Crowdfunder launched by Rádio Quântica to open new community studio in Lisbon

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched by Lisbon-based station Rádio Quântica to help financially support the opening of a new community arts space and studio in the Portuguese capital.

It follows news of the closure of Rádio Quântica’s current home, Planeta Manas, which is due to be shuttered on July 25. The queer venue has recently been subject to a string of police raids which have financially impacted its running.

Rádio Quântica is hoping to raise €2,500 toward the new space, which will act as the base of the station following Planeta Manas’ imminent closure next month, and promises to mark a new era for Quântica as it enters its 10th year in operation.

“In the year we celebrate our 10th anniversary — and after helping bring to life the Ano Q festival, countless workshops, a community radio lab, and the beloved Planeta Manas — we’re once again entering a period of transition,” they wrote alongside the fundraiser.

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“With the closing of our dear nest Planeta Manas, which could not withstand the combined forces of gentrification and police violence in these hard times of liberal neo-fascism, we are now faced with the task of relocating our studios and home base.”

Planeta Manas revealed in February that it had been subject to a raid by riot police, the fourth in the space of just five months. The venue claimed that members of the association of which the club is a part of were “physically assaulted with truncheons” after armed and hooded police arrived.

Rádio Quântica said it has since reached out to “institutions, the municipality, and local councils” to find a new space, but has been told that “decisions would only be made after the elections in October”. 

The station has since found a new potential home in Alcântara, which they hope could become a “cultural hangout" for its community, where they can host everything from exhibitions to live shows and workshops.

Read this next: Lisbon queer club Planeta Manas “violently” raided by riot police

“We’ll be paying €900 in rent — the bare minimum we could find for a space that’s independent, decent, well located, and big enough,” they said. “Our yearly budget, which includes support from the Direção-Geral das Artes, includes room for one crowdfunding campaign — and this is it.”

The station is hoping to raise €2,500 to help cover “unforeseen costs”, which would also go towards an upfront rent cost, and the move of its sound equipment and furniture.

“We promise to give all that love right back, and then some—with doors wide open to welcome you in,” they said. “We say goodbye with heavy hearts (the closure of Planeta Manas has left us inconsolable), but with hope for a future where we can keep resisting.”

Check out some sketches of the planned new space below, and donate to Rádio Quântica’s fundraiser here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter