Austria
About
The concept of “bike kitchens” (in German sometimes called “Fahrradküche”) is widely known and internationally used. The term describes a community-based workshop presenting an accessible mechanic environment to work on your bike, find all necessary tools, learn from each other, not only on how to fix and build any kinds of bicycles, but also to share resources, and work together. As biking becomes more and more popular, so does bike repair. Nevertheless many people don’t have the financial stability to pay a professional workshop for fixing their bike and face stagnation or dependency, therefore the bike kitchen offers a great solution for class related issues when it comes to biking. Besides the exchange about bicycles and mechanical questions, “Fahrradküche” aims to reach out and advocate biking as a safe and sustainable means of transportation. And bicycles – given the basic knowledge about bike mechanics and a workshop – as the most affordable, low-threshold and easy to maintain vehicles.
As utopian the idea and goals of the “bike kitchen” sound, experience shows that the shared love for bicycles doesn’t automatically present a safe haven from patriarchal societal issues. As mechanics is an especially cis-male dominated field of work, many bike kitchens attract cis male dominance, sexist behavior, white hegemony and mansplaining.
Therefore our aim is to counteract and confront the issue by means of transformation while simultaneously also offering a safer space and comfortable workshop environment for marginalized groups, especially queer or FLINTA* (Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Non-binary, Transgender, and Agender) people, where the main goal is to take good care of each other and consensually expand our knowledge together. Therefore the “Queerfeministische Fahrradküche” (former FLINTA* bike kitchen, now open for all genders) was created in Graz. Using the same well equipped workstation of “Fahrradküche” in Schießstattgasse 40, it opens the space for all the people who want to discover the world of spokes and rims, who love to screw around on bikes BUT at the same time also want to work on dismantling the patriarchal structure within this very specific field and beyond.
During our monthly open workshop days people can bring their own bikes or recycle one of the many bicycles in our collection, fix it and take it home. We work on a voluntary basis as we want the workshop to be an approachable and affordable place. Therefore also all of the used parts are to be taken either in exchange of other bike parts or a small free donation.
Guided by the principle of aid to self-aid, it’s a self-organized space to experiment and experience, meaning the overall goal is: collective empowerment!
Next to the stationary open days in Schießstattgasse we provide bike repair stations at neighborhood centers throughout the city in summer, to be more present in different parts of the city and reach out to different groups. We want to continue to work on our reach and visibility especially in poverty-stricken neighborhoods.
Another project we envision (so far we only tried a prototype workshop once) are “bike mechanics ABC” school workshops for children between 10 and 18.
Feminist action in solidarity is important to us, as we ourselves have an activist background and plan to cooperate with different queer-feminist groups. Currently we are working on a 2-year project with Grrrls Kulturverein to build a cargo bike.
Who is involved
The Queerfeministische Fahrradküche is an inclusive, volunteer-run community space open to anyone who shares its queer-feminist values, with a focus on supporting marginalized groups like women, queer individuals, and FLINTA* people. It offers a safe environment for participants of all skill levels to learn bike mechanics, work on their bikes, exchange knowledge, and collaborate in a supportive community, while actively challenging patriarchal structures in the bike repair field. The organizers themselves partly come from a queer-feminist activist background and are all FLINTA* individuals, having previously organized the former FLINTA* Fahrradküche.
Details
The Queerfeministische Fahrradküche operates on a donation-based model to keep the space accessible to everyone.
Operating Costs
The primary expense is electricity, around € 5 per opening day. There’s no rent since the workshop uses the space at Schießstattgasse 40 for free.
Donations
Participants: While participation is free, donations are encouraged to cover costs like tools and maintenance.
Part Exchange: Participants can trade used bike parts or make small donations in exchange for parts, promoting resource sharing.
Volunteer-Run
The workshop is entirely run by volunteers, keeping operational costs low.
Funding
Larger projects, like the cargo bike with Grrrls Kulturverein, are supported by external funding and grants