Queer as German Folk
On the night of June 27 into 28, 1969, queer people vehemently resisted a police raid on the Stonewall Inn bar. For many LGBTQIA communities around the world, the days of the uprising around Christopher Street in New York mark the beginning of the queer revolt. As a joint project of the Goethe-Institut, Schwules Museum Berlin, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education, this exhibition takes the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots as an opportunity to offer an insight into the history of queer movements in the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and reunited Germany since the 1960s. Particular emphasis is placed on the manifold relations with US movements. Under the title Queer as German Folk, in the summer of 2019, the exhibition will tour the Goethe-Instituts in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and will also be presented at Schwules Museum Berlin; beginning in 2020, it will travel to other cities and countries worldwide.
The exhibition highlights moments of the queer movement’s history without claiming to tell the only possible story. Just like the debate about the legacy of the Stonewall Riots, it questions the power dynamic at work in the queer politics of memory. What is under fire today is the appropriation of the riots by those parts of the movement that, in their struggle for social acceptance, lost sight of its radical goals and of the cause of many of its heroes: dykes, drag queens, trans people, sex workers, and young people living in precarious conditions, among them many queer people of color. Perhaps above all else, this debate shows that resistance from civil society is still necessary in the 21st century and must be reinvented again and again. On this note: remember Stonewall and happy Pride!
Open Call for your initiatives
Between December 2026 to February 2027 the exhibition Queer as German Folk, a collaboration between Schwules Museum Berlin and Goethe-Institut with LGBTI Deystvie Association is on display at Goethe-Institut Bulgaria’s gallery.
During the exhibition time, we want to open up parts of the programme design process and create space for perspectives, experiences, and initiatives that come directly from communities on the ground. You do not need to submit a finished project. We also welcome early-stage ideas, personal or collective reflections, materials, and proposals that could be developed together.
We are planning to host one programme per week of exhibition, up to 10 programmes, offering our library and event spaces at Goethe-Institut Bulgaria.
Limited funding for material costs and community interventions will be available based on the size and scope of the developed idea.
Submissions
In order to submit your ideas, please fill out this form: LINKThe deadline for submissions is 20.09.2026.
In case of any questions, please reach out to Kulturna-Programa-sofia@goethe.de
Selection process
All submissions will be reviewed by the teams of Deystvie and Goethe-Institut Bulgaria until 20th October.Selected contributors will be contacted to discuss how their ideas might be developed or integrated into the programme.
Submitting an idea does not guarantee inclusion, but every submission will help us to better understand what communities would like to see reflected in the exhibition and its accompanying programme.
Selection criteria
- relevance of the proposal to the exhibition and the local context
- its connection to communities on the ground
- feasibility within the available time and resources
- overall diversity of voices, formats, and perspectives represented in the final programme
