Presence/Absence: Constructing Queer Histories

Presence/Absence: Constructing Queer Histories Ladislav Zikmund-Lender Faculty of Fina Arts, Brno University of Technology Socity for Queer Memory, Prague Czech History •Until 1918: AustrianHungarian Empire •1918-1938: Democratic Czechoslovakia •1938-1945: WWII •1945-1948: Democratic Czechoslovakia •1948-1989 Socialist totalitarian state •1989-1993: Democratic Czechoslovakia •1993: Separation of th Czech and Slovak Republic Queer History •Until 1918: homosexuality illegal •1918-1938: homosexuality illegal •Late 1920s and 1930s: movement do decriminalize homosexuality •1938-1945: WWII, homosexuality illegal, gay men and women opressed, sent to concentration camps •1961: decriminalization of homosexuality •1961-1989: homosexuality is legal, yet a matter of blackmail by the secret police •1990: Secret police dissoluted •2006: Same sex domestic partnership became legal •2012: New civil law ordering transgender people to be sterilized during sex change Show Prague Pride: East Side Story, Karlin Studios, 2014 • „Something as LGBT, homosexual, gay or lesbian art for sure doesn't exist. As much as there is no such thing as Czech art. At least until we create certain definition to apply on the original diversity.― curator Michal Novotný Jan Nepomuk Assmann (1956–2013) „Ludvik Victor and an unknown woman― Ludvik Victor as a man and as Ludvika Victorie „It is important to acknowledge historic figures who deserve it no matter what their sexuality was.― „All I care about is that he invented a rocket drive. I don‘t care who he slept with.― „It is not important to point out a minor sexual orientation if it there was no connection to the person‘s life. „Cultural heritage has nothing to do with sexuality. It eithar conteins the aesthetic qualities or it does not.― „We need a positive proof that someone was not heterosexual!― „While working on my diploma thesis, I wanted to include a queer studies approach but I decided not to.― „While I was writing my diploma thesis, I mentioned a copy of a statue of Hadrian and Antinous, which is in Castle Hořovice, and wanted to point out their homosexual relationship. I was asked to edit it out.― 2009 conference Homosexuality in the Czech Humanities Archive •55 archival funds •Origin: 9 women, 36 men, 3 institutions, 6 institutions Library •826 books •1061 issues of periodicals •Tours •Lectures •Exhibits •Conferences •School programs •School programs •Consultations for Researchers and Activists •Attendance to Prague Pride •graves adoption Queer History as a history of what was left out •Denial •Ignorance •Confusion/Misunderstanding Jan Zrzavý (1890–1977): Prince (Self-portrait), 1907 Sleeping boy, ca 1911 Anti-Krist, 1908 Josef Váchal (1884–1969): „Is his homeland Paris or London? Is he blond or ginger (=„zrzavý)? Does he like girls or boys?“ Jan Zrzavý: Two male nudes, 1955 Art historian František Dvořák (1920–2015) Jan Zrzavý: Fanouš, 1920s Orrin Peck (1860–1921) „unidentified woman― Adolf Hofmeister: Ten-Ta-Toyen Toyen: Drawing, 1932 Jack Halberstam Opressed or priviledged? 1933–1945 Oskar Just Štefan Leonard Kostelníček Opressed or priviledged? 1948–1989 Libuše Jarcovjáková: T-club, 1980–1982 Ryszard Kisiel: T-club, 1981 Secret police ID Karel Laštovka (1938–1986) Tomáš Fragner‘s attic Where have all the queer critics gone? Miloš Jiránek Showers in the Sokol, Prague 1901–1903 Wlastimil Hofman (1881–1970) „I am still thinking of the painting from your gallery, that Hofman‘s Ganymede, that sad, distant face, all that vanity and desire, all the grief of an autumn mist in a remoteness...“ – Director Vaclav Krška to Karasek Václav Krška: Silver Wind movie, 1956 Wlastimil Hofman: Ganymede, 1925 „The museum is going to be a testimony of our times. It is also going to be the museum of death. We are at the end of the journey, Sofia! There is no way to go from here. We can only reminisce! […] You live slowly, my lady. Because you perceive every event in all the details and you make every detail and marginalia bigger than it actually is.― — Ladislav Fuchs: The Duchess and the Cook, 1983 Kynžvart Castle: Collection of curiosities, 18th and the 19th Century Searching for a queer space Spaces of Desire: Is Architecture Sexy?, 2016 Philip Johnson: Glass House, 1949 What Now? „Closed due to homosexual and Nazi propaganda― — curator Olga Malá Mark Ther *1977 2010-2011: Ars Homo Erotica 2012: What a Material? Queer Art from Central Europe