Field Trip: GLBT Museum, San Francisco

I recently had a chance to visit the new GLBT Museum in San Francisco, and it was pretty much a homo history nerd's dream come true. It's billed as the "first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States", and it serves as a welcoming and accessible showcase for the GLBT Historical Society's archives. The museum occupies a storefront in the Castro neighbourhood and thus isn't that big, but they've managed to display an impressive range of artifacts (including Harvey Milk's kitchen table and megaphone, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon's wedding suits, zines, matchbooks, banners, oral history recordings and an ancient vibrator that haunts me still). Full without feeling crowded, the gallery space also features several text panels describing the city's queer history and the ways that it has been shaped by race, class and gender. Even if you aren't planning a trip to San Francisco in the near future, you can find several online exhibits linked from the Museum's site.

*Note to prospective donors: the CLGA has more than enough material to create a similar museum documenting queer Canadians' unique experiences...just sayin'.

Hola, ACA Student Chapter!

Rachel and I recently met with some of the members of the Association of Canadian Archivists student chapter, and we want to thank everyone for being so enthusiastic about the CLGA! If memory serves, everybody on the tour signed up to volunteer, which has to be some kind of record.

LEZ CON -- Onya Hogan-Finlay's photographic exhibit at the CLGA January 20 - April 10, 2012

On Saturday December 10, 2011, Canadian artist Onya Hogan-Finlay hosted a photo shoot entitled 'LEZ CON' at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA). Hogan-Finlay's work aims to document all spectra of the rainbow from "haggard bull daggers, baby dykes, saucy queens, bossy bisexuals, telepathic transgenders, ambidextrous allies, leathery leather daddies young and old, interested intersex people, soft butches, closet cases, as well as staff, board members, volunteers and friends of the CLGA." The final print will be shown as part of an exhibition in the CLGA Gallery, January 20 - April 10, 2012. This exhibition is in conjunction with 'Coming After,' an international group exhibition on queer time, arriving too late and the spectre of the recent past, curated by Jon Davies at The Power Plant, Toronto, 10 December, 2011 - 4 March, 2012 http://www.thepowerplant.org.

The World of Gay Pulps

Just want to (very belatedly) thank Matt Rohweder for his great lecture on gay pulp fiction. Those who braved the rain to hear Matt were rewarded with a funny and informative presentation and a fabulous Q & A. Thanks again, Matt!

We're always looking for new queer-history-themed lecture proposals, so please get in touch if you've been itching to share your research!

Memories of the summer.....my visit to the Schwules Museum, Berlin

Entrance

I have been to Berlin many times but this summer, when I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go back I wanted to do all the things I had never done there before.

After speaking to others who share my fondness for Berlin, the Schwules Museum was recommended for a visit.  Some of the CLGA’s archivists have visited and formed friendships with Schwules archivists over the years so I worked the visit into my brief time in Berlin.

Schwules was founded by three men, two of whom wanted to build a museum and collect and show “gay” art.  The other founder was interested in archives and set out to build an archives attached to the museum.  As a result the collection, which is housed in a 4 storey building contains one floor of a library (in which the audio visual collection is held), and archival materials, one floor that serves as the museum and exhibition space and two floors that house the massive art and poster collection.

The museum entry fees (€5 for the exhibit I saw) funds the whole organization almost entirely and is staffed by volunteers.  There is a full-time Archivist and General Manager (who also produces the exhibitions), though part-time staffing for the archives is also provided by the Berlin version of work-fare (one Euro jobs) and a host of volunteers and practicum students.  Some funding is provided by the Berlin government and this has been a reasonably stable source of funding for the archives.

I was very interested to learn that there is no electronic database for the archival holdings, only excel sheets and some very detailed finding aids which seemed very useful.  The art collection is still largely uncatalogued but they are working on this.

oversized archival materials

During my visit I also became aware of the SpinnbodenArchives a few blocks away which is the lesbian archives.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it there in my brief time in Berlin, but it was interesting to hear how the two archives have begun to work together.  The dream is to someday have a single building which could house both archives in different wings and house the entire story of the queer communities of Berlin in one place without dissolving either original archival collection.  Currently the Schwules archives collects items from the trans and lesbian communities as an interim solution and meets with the Spinnboden Archives regularly looking for opportunities to collaborate or find funding for a permanent home together.

It was interesting to see how another community archives has formed, so much in common with the CLGA but also taking a much different approach to management of the collection, staffing, access and fundraising.  Definitely worth a visit if you
find yourself in the vicinity of Kreuzberg but check the website for hours before going.

standard sized archival materials

The view from the Archives

entrance to Archives (rear of building)

library

Queer fonds

time line in the library

The World of Gay Pulps: A Talk with Matthew Rohweder

The World of Gay Pulps: A Talk with Matthew RohwederThis talk will discuss Matthew's recent work and give insights into the CLGA's Pulp Fiction Collection.

7:30pm-9:30pm Thursday, September 29, 2011
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
34 Isabella Street, Toronto, 3rd Floor


This event is Free,donations are gratefully accepted.
Reservations are required as space is limited. Email: lectureseries@clga.ca to book your space.

GV and the Glorious Bird

GV and the Glorious Bird
an exhibition by Sholem Krishtalka

September 15 – October 27
Opening reception September 15, 2011 7:30pm-10pm, Archives Gallery, 34 Isabella Street

Krishtalka's work is an exercise in queered history: a deconstruction of his life, a document of his relationships, and an attempt to create a philosophy from and about queerness. GV and the Glorious Bird is a sweeping epic about Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams. Captivated by their strange position in the American 20thcentury, Krishtalka imagines the two as recorders and witnesses whose own stories unfold in a suite of narrative paintings. As with all of his work, he imagines this series as an opera, in which he casts his immediate social circle as its actors.

Bio
Sholem Krishtalka is an artist and writer.  He holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from York University.  He is the art critic for Xtra Magazine and his writing has been featured in Canadian Art, C Magazine, Taddle Creek, and CBC Arts Online, in addition to which he is a regular contributor to Ryeberg.com, a curated video blog.  His artwork has been featured in Carte Blanche Volume 2: Painting, a survey of contemporary Canadian painting.  Most recently, he had a solo show in Brooklyn, New York, at Jack the Pelican Presents, where he launched a commissioned folio of prints with ArtInvestor, a Munich-based multiples store and magazine. His paintings were featured in the premiere issue of Headmaster, a queer arts and culture magazine out of Providence, Rhode Island.  He maintains a web-project called Lurking, which can be seen at sholem.tumblr.com.