QUEERING THE MUSEUM

What role do museums play in building a society more attentive to difference? And how can they truly open up to queer communities, welcoming their voices, perspectives and stories? These questions underpin Queering the Museum, a day of meetings, discussions and workshops focusing on the relationship between cultural institutions and the LGBTQIA+ community.

The project, the result of a network of national and international collaborations, comes to Gender Bender to provide a space for reflection and open dialogue.
The morning opens with a plenary session in the Sala Farnese, presenting key European resources, including the “LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in European Museums” guidelines produced by NEMO (Network of European Museum Organisations); the “Museums and Gender” guidelines of the “Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights” Working Group of ICOM Italia; and the Italian adaptation of the University of Leicester’s “Trans Inclusive Culture Guidance.” The second part of the morning is dedicated to the involvement and co-design of identity and queer communities in cultural heritage sites and processes.

In the afternoon, the programme continues at the Medieval Civic Museum with three thematic workshops designed to offer a practical space to explore different methodological approaches to queer and identity participation in cultural institutions.