BERLIN.- With the collaborative exhibition “Homosexuality_ies”, the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Schwules Museum present the first comprehensive show on the history, politics and culture of homosexuality_ies of the past 150 years. Covering a total area of 1600 square meters, the show deals with society's handling of homosexuality in light of social, juridical and scientific repression, following the gradual process of emancipation from the late 18th century into the present.

Featuring an abundance of historical and contemporary exhibits – documents, paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, posters and selected works by Andy Warhol, Jeanne Mammen, Louise Bourgeois, Lee Lozano, Tamara de Lempicka and others, this double exhibition sheds light on the complexity of gender identities within a historical context as much as within current debates surrounding alternative approaches to life. Given the ongoing, worldwide discourse on equal rights for homosexuals and transgender people, both institutions view this exhibition as an opportunity to position a socially and politically current topic in the middle of society.

Topic: The History and Culture of Homosexual Identities
Until now, the history and culture of homosexual people have been conferred to the shadows of public memory. “Homosexuality_ies” presents an impressive spectrum of materials, formats and media that offer a broad public a multi-faceted insights into its subject matter. The exhibition acknowledges the cultural-historical achievement of homosexual emancipation, which has transformed society's understanding of gender identity, sharpened awareness for the limitations of traditional gender codes and demanded recognition for the diversity of alternative models of living.

The show traces the history of homosexuality_ies in ten chapters, concluding with the present. It exposes how same-sex sexuality and non-conformist gender identities have been criminalized through legislation, pathologized in medicine and excluded from society. Exhibits include a copy of the first secular criminal provisions effective for the entire German territory, the “Constitutio Criminalis Carolina” from the mid-16th century, a document which punishes sexual acts “against nature” between women and men alike with “death by fire”. Prominent individuals like Oscar Wilde, Philipp Graf zu Eulenburg and Alan Turing serve as cases in point that describe the persecution of homosexuals by society church and state. Legislative developments with respect to the infamous Paragraph 175 of the German penal code, which made “homosexual acts” punishable by law from 1872 to 1994, and the subsequent gradual progress towards equal rights are visualized for visitors. Paragraph 175 initially took effect in Imperial Germany, underwent massive harshening in the Nazi era and was definitively voided after reunification, in 1994.

Additionally, a handwritten letter by the author Karl Maria Kertbeny from 1868 will be on view. In that letter, the terms homosexual and heterosexual were used for the first time. Since science began concerning itself with sexuality, homosexuality marked a divergence from the “normal”. In light of that, the exhibition illustrates efforts to diagnose and “cure” sexual and gender “deviations” in medicine and psychology. As a counterpoint, the show also presents the models researchers like Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Magnus Hirschfeld and Judith Butler developed in attempts to establish understanding for sexual and gender diversity.

A core section of the exhibition containing a vast wealth of materials focuses on the lesbian, gay and transgender liberation movements, particularly after the legal liberalization that began in the 1960s. Exhibits include flyers, press materials, posters, photographs, videos and objects – such as a preserved original educational brochure from 1901 by the very first homosexual civil rights association, the “Scientific-Humanitarian Committee”. The script from “Coming Out” (1989), the first and last official film on homosexuality in East Germany, and footage of the “Muff Mobile” at Christopher Street Day 1998 in Berlin are also on display.

“Homosexuality_ies” undercuts the usual perception that equates homosexuals with gay men. It puts much more emphasis on the vital roles played by lesbian activists and other gender identities. “While the public discussion is more or less directed at male and female homosexuality, the world many people live in is much more complex than that: The internationally used abbreviation LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer) stands for a diversity of ways of living and breaks with a gender code founded on the categories man and woman,” says Dr. Birgit Bosold, project director for the exhibition and member of the board at the Schwules Museum.

