
– exhibition Womens`s worlds: Stories, City museum, January 2011.
– exhibition Legendary Lee Miller, Jakopič Gallery, January 2011.

Web: 
– monthly news and other contributions, e-list
– web library (being made).

Activities in 2010

Study and reading club:
– Radical lesbian feminism I and II (Monique Wittig: Essays)
– Radical lesbian feminism III (Mary Daly: Beyond God the Father)
– The lesbian body (Barbara Creed: Tribades, Tomboys and Tarts)
– Lesbians in film: lesbian vampires (Bonnie Zimmerman: Lesbian Vampires)
– Lesbians studying culture I, II and III (Tamsin Wilton: Lesbians Studying Culture)
– Lesbian chic I and II (Laura Cottingham: Lesbians are so Chic…That We Are Not Really Lesbians at All)
– Feminist writing (Ursula K. Le Guin: Commencement Address at Bryn Mawr University)

Feminist collaborations:
– KUD Apokalipsa and the collective of Apokalipsa – Gender magazine (editor Stanislava Chrobakowa Repar)

Movie screenings and debates:
– documentary Judith Butler (2006)
– Daughters of Darkness (1971)

Group outings:
– exhibition Rdeča: Barva spola v videoizsekih (Red: The Colour of Gender in Video Clips), Galerija Photon
– exhibition Feministična umetnost v Sloveniji (Feminist Art in Slovenia), Galerija P74
– exhibition Črna gora v magičnem pogledu princese Ksenije (Montenegro in the Magic Eye of Princess Xenia), Galerija Fotografija
– roundtable Belo črnilo: post/feminizmi, teorije družbenega spola in književnost (White Ink: Post/feminisms, Gender Theories and Literature), 7th International Revija v reviji Festival (Škocjan, 2010)
– theatre play Misterij žene (The Mystery of a Woman), Galerija ŠKUC

Web:
– monthly news and other writings on LFU blog, e-list
– Scribd virtual bookshelf (until January 2011)

Between March and November 2010, LFU activities took place at the lesbian club Monokel, before we moved to club Tiffany in December.