Queer Experiences and Knowledges in Interwar Estonia and Finland
23.11.2026 16.00-18.00
Online on Zoom
What was it like to be queer in Estonia and Finland hundred years ago? What did scientists think of queerness in the interwar period of 1920–1940? How were queer people conceptually framed in public discourse? How was same-sex intimacy depicted in public and sexological discourse in Estonia and Finland? How were queer couples able to build lives together?
The Finnish association Friends of Queer History (Sateenkaarihistorian ystävät ry) and the research project Silent Knowledges – Queer and Gender Non-Conforming Women in Interwar Estonia and Finland (SILK) are welcoming you to join an online event on queer history in the interwar period. We will present snippets from on-going queer history research and together in dialogue we can contribute with perspectives about the meaning of past experiences to today’s queer people.
The event will be held online on Zoom. Event is open for all – please register here:
https://eve.utu.fi/event/532/
The event starts by introducing the hosting association and research project and follows with two presentations by researchers and discussion in groups and together.
Event Program:
16.00 Introducing Friends of Queer History and Silent Knowledges
16.15 Astrid Joutseno & Saimi Korhonen: Two Different Approaches to Queer Life in Interwar Finland
16.40 Rebeka Põldsam: Non-normative sex-gender subjects in interwar Estonia’s print media
17.05 Group discussion in English, Estonian and Finnish (or chance to have a break)
17.20 Joint discussion
Speaker introductions:
Astrid Joutseno/Swan, PhD, is a researcher and an award-winning songwriter. For SILK, she is writing a book on the lives of violinist Kerttu Wanne and pianist Astrid Joutseno, a historical sapphic artist couple. Joutseno/Swan is also using musical composition as a method of approaching the forgotten lives of Wanne and Joutseno. In her postdoctoral research before SILK, Joutseno/Swan has researched life-writing and grief in the context of cancer.
Saimi Korhonen is a PhD student at the University of Jyväskylä. As part of SILK, she is working on the transnational movement of sexological knowledge, the development of sexology in Finland and the reception of foreign sexology in Finland. In her PhD, she focuses on sexologist Havelock Ellis’s understanding of gender fluidity based on his book series Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
Rebeka Põldsam, PhD, is a research fellow at the University of Tartu. In SILK, she researches the representations of the New Woman in Estonian media, gender non-conformity and the lives on queer Estonian women. She has curated multiple art and history exhibitions and co-wrote and co-directed a short film about queer nightlife in Interwar Estonia.
Organizer introductions:
Friends of Queer History (Sateenkaarihistorian ystävät ry), established in 2020, is an association that aims to raise awareness of the history of gender and sexual diversity. The association publishes an online magazine, hosts online and in-person events, initiates and promotes queer research and coordinates Queer History Month in Finland. On their website, they also maintain a database of content related to queer and gender history from videos of expert conversations and presentations to lists of notable Finnish queer fiction to a catalog of queer history research papers and works. https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/
Silent Knowledges – Queer and Gender Non-Conforming Women in Interwar Estonia and Finland (SILK) is a research project funded by Kone Foundation 2026-2031. SILK focuses on women and gender non-conforming people and their lives in interwar (1920-1940) Estonia and Finland. Interested in interpreting queer lives transdisciplinary through the concept of silence, the project produces new knowledge and perspectives on queer lives and discusses them together with present-day queer communities. https://sites.utu.fi/silk/en/