The Archives and Library of the Queer Movement (QRAB)
The Archives and Library of the Queer Movement (in Swedish: Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek - QRAB) collects, organizes, preserves and makes accessible documentation and information related to queer movements and people. QRAB's collections are housed in part at the Regional State Archives in Gothenburg (Arkivgatan 9), and in part at House of Q in Stockholm (Malmvägen 1).
For more information on how you can use the collections or contribute materials, see the tabs Request and Contribute or contact us.
QRAB is run as a non-profit association. Click here for more information: QRAB's by-laws (in Swedish) and Goals and aims of QRAB for an equal organization (in Swedish and English).
About QRAB
The Archives and Library of the Queer Movement is an association open for everybody interested in queer history, presence and future. The association is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, but we are active anywhere there are dedicated members.
QRAB was formed out of the need and desire to preserve materials that often disappear from history - stories of bodies and loves that have been condemned, concealed and contempted. QRAB uses queer as an inclusive term, encompassing lesbian, asexual, intersexual, trans, bisexual, and gay experiences. By making these stories available to activist, academics, and the general public we wish to further an understanding of history that can inspire to a continued struggle for everybody's rights and full freedom.
Do you wish to become a member? Look under the headline Join us to learn how. Contact us for information on membership meetings and other ways to get involved. QRAB also holds lectures, workshops and other activities where everybody is welcome - keep a look out on our Mastodon account to stay updated.
Here we have collected links to where you can hear and read more of what has been said and written about QRAB on other platforms.
Here you can read more about QRAB's by-laws (in Swedish) and QRAB's goals and aims for an equal organization (in Swedish and English).
Request
Our collections are housed at the Regional State Archives in Gothenburg (Arkivgatan 9A), and at House of Q in Stockkholm (Malmvägen 1). In Gothenburg materials can be requested for viewing in the reading room, and in Stockholm you can make an appointment to visit our research room. You can search the QRAB catalogue through this website. Contact us for requests and questions - the catalogue only shows parts of our materials and we are continually working on cataloguing the collections.
In our project for digital collection of queer memories, My story - Your story - Our story you can read queer life stories without having to visit our physical collections.
Contribute
If you want to contribute anything, we are very grateful! We accept both donations - that is, materials given to QRAB - and depostions - that is, materials on loan to QRAB. Materials that could be of interest are for example protocols, fanzines, photographs, posters, magazines, banners, sheet music, videorecordings, paintings, flyers - really anything that shows how queer struggles have been and are being fought.
Tell your story
Do you want to contribute right away, but without any documents to donate? Go to My story - Your story - Our story, our project for digital collection of queer memories.
Join us
Do you want to join QRAB? Make a payment of 100 SEK to Bankgirot: 5842‑3641 (recipient Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek). Fill in your name in the message field (maximum 150 characters) and then send an email to ekonomi@qrab.org.
In the email you can, apart from your name, also write your age and gender. In this case, genders can be "man", "woman" or "other", and both age and gender are only reported anonymized when we apply for funding from some donors, as part of their work for equality. If you don't want us to register age and gender, your name is enough. The email address you're sending from will be used for mailings and information from QRAB.
Organisations (associations, companies etc.) can also join QRAB. Organisational membership costs a minimum of 500 SEK - if you pay more we will happily accept it as a finacial contribution. When an organisational membership has been payed (to the same Bankgiro as above), send an email to ekonomi@qrab.org, but there is no need to state age or gender.
Contact
For general questions, contact info@qrab.org.
For questions on the collections, contact arkiv@qrab.org.
For questions on membership or money, contact ekonomi@qrab.org.
QRAB's collections are housed in part at the Regional State Archives in Gothenburg, Arkivgatan 9A, and in part in House of Q in Stockholm, Malmvägen 1.
Please follow us on Mastodon for news and examples from the collections.