The exhibition is part of the photo festival “Kommunikation und Haltung”, organized by Haus des Papiers, at the Schwules Museum.
Curated by Collin Klugbauer & Birga Meyer
Duration: 4.07.2025-23.02.2026
Opening: 3.07.2025, 7 pm
The activism of the women’s and lesbian movement in the 1980s and 1990s drastically changed society. Women and lesbians fought for economic equality and for social and legal recognition. They demanded the right over their bodies and campaigned against sexualized violence. They created numerous spaces to protest, think, celebrate and fuck.
The achievements of the women’s and lesbian movement are clearly visible today: From quotas for women, to support centers for those affected by sexist and queer-hostile violence, to feminist parties. Women shape politics, lesbians are visible in everyday life, there are numerous self-determined spaces. But there is a long way to go – the FLI*NT*A (women, lesbians, inter*, non-binary, trans*, agender) and queer movement still fights for equal rights, freedom and bodily autonomy.
The exhibition “Burning down the Patriarchy. The Berlin women and lesbians’ scene photographed by Petra Gall” celebrates the extensive cultural, intellectual and sexual productivity of the women’s & lesbian community of the 1980s and 1990s through the photos of Petra Gall. Her works show how strong, diverse and fierce the Berlin women’s and lesbian scene was.
Petra Gall (1955-2018), who moved to Berlin in 1981, was part of the women’s and lesbian scene and photographed it for over two decades. As part of the movement, she captured the struggles of women and lesbians at demonstrations such as Walpurgis Night or March 8. Her photos show squats occupied by women and lesbians and feminist projects such as the cultural venue Pelze.Multimedia or the Schokofabrik, which still exists today. Her photos show women’s and lesbian concerts and lively women’s and lesbian parties. Photos of sex-positive events such as a BDSM erotic weekend or the Night of the Raging Cunts party illustrate how women and lesbians counter the harsh conditions in society with queer and feminist solidarity and a little tenderness.
Petra Gall’s extensive legacy of work, comprising over 200,000 negatives, prints and contact sheets, as well as personal items, has been in the collection of the Schwules Museum since 2012. Petra Gall is an important chronicler of Berlin’s lesbian and women’s scene, but she also portrayed the punk and music scene, has made impressive travel documentaries and documented the city of Berlin in all its contradictions. The exhibition “Burning down the Patriarchy. The Berlin women and lesbians’ scene photographed by Petra Gall” pays tribute to Petra Gall’s work as well as the women’s and lesbian movement. It also shows how current the struggles of the 1980s and 1990s are today – as the fight against § 218, sexualized violence or queer phobia continues.
In addition to Petra Gall’s works, the exhibition also features artworks by Lena Rosa Händle, Katharina Voß and Janin Afken.
Supported by Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt, Haus des Papiers, d’mage, Hahnemühle, Canon.
Photo: Walpurgis Night Demonstration West-Berlin, 30.04.1983, by Petra Gall, Schwules Museum Berlin