Join us for the opening of “Love at First Fight!”

Half a century after the Stonewall riots ignited a firestorm of queer resistance in some parts of the world, this exhibition wants to open up new perspectives: tracing (more than) 50 years of queer movements in the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and finally in a reunited Germany.

The exhibition, in cooperation with the Goethe Institut, takes form as a traveling exhibition with over 100 objects to be shown around the world. ‘Resistance manifested’ will be on display: posters, flyers, pamphlets. The exhibition explores the spaces where conflicts morphed into something new and exciting: from the lesbian feminist scene in the east to the “Tuntenstreit” fight of the left-wing gays in the west, from the founding of a network of Black women in Germany to today’s trans* movement protests.

The architecture of the exhibition, designed by the renowned Berlin scenographers chezweitz, is as sophisticated as it is simple. The exhibits aren’t hung on a wall but can be printed on carriers such as canvases, posters, T-shirts, flyers or adhesive tapes and are then installed in the room.

At the opening, curators Carina Klugbauer and Birgit Bosold will present the exhibition and greet guests like Georg Blochmann from Goethe Institut New York – who initiated the project – and designer Detlef Weitz from chezweitz.

“Love from First Fight!” will then officially run from July 19 and stay at SMU for at least a year. It first took shape as part of the multi media project “Queer as German Folk” at the Goethe Institut. The exhibition is funded by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.