May Queerness Remain with This Land: Queer Resistance and Collaboration under Socialism

During the era of Normalization (from late 1970 to 1989), people in Czechoslovakia sought strategies to survive the lack of freedom and totalitarian dictatorship. Most resorted to the strategy of everyday negotiation and fulfilling a social contract that, on one hand, guaranteed them certain material securities and, on the other, demanded their consent to maintaining single-party rule. For queer people, it was even more complicated, as they could not openly live their identity or fulfill their personal lives, and their difference made them more easily blackmailable.

Art historian Ladislav Jackson will present his latest research on specific sites of queer sociability — artists' studios. Using the examples of architect Tomáš Fragner, painter Karel Laštovka, and amateur musician Ladislav Takács, he will show how these spaces moved along an axis from outright resistance to the communist dictatorship and draconian persecution, through necessary consent and passive cooperation, all the way to eager collaboration.

The program consists of a presentation of historical research followed by an informal discussion.

Hosted by PhDr. Ladislav Jackson, Ph.D. – art historian; besides 20th-century architecture and design, he focuses on queer studies in the history of visual culture. He is co-author of the books Homosexualita v dějinách české kultury and Teplá Praha, as well as Queer Sexualities: Staking Out New Territories in Queer Studies and Reimagining Masculinities: Beyond Masculinist Epistemology. He is a director of Společnost pro queer paměť (Society for Queer Memory).

Admission – free

Accessibility – suitable also for teenagers

Vibe check – intimate event (up to about 30 people), quiet (no loud music, shouting, etc.), requires interaction with the audience or other participants, indoor venue

Trigger warnings – mentions of the oppression of queer people in the 20th century, mentions of real suicides

Organized by – Společnost pro queer paměť, z. s. Společnost pro queer paměť is a non-governmental non-profit organization aiming to collect, preserve, research, and popularize the past of queer people in the Czech lands. It is divided into a museum with a unique collection of documents on queer lives (including an oral history sub-collection), an archive of individuals and organizations, and a specialized library containing both contemporary literature and periodicals as well as valuable historical prints. The organization makes its collections, archive, and library accessible to researchers.