about GQTTF
Girls and Queers to the Front was founded in 2015 in Warsaw, Poland, by Aleksandra Kamińska and Agata Barbara Wnuk. What started as a series of Riot Grrrl-inspired events quickly grew into a feminist-queer initiative focused on creating space for women and queer authors, artists, and musicians.
​
GQTTF organizes gigs, workshops, performances, readings, and panel discussions, curates exhibitions, plays DJ sets, runs a monthly radio show at Radio KapitaÅ‚, and – together with Magdalena Rzepecka – publishes zines. In 2021, joined by Maria Halber, GQTTF became the first queer press in Poland.
We prioritize community and the joy of creating, value anticapitalist approaches and DIY practices. By connecting our activist background with self-taught editorial and artistic practices, we look for new ways of uplifting gender and sexual minorities while re-imagining dominant modes of production.
_JPG.jpg)
.jpeg)
So far, we've published over twenty zines and books. We usually release three publications per year: one zine and two books. ​​​Our zines, which started as short publications made during workshops, are now 150-200 pages-long bilingual anthologies of feminist and queer writing and art. To celebrate ten years of GQTTF, you can now download our zines for free!
​
Shifting our focus to publishing, we've released seven books since 2021, working with, among others, Anouk Herman, Adu RÄ…czka, Maja Demska, and Eileen Myles. We're incredibly proud that GQTTF functions as the first queer press in Poland. You can read more about our press here.
Our initiative started with our shared passion for girls in music. We wanted to see more women active in Warsaw’s music scene, support debuts, and book inspiring artists when Poland lacked such initiatives. Despite growing into a multidisciplinary platform, we still ensure that gigs (and the punk ethos!) are present in our practices. So far, we've organized or participated in over a hundred events, including gigs, DJ sets, readings, and panel discussions. Most of our events connect music with performance art.
Among musicians who performed at GQTTF events are: deadly firend, Di Libe brent wi a nase Szmate, Dmitrievna (CZ), Dubais (USA), ELSABRAVA (AR), Giungla (IT), Lavia Hart, Liza Dries (DE), Natalia Fiedorczuk, NAOMS, Order of the Rainbow Girls, Pascale Project (CA), The Pau, Razor Cunts (DE), Rosa Vertov, Satin de Compostela, SIKSA, Simona Fyda, Sonia WÄ…sowska, stud1nt (USA), SVET (UA), Xarah Dion (CA). In 2019, together with Trzy Szóstki, we've curated a playlist showcasing Polish women independent musicians, which you can find here.
​
As DJs, we played at the International Film Festival Nowe Horyzonty (Wrocław), on the opening night of Her Docs festival (Warszawa), and at various parties for feminist initiatives. ​​
​After almost a decade of experience, we remain a fully independent DIY initiative but have cooperated with different institutions, including Teatr Komuna/Warszawa, Ujazdowski Castle Center For Contemporary Art, Jasna 10, Unsound, and Amnesty International.
Our zines and zine workshops were part of events and art shows at selected galleries, including Turnus na Wolskiej (Warszawa), Galeria Labirynt (Lublin), Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Hamburg), Galeria ArsenaÅ‚ (BiaÅ‚ystok), Fundacja NoÅ›na (Kraków), BWA WrocÅ‚aw, and others. In 2023, as a part of FRINGE Warsaw, we curated the exhibition The Reading Room at Jasna 10.
Our publications are included in the collections of Barnard Zine Library (NY) and the New York Public Library. GQTTF participated in numerous book and zine fairs, including Drukuj! Zine Fair, Warsaw Independent Book Fair, and NY Queer Zine Fair. We regularly organize workshops and give talks, including at the Athens Art Book Fair, City University of New York, Jasna 10, and Off Festival.
​
GQTTF was supported by The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (2024 residency), the City of Warsaw artistic scholarships programme, and KPO. ​
.jpg)
.jpg)
​GQTTF is currently run in collaboration by Agata Barbara Wnuk, Aleksandra Kamińska, and Maria Halber. We cooperate closely with Magdalena Rzepecka, Katarzyna Szenajch, and numerous friends.
​
Agata Barbara Wnuk is a yoga teacher and a DJ. ​
​
Aleksandra Kamińska is a scholar, zinester, and editor. She holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies and works at the University of Warsaw, where she's a member of the Gender/Sexuality Research Group. Her work has been published in Krytyka Polityczna, The Anarchist Review of Books, and The Rumpus. She plays bass in a post-punk band NANA.
​
Maria Halber is a poet, editor, and author of the poetry book Przejścia (SDK, 2020) and the novel Strużki (Cyranka, 2023), for which she received the Conrad Award in 2024. Her work has been published in Dwutygodnik, Mały Format, Wizje, and Magazyn Pismo.
​​
​Magdalena Rzepecka is an illustrator, comic book artist, graphic designer, and a fan of manga and pop culture. She designs all GQTTF zines.
​
Katarzyna Szenajch is a photographer, musician, and DJ who provides guidance and assists with GQTTF's day-to-day operations.
​
Meg Krajewska recently joined our small press as a designer. She also works at queer DUMA magazine and is the author of the book Nikt nie rodzi siÄ™ hetero [No one is born straight].
We are consistently supported by Olga Korytowska, who helps with the planning and distribution of our publications.
We’re also incredibly grateful to designers we've worked with in the past (including Maja Demska), our proofreader Marta Kolbuszewska, zine translators (including Monika Zaleska, who has been translating GQTTF zines since 2019), our intern Apollin Sigrist, and all volunteers. Without them, our zines and events would look completely different.
​​
We aim to keep the GQTTF structure horizontal, make decisions collectively, and be mindful of each other's resources. We work at GQTTF in addition to our day jobs.
