HIJRA FANTASTIK / English (099)
A free guided tour of our special exhibition HIJRA FANTASTIK in English.
HIJRA FANTASTIK is an inquiry into a feminity not defined biologically and grapples artistically with the contradictory Hijra identity as a woman and as a third gender: an idea, which can also be attempted as the structure for a lesbian identity. The exhibition HIJRA FANTASTIK explores this idea as a contribution to the Year of the Women* at the Schwules Museum.
In India “Hijra” is used as a description of a long-established trans* femininity. Especially since India’s highest court acknowledged a third gender one to two million Hijra hope for a progressive social change. For an often exoticized, archaic-seeming culture, whose rigidity partially stems from the criminalization and disenfranchisement of Hijra under British colonial rule, this would mark significant upheaval.
The starting point of HIJRA FANTASTIK is the photographic collaboration between Claudia Reiche and a small Hijra community in Bangalore. During a residency at the Goethe Institute Bangalore in 2014 the artist sought out the contact for a shared photo project. The result of this encounter are 400 images, taken by the Hijras and given for publication.
HIJRA FANTASTIK is curated by Claudia Reiche in cooperation with Goethe-Institute / Max Mueller Bhavan.
