QUEER ICONS

Queer Icons is a unique project that marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Norway by depicting the life stories of some of the leading individuals and communities who actively contributed to the fight for freedom and equality before and after the repeal of Criminal Law 213 in 1972. Who do not -conforming individuals actively fought against discriminatory structures in Norwegian culture and society.

Artistic director of the Fotogalleriet and curator of the exhibition Antonio Cataldo writes:

With the project Queer Icons, photographer Fin Serck-Hanssen and writers Bjørn Hatterud and Caroline Ugelstad Elnæs shed light on how leading figures from the queer community in Norway born before 1970 have not only contributed to, but helped to build up the social and cultural foundations to the Norwegian society we know today. In a society where sexuality and desire continue to be manipulated and streamlined by a normative status quo dictated by a consumption-driven visual culture and the bourgeois nuclear family as the primary model, queer lives nevertheless continue to be marginalized and stigmatized. It also undermines queer people’s role in the fight for the rights and tolerance that form the foundations for the democracy and social mobility we take for granted.

After the exhibition period at Fotogalleriet Spring 2022, the exhibition is set to tour along with the publication, distributed by Pitch Forlag (in Norwegian only) Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023.

Link for the pdf of the exhibition booklet can be found here.

Fotogalleriet’s principal operating support is provided by The Norwegian Royal Ministry of Culture; additional operational funding comes from the Norwegian Photographic Fund (Nofofo). The exhibition «Queer Icons» has been made possible with the additional support from The Relief Fund for Visual Artists (BKH).

The public programe is funded by The Norwegian Royal Ministry of Culture and The Fritt Ord Foundation.