Queer and Disabled Lives Beautifully Intersected

Author: Dustina Haase-Lanier

Schwules Museum Berlin welcomes the first international exhibit exploring the intersectionality of queerness and disability — “Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer.” The exhibit, running until April 30, challenges the narrative of a perfect or ideal body. In fact, it creates space for beauty in every body. Artworks by over 20 international contemporary artists, including nine queer/disabled artists from the U.S., are featured.

Some of the artists include Justin LeBlanc, Riva Lehrer, and Charles Ryan Long from Chicago; Artist Perel, Joey Solomon, and Quintan Ana Wikswo from New York City. The other American artists are Brontez Purnell from Oakland, Kah Mendoza Weethee from Los Angeles, and the late Mel Baggs. Some works were especially commissioned for the exhibit, including U.S. artist Riva Lehrer’s Zoom portrait drawing of German queer/disabled artist and activist Steven Solbrig.

The pinnacle of this beautifully curated exhibit was how these new striking multimedia pieces were perfect residing amidst some of the historical pieces in the museum, giving new life to those antiquities and lending credence to the beauty of diverse pieces.

U.S. disability studies scholar Carrie Sandahl, who coined the phrase of the exhibition’s title, LGBTQ+ people and those living with disabilities have much in common: “Both have been pathologized by medicine; demonized by religion; discriminated against in housing, employment, and education; stereotyped in representation; victimized by hate groups; and isolated socially, often in their families of origin.”

Find out more about the exhibit here.

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Dustina Haase-Lanier