QUEERWARSAW
Atlantic Cinema
Atlantic Cinema 33 Chmielna Street
Is located at 33 Chmielna Street, nearby a chunky building of Domy Centrum department store. At the entrance, remnants of a restroom, which used to be next to it, are worth noticing. It played a key role in forming homosexual relations during the communist regime especially among elitist circles. Public figures like journalists or academics attended the place. An excerpt from Gejzer refers to it:
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17. Former toilet near Atlantic cinema
A nightly unsatisfaction could be felt by the dawn. A funny situation by Domy Centrum next to the Atlantic Cinema. Not many urinals, half occupied by queers. Only a few available for those who were emptying their bladders so a line soon formed. Both groups confused. I burst out laughing and left.
Balkan Electrique a music band, operated 1988-1994
A musical duo made up of Fiolka Najdenowicz and Sławomir Starosta, created in late 1980s. It became a phenomenon not only due to the original mix of Balkan folk music with the new-wave electronic, but also because of gay themes in their songs, also in the context of the outbreak of AIDS. While the Bulgarian influences can be traced down to family roots of the vocalist with a powerful voice, the queer themes appeared thanks to Starosta, who was one of the first media personas to publically speak about their sexual orientation. The band's fortunes were changeable. They gave splendid concerts and performed during the most important national music festivals, which at that time was still one of the main promotional methods. Their material was played in the leading radio and television programmes (public television even sponsored a music video to the openly homoerotic piece Dwa Słońca [Two Suns]. And yet, neither of their two albums sold in spectacular amounts. A German offer of recordings for the Western market never entered the realization phase. This, however, in no way diminishes the contributions of the band which through Starosta's voice set within an interesting musical frame directly touched upon homosexuality, a topic virtually non-existent in the Polish pop genre. One of Balkan Electrique's best known songs, Kochaj nie zabijaj [Love, don't kill] became the anthem and the leading
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