Paolina Wandruszka and Duygu Ağal take an artistic approach to Joan Nestle’s texts. They approach the author, activist and archivist through dialog and explore the significance of her work for contemporary issues in the form of readings and discussions. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for discussion and get-togethers over drinks in the bar of the Schwules Museum.
“Desire and Resistance” by Joan Nestle is a powerful collection of essays and short stories that was first published in German translation in 2024. As a lesbian-queer Jewish fem from the US working class, Nestle offers a penetrating look at sex, community, gender, intersectionality, left-wing resistance and queer history. The anthology covers her political struggles since the 1950s, from the civil rights movement to lesbian-feminist alliances. Nestle’s explicit depiction of queer sexuality was both groundbreaking and controversial in the 1980s and has lost none of its empowering effect since then. The book is a contemporary testimony that brings queer history to life and at the same time remains highly topical.
Tickets (8 euros) are available via Eventbrite, not via the Schwules Museum.
Contact person Events
lea@etece.de
etece book UG
(limited liability)
Chausseestr. 86
10115 Berlin
www.etece.de
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Paolina Wandruszka is an art historian. She studied art history, literature and cultural anthropology in Hamburg, Venice and Vienna. Paolina has worked for freelance artists as well as at the art history department of the University of Vienna and curated several exhibitions – online and offline. In her academic work, she has dealt with (queer) feminist and postcolonial artistic strategies, including Hito Steyerl’s concept of technology and the symbolic meaning of sleep in performance art. She has been a research assistant at the Berlin auction house am Grunewald since 2023.
Duygu Ağal is an author and moderator. Ağal made her literary debut in 2022 with “Yeni Yeserenler” (Korbinian Verlag). Ağal also writes song lyrics in collaboration with the band Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek. Ağal moderates in various contexts, most recently at re:publica, She Said Buchladen and Literaturhaus Berlin. Together with Ricarda Hillermann, he*she moderated the sports studio “SAINT FLESH” in the Red Salon of the Volksbühne Berlin and is currently working on his*her theater debut in collaboration with the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf.
“Desire and Resistance” by Joan Nestle was edited by Lara Ledwa and published by etece buch.
The event will be held in German and is supported by the Schwules Museum, Queer History Month and the Magnus Hirschfeld Federal Foundation.
Information on barriers and accessibility here.