Susan Sontag is a critic, novelist, theorist, and director whose reputation precedes her. Throughout her work on style, aesthetics, and politics, Sontag calls for a directness of language and an “erotics of art” as a way of encountering the world that remains both relevant and urgent. In Sontag Reading Sessions, we will focus on three essays by Sontag that both explore these concerns and are particularly salient to Schwules Museum´s unpacking of Sontag’s queer connections in Susan Sontag: Sehen und gesehen werden.

In texts ranging from “AIDS and its Metaphors” to “Notes on Camp” and “Fascinating Fascism”, we will discuss the aesthetic, political, and theoretical questions raised by her writing, with each session taking a segment of the exhibition as its starting point (feel free to visit the exhibition in its entirety beforehand). Sontag Reading Sessions are hosted by Priyam Goswami Choudhury, Rachel Pafe, and Wassan Ali. The Sessions are in English.

Thu 16 July 2026, 5–7 pm with Priyam Goswami Choudhury on “Fascinating Fascism”

Thu 6 August 2026, 5–7 pm with Rachel Pafe on “Notes on Camp”

Thu 3 September 2026, 5–7 pm with Wassan Ali on “AIDS and Its Metaphors”

Please register at readingsontag@posteo.com. Participation is for free, only the entrance to the Schwules Museum itself has to be paid. Participants are encouraged to take part in all three sessions (one time admission fee only). Each session will consist of group discussion of the respective reading. A cooperation between Schwules Museum and Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv.