This month in our street-front Window Gallery is the Russian Queer Revolution is a platform dedicated to celebrating Russia’s LGBTQI+ creatives. This September, it’s joining forces with The Outsiders Gallery at VFD to host an installation that will create a collective portrait of the queer Russian community leading a cultural rebellion — and an ode to their courage and openness.
Being part of Russia’s LGBTQI+ community often means facing harassment, violence, discrimination, and erasure. Under Russia’s so-called ‘gay propaganda law’, in place since 2013, there is no space for LGBTQ+ representation in the country’s cultural mainstream – whether that’s in the media, public spaces, or in education. Undeterred, however, a new generation of Russian artists, designers, photographers, musicians, activists, writers, and educators make up.
“For me, as a Russian queer person and an immigrant, this project is significant for many reasons. It is a search for a Russian queer family I never had. It is proof of our defiant existence”.
At the centre of Russian Queer Revolution’s installation at VFD is a collection of portraits sourced from Russia’s LGBTQI+ community. It is a mixture of self-portraits, collaborative works, fragments from editorials, and various creative projects. The very person depicted here (alongside thousands who we were not able to
fit inside the physical space of The Outsiders Gallery) contributes to the rise of the new Russian Culture.”
Curated by Anastasiia Fedorova Installation design by Joshua Fay
Special thanks to Dmitry Kozachenko, Sasha Kazantseva, and the team of O-zine, a Moscow-based magazine about Russian queer culture
One of the key aims of the Russian Queer Revolution is to connect Russia’s LGBTQ+ creatives with the global community. Even within this installation, you can see queer people of different backgrounds, including those with Ukrainian and Polish heritage. The installation is also a collaboration with London-based queer creatives, Samoan-Irish artist Joshua Fay and Polish art director Filip Lelicki.
THE EXHIBITION IS IN THE STREET FRONT WINDOW GALLERY.
Identity design by Filip Lelicki Photography consultant Anya Gorkova
Follow @russian.queer.revolution @anastasiia_fedorova