For those who don’t know: This thursday will begin an exciting series – Talking Eyes – in Berlin exploring certain marginalized perspectives in visual culture. For an overview, click here.

During the first event, held at C/O Berlin (Oranienburgerstr. 35/36) this Thursday, April 26th, the professor Jennifer Evans, from Carleton University, will explore the tensions between high and low – between the museum and the street – as a fundamental feature of efforts to queer the gays/gaze after Stonewall. The lecture starts at 19:30 and will conclude with a small toast to celebrate the opening of the series.

More info:

The decriminalization of homosexuality in the 1960s enabled legal protection for homosexuality and made it possible for same-sex desiring men and women to produce, possess, publish and consume erotic images without fear of police retribution or censor. Although photography played a pivotal role in the construction of queer identities in the newly protected public and private spheres, the art world was slow to embrace sex, street and subculture as high art. This talk explores the tension between high and low – between the museum and the street – as a fundamental feature of efforts to queer the gays/gaze after Stonewall. It takes up the problem of nostalgia in 1970s queer erotic photography and analyses the history and transformation of subject formation through the constitution and portrayal of erotic looking and seeing.

Evans holds a Ph.D in Modern European History. She teaches a variety of courses in 20th century German history with a primary interest in the history of sexuality. Her book, Life Among the Ruins: Cityscape and Sexuality in Cold War Berlin (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) explores the rebirth of the city’s various subcultures in the aftermath of World War II. She also writes about same-sex sexuality in Nazi and post-1945 Germany and is finishing a manuscript on pink triangle victims after Hitler. Her next two research projects are contemporary in focus. “Hate 2.0: Combatting Right-Wing Extremism in the Age of Social Technology” is a collaborative project supported by SSHRC that analyzes the role and potential of digital media in countering online hate. I am also exploring the way 1970s and 1980s queer erotic photography acted both as a practice of self-actualization and a claim to sexual freedom in the pre- Aids era..