Queertronica Podcast

Saeleen Bouvar is a Hamburg-based DJ, musician, curator and salonnière whose work moves between the dancefloor, queer cultural memory and the transmission of knowledge across generations. Behind the decks, Bouvar draws on more than three decades of lived queer club culture. Her sets move freely between disco, Chicago house, acid house, electroclash and techno, guided by a distinctly narrative approach to mixing: building tension, sensuality and unexpected connections rather than following genre boundaries. Her philosophy of Recreate – Restore – Reform treats the dancefloor as a living archive. Sounds and sensibilities rooted in historic gay discos and later queer clubs are recovered, rearranged and confronted with the present — not as nostalgia, but as material for something new. This understanding of transmission also shapes Bouvar's wider artistic practice. In 2017 she founded Salon Queertronique, creating a platform for trans visibility behind the decks in Hamburg. In 2022 she founded and became artistic director of TRANSTRONICA, the world's first trans music festival, bringing together international and local trans artists at Kampnagel. Its fourth edition, TRANSMISSIONS, took place in 2026. Kampnagel DE Increasingly, Bouvar's work connects club culture with memory, mentorship and intergenerational exchange. Her project WALKING WITH STARDUST traces the life and legacy of Black trans artist and Hamburg icon Angie Stardust, transforming queer history into a living, audible archive. Kampnagel DE The same principle extends to the booth: knowledge is meant to travel. As a mentor, Bouvar passes on her approach to storytelling, transitions, dramaturgy and reading a dancefloor to a new generation of DJs — not to reproduce a style, but to give them tools from which to develop their own. Her role as a music-industry mentor is also reflected in her participation in the MEWEM mentoring programme. MEWEM Bouvar received the Kaleidoskop Art Prize 2024 and the Waltraud-Schiffels-Preis 2026 for an artistic practice connecting trans visibility, cultural memory and community. Kampnagel DE Selected appearances include Fusion Festival, Kater Blau, Kampnagel, Südpol, Vogelball, Übel & Gefährlich, PAL Hamburg, Hafenklang, Hirscheneck Basel and performances in Berlin and Athens. Recreate. Restore. Reform. Pass it on.