The Research Center for the Cultural History of Sexuality (Humboldt University, Berlin), the Kinsey Institute (Indiana University, Bloomington), and the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum (WEAM, Miami) are hosting “Exhibitionism: Sexuality at the Museum” an online conference which will bring together researchers, museum practitioners, artists, and educators whose work involves sexuality in museums, collections, and exhibition spaces.

Many museums and exhibition spaces around the world are using artwork, objects, and other materials to talk about sexuality in new ways, prompted in part by a growing number of museum and collections professionals who work with materials connected to human sexuality. Museums are also increasingly becoming spaces for community gathering, creating opportunities for e.g. LGBTIQ* people, sex workers, kink collectives, and people of color organizations to engage audiences in programming that explores a variety of topics related to human sexuality.

The conference combines pre-produced audio-visual presentations, in-depth live discussions, performances, and online socializing. Early Bird registration is open until October 31, 2021. Regular tickets will be available from 1 November – 9 December 2021. The early bird ticket prices are reduced, so make sure to register early!

Conference organizers: Hannes Hacke (HU Berlin), Rebecca Fasman (Kinsey Institute), Melissa Blundell-Osorio (WEAM)


PROGRAM (Times: Eastern Standard Time USA)

THURSDAY 9 DECEMBER 2021
11–11:30am CONFERENCE OPENING & INTRODUCTION

11:30am–12:45pm PANEL DISCUSSION
Regulation and Radical Potential: Queer and Feminist Approaches to Reading Exhibitions, Archives, and the Politics of Display (Jillian Hernandez, Yetta Howard, Zeb Tortorici, Jennifer Tyburczy)

1:15–2pm PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS
Reclaiming & Curating: Confronting Sexual Trauma through Art at the Museum of Sex in NYC (Eve Arballo, Emily Shoyer)

Archivo El Insulto: Sexuality Socialization from a Grassroots Curatorial Perspective (Michelle Davo Ortiz, Adolfo Vega)

2–2:45pm PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS
Ordering Desire Through Display Strategies in Collection Exhibitions. Analyses of Sexual Meaning-making Techniques in Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art (Juliane Saupe)

Tessa Boffin’s Amazon’s in the Archive and the Ethics of Embellishment (Sarah Jay-Ford)

2:45–3:15pm NETWORKING & SOCIALIZING

3:30–4:45pm PANEL DISCUSSION
From Socially Camouflaged Technology to Publicly Visible Objects: The Good Vibrations Antique Vibrator Museum and the Value of Retail-Based Exhibitions (Carol Queen, Rachel Maines, Lynn Comella)

3:30–4:45pm INTERACTIVE SESSION
Pornography as Documentation and Archiving (House of Huitlacooch)


FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER 2021

11–11:45am PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS
Loving Up to Our Potential: the role of sex education in advancing social justice agendas in the museum (Holly Bee)

From Marginality to Spectrum: A Critical Analysis on Queer Art Representation in Spectrosynthesis I and II (Kenneth Wong See Huat)

11:45am–12:30pm PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS
Queering the Collection as Institutional and Intersectional Practice (Liang-Kai Yu)

Exhibitions on the History of Sexuality (Julie Peakman)

12:45–2:15pm PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS

Sex Workers Archives and Museums
Body of Workers; Sex Workers Museums (Yin Q, Empress Wu)
Archiving Desire: Telling Sex Workers’ Stories Through Objects and Art (Objects of Desire Collective)

Queering Museums
Displaying and Interpreting the Warren Cup at the British Museum (Stuart Frost)
Queering the Local Museum (Stephanie E. Yuhl, Robert D. Tobin)

2:15–2:45pm NETWORKING & SOCIALIZING

3–4:15pm PANEL DISCUSSION
Curating Visual Archives of Sex (Heike Bauer, Katie Sutton, Ashkan Sepahvand, Annette Timm, Jeanne Vaccaro)


SATURDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2021

11am–12:15pm PANEL DISCUSSION
LGBTTQI+ Museums Without Walls Create Spaces for LGBTTQI+ Sovereignty in Latin America (Michael Andrés Forero Parra, Fernanda Martínez Fontaine, Gledys Anael Macias, Tatiana Muñoz Brenes, Armando Perla)

12:15–12:45pm NETWORKING & SOCIALIZING

1:15–2:15pm PERFORMANCE
Power & Pleasure: Desire in the Institution (Vicente Ugartechea)

2:45–4:15pm PARALLEL Q&A PRESENTATIONS
Exhibiting Sex Workers’ Art and History
Is Moderation Violence?: Exhibiting Sex Worker Art (Lena Chen)
Reflections from a Movement Art Whorestorian/The Sex Worker Gazes Back (Brit Schulte)

LGBTQ* Museum Tours
Bringing Sex, Sexuality and Gender Identity to the Noble National Narrative: Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Queerseum audio guide (Siren Deluxe)
What Do LGBTQ+ Art Museums Tours Do? (Stefanie Snider)

4:15–4:45pm CLOSING SESSION