Strength, muscles and dirty hands

normal_love.jpg

Berlin no podría acogerme más amorosamente. Vuelo mañana y al día siguiente tengo ya la inauguración de Normal Love, un proyecto que reune exposiciones, conferencias y proyección de películas en torno al tema del queer, mi favorito, vaya. El punto de partida de Normal Love es la vida de una mujer que vivió en el Londres Victoriano, en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Se llamaba Hannah Cullwick:

The point of departure for the exhibition are the photographs and texts of the »maid of all work«, Hannah Cullwick, who lived in Victorian London. They are archived at Trinity College, Cambridge, and will be shown for the first time outside England.
Hannah Cullwick not only cleaned from early in the morning until late at night in various households, she also produced a series of remarkable staged photographs, numerous diaries, and letters. She was very proud of her »masculinity«, of her strength, her muscles, and her big, dirty hands. Her portraits and self-portraits, which show her not only as a domestic servant, but also in »class drag« or »ethnic drag«, were part of a sado-masochistic relationship that Hannah Cullwick was involved in with Arthur Munby, a bourgeois man. Interestingly, it was elements of her hard work in the household that provided the material for their SM scenes.


opening on thursday, january 18th. it starts at 7pm.

at 7.30 pm: a queer guided tour with many guests will provide some perspectives on the exhibition. (deutsch/engl.)

later you may have a drink and hear some music by linda she-wolf (rhythm king and her friends) and verity (electrelane).

on friday, 19th we start at 6 pm: a queer guided tour with judith jack halberstam, josé esteban munoz, renate lorenz
at 7 pm: lecture/dialogue by judith jack halberstam and josé esteban munoz: manifesto for queer utopia or queers at work (engl.)

on saturday, 20th and sunday, 21st at 7 pm: special clipclub/ film program: normal work
saturday, 20th, 7 pm: gender and sexuality at work with special guests: oreet ashery, del la grace volcano
sunday, 21st, 7 pm: sexual semiotics with special guest: kai kaljo

friday, 19th, 7pm.
judith jack halberstam, josé esteban muñoz:
Manifesto for Queer Utopia Or Queers At Work
The manifesto basically asks: what now, what next, for whom, to where? It also raises the question of “intellectual labor” – the manifesto has to think the new possibilities of any given movement, it gives them voice, it proposes, imagines, fantasizes, takes a leap into the spaces opened by critique and opens more. The questions that the manifesto tackles cannot simply be refused, denied or avoided or pushed aside in the spirit of continuous critique. For José Muñoz and Judith Jack Halberstam, the manifesto remains an inspiring platform for making something happen, noticing that something has happened and celebrating the newness, the difference, the sheer range and potentiality of queer culture. In this presentation we will use the rubric of «queer labor» to discuss a range of art and performance practices: we will discuss work in the «normal love» show but also performance pieces by My Barbarian and Nao Bustamente. This critical dialogue will include clips and slides, improvised insight and spontaneous nonsense on behalf of crafting a plan for queer utopia.

One Response to “Strength, muscles and dirty hands”

  1. lachava Says:

    salud, la pregunta es, si hay que pagar por poder asistir a las charlas y las guias… aca ando, en estudios de genero y queer, asi que me interesaba. si hay que pagar, por lo menos que nos hagan descuento!