Opening: Queer art in the GDR?

Using the diverse biographies of nine artists and their works—including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and photographs—the exhibition demonstrates the diverse ways in which these artists grappled with the political and social conditions of their time. To what extent did their sexual orientation influence their artistic practice and professional development?

Despite gradual decriminalization, homosexuality remained heavily stigmatized in the GDR, both socially and politically. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the situation for queer artists did not improve significantly—on the contrary, many GDR artists were in danger of being forgotten. Today, there is a growing public interest in the art and culture of the GDR, as well as in queer lived experiences. The connection between these two perspectives—queer biographies and artistic expressions in the communist dictatorship—remains a largely unexplored field.

Although the term "queer" in its current sense did not exist in the GDR, it is deliberately used in the exhibition: as a collective term for people who, as lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, desired and loved same-sex partners, as well as for those who, as transgender and non-binary individuals, lived outside conventional notions of gender.

Exhibition Venues

• KVOST / Leipziger Straße 47, 10117 Berlin / kvost.de
  
• nGbK / Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 11/13, 10178 Berlin / ngbk.de
  
• Mitte Museum / Pankstraße 47, 13357 Berlin / mittemuseum.de
  
• Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge / Leipziger Straße 54, 10117 Berlin / museumderdinge.de
  

Further Cooperation Partners

Feminist Archive FFBIZ, Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research, Museum Lichtenberg, Schwules Museum, Sonntagsclub, Leipzig University, as well as other private collections, contemporary witnesses, and experts.

Openings

March 25, 2026
Soft Opening, Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge (5–7 p.m.)
Soft Opening with presentation of the publication, KVOST (6–9 p.m.)

March 26, 2026
Soft Opening, Mitte Museum (6–9 p.m.)

March 27, 2026
Official opening of the project, nGbK (6–9 p.m.)