QUEER ICONS IN TURIN
Antonio Cataldo, Artistic Director with Miki Gebrelul, Fotogalleriet Curator and Head of Exhibitions; Lara Okafor, Fotogalleriet Curatorial Fellow; Håkon Lillegraven, Fotogalleriet former Curator and Head of Mediation; and Tommaso Speretta, Coordinator for the Italian Icons
Harald Lunde Helgesen (HAiKW/)
The Queer Icons project, comprising an exhibition, a book, and wide-ranging public programs, results from a series of meetings that photographer Fin Serck-Hanssen and authors Bjørn Hatterud and Caroline Ugelstad Elnæs had with queer personas that have not only contributed to structure social and cultural foundations underpinning the Norwegian society we know today but built a more complex and nuanced understanding of sexuality to prevent forms of conscious and unconscious discrimination coming from biased societal conservatism.
The project addresses the fight for freedom and equality leading to the repeal of Criminal Law 213 in 1972 for decriminalizing homosexuality in Norway by depicting the life stories of inspiring leading individuals who actively fought in the background and the foreground against prejudicial moral jurisdiction, eventually leading to a more liberated society. It celebrates the glam of life produced outside the norm through democratic demands, parties, and activism in historical Norwegian queer underground culture, including sequins, joy, and humor. The exhibition, which, in addition, has also been presented for schools of all ages in Norway, aims to support these unwritten stories to surface in majoritarian storytelling with a widespread reach.
Presented for the first time in Italy, in the context of EXPOSED, in a unique and novel presentation, the Italian iteration of Queer Icons includes some of the most iconic figures of the queer movement in Italy, who have contributed to a change not only in its culture but also of the politics of the country. Some of the results of these conversations will be presented in the exhibition in Turin throughout the viewing period, and new Italian icons will be part of the Queer Icons constellation, demonstrating the need for further acknowledgment of these unwritten stories beyond the Nordic countries.
Inspired by the life stories of Queer Icons, Nils Bech has created an unique piece for Turin, which dancer Mathias Aas Stoltenberg will accompany.
Bech is an iconic figure in the Norwegian cultural field known in the art world for his a cappella performances. Aas Stoltenberg has been working with companies such as Carte Blanche and the Norwegian National Ballet and has toured his work to Pompidou Paris, Volksbühne Berlin, and The Joyce NYC, to name a few. He collaborates closely with Nils Bech and has staged and performed several of his concerts.
GUIDED TOURS
Led by Dalia Alva Pisoni
The tour is a personal reading of Queer Icons (Skeive Ikoner), the book about exceptional Queer individuals who contributed to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Norway.
There will be 4 appointments:
18.05 and 1.06, the guided tour will be 17:00-18:00
19.05 and 2.06, the guided tour will be 12:00-13:00
It will be possible to follow the tours in both English and Italian.
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The body is my queer archive
Presentation by Tommaso Speretta
Introduction by Prof. Alessio Ponzio, the University of Turin.
25.05.24 18:00-19:00
