IN THE MOUNTAINS IN THE MOUNTAINS Festival is a space and platform for queer and feminist art from the Caucasus Region. It aims to provide spaces for underrepresented stories and encounters that are alternative to the nationalist narratives in the region. At the center of the festival is the desire to build a community of anti colonial queer and feminist artists and activists from the Caucasus region, which is led by the unity, common experiences and the beauty of our diversities. The festival is bottom up practice of resilience across the conflict divides which have deepened the fractures between the communities for the past 30 years, with the cultural sphere of each country often being instrumentalized for the national propaganda. It is a practice of resilience to embrace our joint identity. The history In 2022, artists from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan established a collective that evolved into a platform for queer and feminist art in the region. The first part of the project took place in one of the iconic clubs of Tbilisi in the form of a wedding party to celebrate our unity across the conflict divides, bringing together 100 queer artists and activists from the region. IN THE MOUNTAINS was a part of Invisible festival in Tbilisi in 2023, organising panel discussions., exhibitions and film screenings around the topic of decoloniality Within In the Mountains, the queer variety show Qaucasia was born in Berlin in 2024. The show collects the visual representation of queer culture of Caucasus. IN THE MOUNTAINS 2024 took place on 11-12-13 September in Berlin, showcasing film screenings, panel discussions, drag shows, performances, community gatherings: its focus was the manifold process of mutation the Caucasus region is going through, how it affects queer and feminist rights, and how to create a transnational community practice to respond to the challenges. IN THE MOUNTAINS 2025 is planned to take place on 12-13-14 September in Berlin Panke, with the main topic of the festival being uncertainty with which we are faced across and beyond the region. The festival will feature film screenings, podcasts and discussions, variety shows, performances, and traditional Caucasian table as a celebration of oneness between the audience and performers.