Student associations: Meet the LGBTQIA+ society at BIMM University Berlin
When you join BIMM University Berlin to begin your career in the creative industries you join a welcoming and inclusive student community that offers collaborative opportunities both inside and outside of your course. Student societies are part of the BSA, the BIMM Student Association, and allow you to become part of a community that advocates something you care about. Becoming part of a society and engaging in extracurricular activities is great because you get to meet like-minded people who share the same passions and interests as you!
We met with the current student associations at BIMM University Berlin and want to introduce you to some of them. First up is the LGBTQIA+ Society whose President is Marina Pharis. We caught up with Timothy Halloran who is assisting Marina in running the society and asked:
How did the society come about?
Creating a society was the idea of third-year Music Business student Marina Pharis, who wanted to bring the queer community at BIMM closer together and foster LGBTQIA+ student networking. She’s been leading the group as President since forming it in autumn 2021, with assistance from third-year Production student Orla Clarke and myself (Tim Halloran, MA program).
As a society, what is your focus and goal?
Queer people in the music industry still face a lot of personal and professional obstacles that straight and cisgendered folk simply don’t have to deal with. But if we get together and support each other, we can create unique, queer-positive opportunities. That’s exactly what the society aims to do: create a network for the queer community at BIMM to make it easier to meet each other, collaborate, and create music!
What are the current activities you are planning as a society?
In February we organized a Queer History Walking Tour of Berlin and in early April we booked a group visit to the Schwules Museum (Gay Museum).
We also arranged an in-person career workshop titled ‘Queerness in the Music Industry’ with David Swartz, a talent manager and co-founder of Singular Arts Group who has worked with Mykki Blanco and Lotic. We set up a Zoom link so that students from other BIMM campuses could join us remotely.
Next up is an end-of-year live music showcase called ‘Queer Love Bomb’. It’s on 23 May at Silver Future, a queer bar in Neukölln. We’ll have performances by four amazing BIMM musicians: Nina Chiodin, Ingri Galanti, Arndis, and Ellie Madeland.
Students have also organised a lot of their own activities together throughout the year. In December a group of society members produced a cover version and music video of Eartha Kitt’s ‘Santa Baby’ as a fundraiser for the It Gets Better Project. That project won first prize in BIMM’s 2021 Christmas Cover Song contest. I’d love to see this project become an annual event!
What do you enjoy most about being part of the society?
The thing I like most about the student society is making connections with a lot of super interesting people that I may never have met otherwise. We’ve already done some really fun creative work together, and I know there will be more in the future.
What are your future plans for the society?
Next year I’d like to try to set up more cooperative events between queer student societies at BIMM’s other campuses in Hamburg, the UK and Ireland. I hope we’ll also get some students to join us from BIMM’s new Filmmaking programme in Berlin.
How do students become part of the society and how can they get involved with it?
Students can sign up here. You can also find us on Instagram @bimm_lgbtq_society or send us an email: bimmlgbtqsociety@gmail.com
Since both Marina and Orla are graduating this Spring, we’re in need of new leadership to organise the society during the 2022-23 year. Let us know if you’re interested!
Any questions?
Want to become part of the exciting student community at BIMM University Berlin? Join us for one of our Open House events, book a Virtual Open Day or contact our Admissions Team via admissions@bimm-institute.de or via phone at +49 (0) 30 311 99 186 (Berlin) and +49 (0) 40 874 09 632 (Hamburg).
