On November 7th, 2025, Gender Bender Festival will host Queering the Museum, a day of reflection, training, and exchange on the involvement of queer communities in museums and cultural organizations, which will take place between the Sala Farnese of Palazzo d’Accursio and the Medieval Civic Museum of Bologna.

The event is supported by ICOM Italia and is the result of a collaboration between BAM! Strategie Culturali, the European network NEMO – Network of European Museum Organizations, the ICOM Italia Working Group on Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights, and the Civic Museums Sector of the Municipality of Bologna.

This day aims to provide tools and methodologies to facilitate dialogue between museum institutions and LGBTQIA+ communities, questioning the traditional mechanisms that underpin this relationship. At the same time, it aims to offer practical ideas for integrating a queer perspective into museum design and heritage enhancement, promoting participatory approaches and strategies that are useful for dealing with complex scenarios.

The initiative will host national and international professionals who are experts on gender and LGBTQIA+ rights issues related to museums and cultural heritage. They will share practical tools, guidelines, and methods to help those working in the cultural sector develop projects that are more open to the participation of LGBTQIA+ communities and other identity groups that are still underrepresented in cultural venues.

The program is aimed at professionals in the museum and cultural sector, students and scholars in the fields of heritage and gender studies, local LGBTQIA+ associations, but also queer people who want to approach the cultural world from a new perspective.

For more information, write to qtm@bamstrategieculturali.com.