Last Dance

Queer collectives are fluid, they make their mark and eventually wind down, disappearing from sight or transforming into something new and different, evolving with their makers or burning out in line with energy that is no longer what it once was.

Mothers & Daughters – A Lesbian* and Trans* Bar* invite Belgium-based collectives and organizers, past and present, to reflect on what it is to be in collective, to collaborate, to hold space for community, to share the reasons and motivations for their changes and closures, and to speculate on their desires for what’s next.

Moderated by Olave Nduwanje.

about

Olave Nduwanje was born in Burundi and raised in the diaspora, and is a Black trans woman writer. She was a literary contributor to Zwart- Afro-europese literatuur uit de Lage Landen (2018), De goede immigrant (2020) and Being Imposed Upon (2020). She has also published several times in De Standaard, OneWold Magazine and also the NRC Handelsblad. Her track record as a writer so far has been marked by short-term projects (columns, articles, literary contributions to anthologies, readings, etc.). Her ambition is to break away from this, in the next few years, and move towards two major projects: a play (working title A Bubble of Five) and a novel about dying.

Kevin founded the independent queer feminist bar BLOND in 2017 in the center of Ghent. For seven years, BLOND was a space for drinks, concerts, people’s kitchens, parties, debates and protests. It became a second home to many anti-fascists, queer feminists and anti-racists collectives and individuals in Flanders. In 2020, BLOND became a collective. Kevin left the collective and the project in 2023. The bar closed its doors permanently in 2024. Today Kevin lives in Marseille and continues to be involved in queer events and activism.

Artist, curator, tattoo artist and founder of B.R.A.V.E., Leïla Saïd works at the intersection of the subjects that shaped him, and those that keep him alive. In his transdisciplinary approach, he started exploring tattoo through durational performative installations, captivated by its empowering potential. Reclaiming this practice over nine years as a trans and queer tattooer with French and Kabyle roots, his heart still skips a beat when seeing the spark in his clients’ eyes at the end of a session. Seven years ago, he co-created B.R.A.V.E., born from the need for an art space that reflected his values and identities. For the past two years, B.R.A.V.E. focused on shining a light and channeling energy towards its SWANA queer communities.

LoupKass and Nour Outojane, as the duo His/her/their Stories, created a temporary trans* archiving space in July 2022 at the Mothers & Daughters bar. In 2023, the project transitioned into artistic research exploring how trans* people in Belgium might reclaim Belgian institutional archives through personal archives and the intangible set of ideas, representations, narratives and emotions at their disposal. In 2025, Sopi, Luma·Pola, Flo*Souad and Constant Léon joined them to conclude the project, creating the Caméléon folder and organising an archive boom.

Mothers & Daughters – A Lesbian* and Trans* Bar* is a collective by and for lesbian and trans people in Brussels and beyond, a space for trans-feminist and queer community, creativity, political solidarity and joy.

Ophélie Mac, aka Mac Coco, is a performance artist, ceramist, teacher and Afro-feminist activist. She works between institutions, independence and associations. Following certain observations, in 2019, she initiated the opening of FATSABBATS, a space BY and FOR LGBTQIA+ communities who have been victims of racism, which has evolved since 2021 into a collective format. In parallel to her work as a performer, she is also involved in Rebecca Chaillon's performance CARTE NOIRE NOMMEE DESIR. Today, she links social justice and culture at the crossroads of these various media and forms of expression. She tries to set up mutual aid and alternative learning systems for the communities concerned, working with several other collectives.