Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival: Queer art in Berghain

The Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival took place in Berlin for the second time. To mark the Foundation’s anniversary, over 100 artists and Queer institutions were presented at the Halle am Berghain.

Even though July was officially chosen as the so-called “Pride Month” in Berlin, June is generally and internationally considered to be the same month. There could not have been a better start to this in the capital: for the second time this weekend, Tom of Finland Foundation from Los Angeles hosted a Festival dedicated to Queer, particularly Gay, art.

For three days, Halle am Berghain, the back of the famous nightclub, was transformed into a contemporary museum. In addition to paintings, sculptures and lots of photography, performances, film screenings and a bit of fashion were also shown. The aim of the Festival, which also takes place in a similar form in Los Angeles and London, is to raise money for the Foundation that Tom of Finland founded in 1984 in his name, which aims to preserve his artistic legacy but also support other Queer art.

Over 100 artists, galleries and institutions were part of the extensive program. These included works by big names such as AA Bronson, to whom the Martin Gropius Bau recently dedicated an extensive exhibition as part of the artist collective General Idea. Or the filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, whose film The Visitor, a new interpretation of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorema, was shown in February at the Berlinale 2024. Other well-known names included Matt Lambert, Pussy Riot, Erika Lust, and Diane Pernet.

The world’s largest erotic art fair

The exhibition was set up like a classic art fair: without any recognizable curatorial thread, everything that had anything remotely to do with Queer culture was shown on white walls standing freely in the room. After all, according to the organizers, the festival was the world’s largest erotic art fair.

SEE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY TOBIAS LANGLEY-HUNT

Published: 3rd June 2024

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