For queer people, chosen family is crucial for our life and sometimes our own survival. But this kinship can have a multitude of shapes!

For this reason we welcome studio sibling (Timo Tembuyser & Hélène Vrijdag), to host a group conversation about chosen family. Any connection to the theme is welcome! Whether you are a queer parent, a queer child; whether you have a chosen family or lack one; you are someone who centralizes friendships in their lives over romantic relationships; you have a drag family; you are asexual / aromantic; you are trying to raise a child in a polycule; you are curious about the theme — feel free to join our conversation! We’d love to hear your take on what chosen family means to you personally, politically and / or philosophically.

studio sibling (Timo Tembuyser & Hélène Vrijdag) is a music-based performance company based in Rotterdam/Antwerp. They create genre-bending and gender-bending vocal performances in which they rebel against the gendered (vocal) conventions of different music genres. Fueled by queer and feminist theory, their works result in sonic and visual performances that aim to broaden how we actually listen to each other. If you wanna know more: www.studiosibling.nl.

Their new performance is called Why we decided to get a dog — love songs for friendship and survival. This show will be an eccentric collection of serenades to chosen family and non-romantic love. Two chosen siblings dream out loud about a queer future that doesn’t look like settling down. How do you start a family that functions outside of the hetero-infrastructure? What does a love song sound like if it lacks a romantic motif?

For their research on the many aspects of chosen family, they organize interviews and conversations to broaden their own view points and develop the content of the show in relation to others, outside of the rehearsal studio.