millionaires can be trans* // you are so brave* exhibition 2016

Schwules Museum* in Berlin
20 May – (18 September) extended to 10th October 2016

Concerning visual artists (photographers, painters, sculptresses, installation artists), performers, film-makers, writers, poets, speakers, scholars, witches. The organizing group is comprised entirely of trans artists and activists based in Berlin and the call has been directed to artists and activists who position themselves as trans*, gender variant and other non-cis people, with an anti-capitalist approach to their work.

With artworks by: Neelu Bhuman, Loren Britton, Alex Alvina Chamberland, Farimah, Helle Grøndahl, Juliana Huxtable, Jamezie, Jess MacCormack & Alexus Young, MagdaTheGreat, Pol Merchan, Manu Mojito, Stef Morgner, Noah Rieser, Olivia Sparrow, Josh Hoenes & Tomka Weiß

Framed by a program of performances, lectures and film screenings, millionaires can be trans* // you are so brave* is a multimedia exhibition that explores possibilities beyond traditional trans* narratives.

The title ironically cites two dominant perspectives within the media. Firstly, millionaires can be trans*, critiques the obsession with trans* celebrity success. Secondly, you are so brave*, is a humorous reference to cisgender perspectives that effectively reduce trans* lives to heroic acts and fail to take into consideration or counteract structural oppressions.

This exhibition draws together the work of artists who critically engage with various identity constructs projected in the media, as well as their inscribed power structures. Sexuality and desire remain central themes while the pathological desexualization as well as the exotification and fetishization of trans* persons is critiqued throughout the collection of works. At the same time, the works challenge dominant narratives of trans* lives, exploring self-determined versions of family, sexuality and desire within overlapping fields of race and class.

Also featured is a concise history of trans* and gender non-conformity from the Neolithic era to the present day.

Photos of the opening night on May 20th

 

Curators – Alex Alvina Chamberland, Mylo Dylan, Ruvel Kowalevsky, Neda Sanai, Henri Geets, Vince Tillotson
Event Co-Curators – Gregori Homa, Mijke van der Drift
Historian – Dr. Finn Ballard
Visual Design – Stef Morgner