In closing, “Homosexuality_ies” picks up threads of contemporary debate and raises questions as to the future of gender codes and sexualities. It shows how new coalitions of trans, inter and queer-feminist protagonists are propelling the recognition of sexual and gender diversity in society right now. Aside from historical developments, the exhibition displays a wide range of subjective experiences: One chapter is dedicated to very personal “Coming Out” stories.

Another highlights the cross-over from the personal to the political, where codes in clothes, style and manner are exhibited, which transformed over time from signs used to identify oneself to like-minded fellows into offensive tactical manifestations in public.

The section of the exhibition on view at the Schwules Museum addresses the current situation and the future of diverse gender identities. A selection of works by contemporary international artists comment on the relationships between sexuality, gender, body, between the conventions of society and transgressions of those conventions. Works are by artists such as Monica Bonvicini, Mary Coble, Elmgreen & Dragset, Goodyn Green, Katarzyna Kozyra, Henrik Olesen, Julian Rosenfeldt, Sturtevant, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Andy Warhol. Additionally, the interview project “What's Next?” presents activists from the queer scene speaking on topics including political commitment, solidarity and conflicts, work and life beyond the heterosexual norm.

The majority of the exhibits originate from private movement archives that were founded at the initiative of activists, such as the lesbian archive Spinnboden, the feminist archives FFBIZ and Grauzone and the Archive at the Schwules Museum.

In that respect, this show funded substantially by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes and the Kulturstiftung der Länder raises a fundamental question regarding how the topic of “Homosexuality_ies” can be represented and presented properly in museums and archives.

Design: New Perspectives and Standpoints
The visual concept for the exhibition is founded in the heterogeneity of single rooms: From video installations with statements from individuals who communicate subjective positions, to a salon-style room where the collection of homosexual imagery compiled by Andreas Sternweiler is presented in a majestic Petersburg hanging, and on to grid wall panels reminiscent of a museum depository where a variety of forms of action and organization, debates and aesthetics of political activism are spotlighted – every space constitutes a complete unit in and of itself. In this way, the design enables visitors to constantly adopt new perspectives and cultivates an openness for the diversity and complexity of gender identities beyond the 'heterosexual matrix'. “The exhibition consciously dispenses with chronology and creates a new kind of approach in every room,” explains Detlef Weitz, the co-curator responsible for the visual concept.

Featuring imagery from a work by the Canadian performance artist Heather Cassils, the exhibition poster already plays with ambiguities and reflects the title, which typographically alludes to the plurality of gender and sexual identities with the underscore – also called the “gender gap” in German, since it is used in written language to avoid restrictive, gendered plural endings. The poster image quotes a familiar aesthetics of advertising and presents a body that, upon closer inspection, conforms in no way to the bodily ideals of advertising and thus undermines every norm.

Goals: Positioning the Topic in the Center of Society
“In the exhibition 'Homosexuality_ies', the Deutsches Historisches Museum is grappling with this important discourse for the first time in its nearly 30-year history. We understand this equally demanding and challenging project as an offering directed at a broad, increasingly international public to deepen their exploration and discussion of the thematics sketched out here,” states Prof. Dr. Alexander Koch, President of the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

The goal of the project is to create awareness for the diversity of sexual lifestyles and concepts of gender, and to awaken both tolerance and understanding. In that respect, the show addresses all people: The topic concerning the complexity of gender identities pertains to society as a whole, and this exhibition is a means to position it in the center of society. Historically contextualizing the topic offers visitors multiple chances to adopt new perspectives through which to view and discuss matters in new ways. Special tours and history workshops for school groups and teens are designed to facilitate early access to the topic.

Cooperation: Combined Power and Expertise
In their first-time cooperation, both institutions have tread new ground: Although the partnership between the German national history museum, which was founded in 1987, and the Schwules Museum, which was brought into being as a private association in 1985, might seem unusual at first glance, it desires to pave the way for new forms of collaboration and contribute to social discussion surrounding the subject matter at hand with the combined power and expertise of both museums. Last but not least, an alliance such as this represents the overcoming of differences in favor of togetherness.