artists one & two PC Nadine Freisleben_TO BE APPROVED BY KATIEBerlin, prepare for a radical reimagining of family! The eagerly awaited Queer Family Album: Volume 2 is set to take over Sophiensæle this December, and it’s an open invitation to all. This event calls on our trans, BIPoC, neurodivergent, disabled, introverted, refugee, elder, migrant, unconventional, outcast relatives and chosen families; everyone is warmly welcomed.
When: 5th & 6th December 2025 | Doors Open: 19:30 | Program: 20:00 – 22:00
Where: Sophiensæle, Sophienstr. 18, 10178 Berlin Website
@queerfamilyalbum / @sophiensaele
Dieter hartwig QFA v 1 teamQueer Family Album is an ever-evolving interdisciplinary performance series curated by Katie Lee Dunbar. It assembles a diverse collective of queer artists to explore queer futures through performance, storytelling, and collaborative practices.
Volume 2 showcases collaborations from artists Juliana Piquero, Dylan Spencer-Davidson, and Joy Mariama Smith, delivering a relaxing two-hour performance that welcomes audiences at any time, whether you’re on time, early, or fashionably late. Feel free to come as you are, because in this space, anything is possible: Want to glam up? Go for it. Prefer to chill? Pyjamas and messy hair are absolutely welcome.
The evening begins in the Sophiensæle cafeteria, where soup or tea will set the tone for the night. Take your time to find your place at our Listening Station, where episodes from Queer Frequency, our internal podcast documenting family stories, conflicts, and the processes that shape our artistic collaborations, will be streamed.
The performance features Fam Jam, presented by Joy Mariama Smith and Dylan Spencer-Davidson, a performance installation that probes into relationships beyond traditional notions of family. Building on the idea of family abolition, this work traverses kinship, intimacy, and connection, attempting (and at times failing) to create a decolonial, anti-capitalist space for alternative forms of relationships in real-time.
Joy And Dylan v 2 performers PC Marteen Nauw doing nothing 84 high res – photo maarten nauwIn the upstairs wedding hall, Juliana Piquero presents Rice with Tomato and Balls, a performance inspired by her daughter’s favourite childhood meal. This piece reimagines belonging and togetherness beyond rigid structures, depicting family as fluid, conflictual, chosen, and sometimes shared. Here, the concept of family expands to include friend groups, phrases, animals, colours, numbers, words, concepts, and feelings, families that resemble each other but are never identical.
The QFA team will accompany the audience between floors, inviting conversations that challenge and rethink traditional beliefs about family.
The performances will be available in English and Spanish, with printed German translations onsite.
Credits:
Queer Family Album Artists: Katie Lee Dunbar, KAy Garnellen, Juliana Piquero, Yvonne Sembene, Joy Mariama Smith, Dylan Spencer-Davidson
Costumes & Set Design: Hagar Ophir with Antonia Eckardt
Dramaturgical Support: Maya Weinberg
Technical Direction, Lighting Design: Catalina Fernandez, Lighting Design: Shun Perrotta
Sound: Lena Marcus
Press, Marketing, Social Media: Apricot Productions – Angela Fegers
Production & Marketing Support: Apricot Productions – Nadine Freisleben
Food by: Promona Sengupta and Talya Lubinsky from Bad Apples Catering
Accessibility Friend: Miles Wendt
Host: KAy Garnellen
Concept / Initiating Artist / Dramaturgy: Katie Lee Dunbar
Produced by: Katie Lee Dunbar in co-production with Ballhaus Ost and Sophiensæle. Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community Affairs, with support from the Performing Arts Fund and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Media Partners include Missy Magazine and taz.
Get ready for a night that redefines family at Queer Family Album: Volume 2. Come open-minded, ready to engage, and above all, be part of a community that embraces diversity in all its forms!
