Keith Café #2: Keith Haring x Coming Out

This series of four ‘café evenings’, open free-of-charge to the public, will be exploring more deeply the many sides of this iconic artist’s life and works by way of presentations, interviews, films, music and a poetry slam. The Keith Café always takes place at a cultural meeting point somewhere in the city. Admission is free.

Keith Café #2

During the second Keith Café on Thursday 23 June, the central theme will be Keith x Coming out. Our partner for this event is COC Limburg, an organisation which supports LGBT rights.

Programme

Interview 1: Heerlen

The first interview looks at the changing attitudes to ‘coming out’, especially in Heerlen during the 1980s and 1990s. We also look ahead at how the municipality sees the future for the LGBT community.

Performance: Gigi Love

Stanley Schatzinger, AKA Gigi Love, is perhaps one of the most well-known drag queens in Limburg. In 2019, the drag queen from Kerkrade won the title of ‘Queen of the South’ and was at the same time acclaimed as the best drag queen in Limburg. Gigi Love also shares a love for singing and will perform one of her songs during the Café.

Interview 2: Yvo Kesler - Queercare

Barbara Strating will be interviewing Yvo Kesler, the initiator of QueerCare, the help desk of COC Limburg. How has health care for the LGBTIQ community developed over the years?

Performance: Didier Savelkoul

Didier Savelkoul, otherwise known for being model for the “ProuTboys” photo exhibition and for his performances during the 1921 Limburg Pride Show in Heerlen, will be performing a song from his repertoire.

Interview 3: HIV Vereniging

The third and final Café interview will focus attention on HIV issues, with input from the HIV Vereniging, an organisation representing the interests of those who are HIV-positive. In the 1980s, the world was taken unawares by the immuno-deficiency syndrome known as AIDS. What was the situation then and how are we dealing with it now? This alludes directly to the film ‘How to survive a Plague’ which is being screened after the Café in the Royal’s film theatre.

Performance: Gert Joosten

Gert Joosten will conclude the evening by giving a rendition of Mister Blue by René Klein.

Het Belangrijke Genootschap: Puck Füsers

Stichting Borderlines, together with Het Belangrijk Genootschap Met Een Nog Onduidelijke En Steeds Wisselende Maar Immer Literaire Inhoud (HBGMENOESWMILI) will be dishing up Puck Füsers. As part of the Keith Café, she will be explaining how the exhibition has inspired her.
Puck writes poetry about people and sometimes about memes. In addition, her studies in Liberal Arts & Sciences in Maastricht mean that she is involved in such themes as cultural sciences, literature and digital media. In 2021 she won the Write Now! writing competition with a series of poems about growing up in the digital age. She has also performed at literary events, such as Frontaal (in Rotterdam) and the Wintertuinfestival (in Nijmegen). A number of her poems have been published, for example, online at Notulen van het Onzichtbare, and in Een geluk als nieuwe wijn geschonken, a collection of the 100 best poems from the Gedichtenwedstrijd 2019, a national poetry competition.

• Café opens at 7:30 p.m. and starts at 8:00 p.m.
• End of Café: 10:00 p.m.

film

Directly after Keith Café, there will be a screening of ‘How to Survive a Plague’.