webzine about experiencing hegemonic masculinity during wartime
"Kaliningrad (Königsberg) is a distinctive setting for discussing masculinity. The city and its region are imbued with specific cultural symbolism and identity practices. There are as many beer halls, bakeries, and shops with amber jewelry in Kaliningrad as there are military bases and military equipment. The war has highlighted and emphasized the city's role of a fortress.
As a gay couple traveling through Kaliningrad, we listened to the voices around us, studied the city’s dynamics, and documented how the cultural representation of masculinity evolves in the context of war. Documentation includes graphics, photos, fragments of video dance, and letters (excerpts from diaries, autofiction fragments, and short anonymous dialogues with city residents)."
Könige is a webzine available for reading and interactive engagement. In addition to being readable, Könige can also be performed. Its structure includes two types of performative actions: some entries contain performance instructions, transforming it into an open dramaturgical work for live performances.
Live performances took place on the Theater of Resistance platform in November and December 2023.
available in russian — konige.resistancetheatre.org
"I'm Vova Bocharov. I was born in Tashkent in 1991, grew up in Kaliningrad, and now live and work in Moscow. My mother used to say, 'I was born in the year when everything fell apart.' My upbringing, my initiation — it's all about the fringes and ruins of grand narratives. In January 2023, I met Diego in the archive of the Moscow Art Theatre Museum. By then, the war had been raging for almost a year, the country was sinking deeper into an ideological fog, friends had scattered, and despair had become a constant companion. Our meeting seemed impossible.
I’m Diego Moshkovich. I was born in Brazil in 1985, the year the military dictatorship came to an end. My experience of growing up in a family of activists during the years of democratization was an experience of decolonization. Here, amidst the ruins of the past, people were actively working to build something new. Thanks to family mythology (my great-grandmother and great-grandfather fled the Russian Empire’s 1914 pogroms), I found myself in Russia studying theatre arts, and Russian became my second language. In October 2022, I came to Moscow to work on my doctoral dissertation. In January, I met Vova. We fell in love while witnessing the intensification of the homophobic discourse of the Russian state. In June 2023, we traveled to Kaliningrad, Vova's hometown, and spent ten days there."
"I'm Vova Bocharov. I was born in Tashkent in 1991, grew up in Kaliningrad, and now live and work in Moscow. My mother used to say, 'I was born in the year when everything fell apart.' My upbringing, my initiation — it's all about the fringes and ruins of grand narratives. In January 2023, I met Diego in the archive of the Moscow Art Theatre Museum. By then, the war had been raging for almost a year, the country was sinking deeper into an ideological fog, friends had scattered, and despair had become a constant companion. Our meeting seemed impossible.
I’m Diego Moshkovich. I was born in Brazil in 1985, the year the military dictatorship came to an end. My experience of growing up in a family of activists during the years of democratization was an experience of decolonization. Here, amidst the ruins of the past, people were actively working to build something new. Thanks to family mythology (my great-grandmother and great-grandfather fled the Russian Empire’s 1914 pogroms), I found myself in Russia studying theatre arts, and Russian became my second language. In October 2022, I came to Moscow to work on my doctoral dissertation. In January, I met Vova. We fell in love while witnessing the intensification of the homophobic discourse of the Russian state. In June 2023, we traveled to Kaliningrad, Vova's hometown, and spent ten days there."
Diego Moshkovich - theater director, theater educator, and translator
Vova Bocharov - theater director
Holystick - design and development
Fati Besolti - sound design
Diego Moshkovich - theater director, theater educator, and translator
Vova Bocharov - theater director
Holystick - design and development
Fati Besolti - sound design
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