11 May is International Women’s Archives Day. To mark the occasion, this kick-off event is taking place. The theme is cross-border networking and exchange among feminist movements in Europe: We want to share examples of traces found in archival collections and to present research projects that have begun to connect them. Join us for an afternoon of inspiration and exchange, reflecting together on how archives and researchers can support one another, resulting in new and more sustainable forms of feminist research — academic and non-academic alike.
KvinnSam – Nationellt bibliotek för genusforskning (Göteborg) and FFBIZ – Das feministische Archiv (Berlin) (Web)
Time: 11.05.2026 (Day of Feminist Archives!), 13:00-15:00
Venue: Virtual space – via Göteborg
Registration (Web)
Programme (PDF)
2-hour online session with archival insights, researcher input, and a moderated group discussion. 15 min presentations by:
- Alina Müller, doctoral researcher in history at the Univ. of Basel, researcher in FemMag – Feminist Magazines in Western Europe (Web) together with
- Kassandra Hammel, doctoral researcher in history at the Univ. of Tübingen, coordinator of FemMag
- Rachel Pierce, research coordinator at KvinnSam (Web)
- Lisa Schug, archivist at FFBIZ – the feminist archive (Web)
- Hannah Kaarina Yoken, postdoctoral researcher in history at Univ. of Jyväskylä, responsible for the network Gender and Peace in the Nordics
European feminist movements have long been connected across borders, exchanging ideas, practices and inspirations. The annual women’s camp on the island of Femø, for example, drew participants from many countries and became an important space for exchange within feminist movements. Similarly, the occupation of a women’s house in Copenhagen inspired women in Berlin to start their own women’s centre. Meanwhile, women’s citizen’s schools in Norway and Sweden were founded together and provided inspiration for one another as they grew.
Tracing these transnational connections, however, can be challenging. While some countries, such as Sweden, have more centralized memory institutions like KvinnSam, others like Germany, have more than 30 feminist and lesbian-feminist archives and libraries, including the FFBIZ, that are spread across the country. This diversity holds great potential, but it also makes research more complex. Other difficulties are language and the problems of travel expenses and planning in a world afflicted by a climate crisis and increased competition over research funds.
Both KvinnSam and FFBIZ are convinced that much can be gained from making transnational threads within feminist movements more visible and transnational archives more accessible. In this kickoff event, we want to share examples of such traces found in archival collections and to present research projects that have begun to connect them. Join us for an afternoon of inspiration and exchange, reflecting together on how archives and researchers can support one another, resulting in new and more sustainable forms of feminist research — academic and non-academic alike.
Source: genus-request@listserv.gu.se and Salon 21 (Web)