PREVIEW MARCH 2026

QUEER ART IN THE GDR?
Biographies between Underground and Propaganda

Toni Ebel, Andreas Fux, Harry Hachmeister, Jochen Hass, Dorothea von Philipsborn, Erika Stürmer-Alex, Rita „Tommy“ Thomas, Jürgen Wittdorf, Egon Wrobel

curated by Stephan Koal

The exhibition and extensive accompanying events programme shed light on artists’ positions in East Germany and encourage a new reading of art from the GDR. The project is a KVOST initiative and is taking place in cooperation with neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbk), Mitte Museum, and Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge. The exhibition draws on the checkered life stories of nine artists and their works, ranging from painting, sculpture, and ceramics to photography. On that basis it shows how differently the nine addressed the political and social conditions of their day. To what extent did sexual orientation influence their artistic practice and their careers?

Despite its gradual decriminalization, homosexuality in the GDR remained subject to strong social and political stigmatization. After the Fall of the Wall, the situation facing queer artists did not improve significantly. On the contrary: Many artists from East Germany ran the risk of being completely forgotten. Today, general interest in the art and culture of East Germany and in queer lived realities is growing. However, to date combining these two perspectives, namely queer life stories and forms of artistic expression under a Communist dictatorship, has gone largely unresearched.

Although the term “queer” in today’s meaning did not exist in the GDR, it is consciously used in the exhibition: as a collective term for people who as lesbians, gays, and bisexuals desire and love the same sex, as well as for those who as transgender and non-binary persons live outside conventional notions of gender.

The project is being made possible with funding from the Capital City Cultural Fund.
With thanks to the Berlin Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship for the funding of the catalogue.

DISTANZ Verlag is publishing a catalogue to coincide with the exhibition.