A free tour of the exhibition Unboxed: Transgender in a Gay Museum? in English. Reservation is not necessary. Only the museum entrance fee must be paid.
Is a Gay Museum a good place to hold transgender collections? Materials labelled as transsexuality, transgender, transvestism, trans, “Transi”, or “Travestie” sit uneasily among the Museum’s much larger and better catalogued collections on cis gay and lesbian themes. This exhibition is an invitation to the wider public to engage in an ongoing process of surveying trans related material in the collections of the SMU.
The exhibition makes use of a range of archival materials including photographs, letters, personal scrapbooks and art works. Some sources, such as those from the Charlotte von Mahlsdorf collection, are well documented. Other collections have no documentation at all, leaving us unable to know about the lived realities and experiences of the people depicted.
Guided tours of SMU* exhibitions take place every Thursday (6pm) and Saturday (4pm) in German or English.
We also provide the possibility for private and group tours through our exhibitions and archive. More info can be found here