The Unstraight House

Our most ambitious project so far, creating a physical museum in Stockholm to host stories from all over the world.

”Seeking Company”

A digital exhibition about men seeking contact with other men using graffiti in 20th century Stockholm. The exhibition was created using Google Arts and Culture. Link to exhibition

”Walks of Life, Myanmar” - Tour of Myanmar

The exhibition went on touring the provinces and did so until 2019 with adaptations being made during the course of the tour.

”Walks of Life, Myanmar”

The most ambitious collecting of stories so far was done as a preparation for the exhibition ”Walks of Life, Myanmar” in Myanmar (Burma). Stories from different provinces were gathered resulting in more than 100 interviews from all over the country. The exhibition opened in Yangon 2017.

”The Unstraight Museum, Marabouparken”

The Unstraight Museum did a guest appearance at Gallery Marabouparken in Stockholm presenting objects and stories from the museums Swedish collections.

The exhibition ”Touch”

The exhibition ”Touch” was produced specifically for Baltic Pride 2016 and consisted of a number of photographs and a film by Russian born artist and activist Mischa Badasyan in Berlin, Germany.

The creating process itself was the most vital part of the project, working with LGBTQ+ refugees in Germany, presenting the results in Vilnius and sharing it with the community. 

”The Rainbow Life Exhibition”

Following ”The Cabinet” in Hanoi the exhibition ”The Rainbow Life Exhibition” opens in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with local stories and program activities for the community.  

”The Cabinet”, Hanoi, Vietnam

The previously cancelled exhibition could now be shown at a new location, The Vietnam University of Fine Arts in Hanoi. This time with no censorship.

”The Artefact”, