A free guided tour of our special exhibition HIJRA FANTASTIK in German. Registration not necessary, only the museum entrance fee must be paid.

HIJRA FANTASTIK is an inquiry into a feminity not defined biologically and grapples artistically with the contradictory Hijra identity as a woman and as a third gender: an idea, which can also be attempted as the structure for a lesbian identity. The exhibition HIJRA FANTASTIK explores this idea as a contribution to the Year of the Women at the Schwules Museum.

In India “Hijra” is used as a description of a long-established trans feminity. Especially since India’s highest court acknowledged a third gender one to two million Hijra hope for a progressive social change. For an often exoticized, archaic-seeming culture, whose rigidity partially stems from the criminalization and disenfranchisement of Hijra under British colonial rule, this would mark significant upheaval.

The starting point of HIJRA FANTASTIK is the photographic collaboration between Claudia Reiche and a small Hijra community in Bangalore. During a residency at the Goethe Institut Bangalore in 2014 the artist sought out the contact for a shared photo project. The result of this encounter are 400 images, taken by the Hijras and given for publication.

HIJRA FANTASTIK is curated by Claudia Reiche in cooperation with Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan.

YEAR OF THE WOMEN* is supported by the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa (Senate Department for Culture and Europe).

Guided tours of the Schwules Museum exhibitions are held regularly every Thursday  (6pm) and Saturday (4pm) in German or English.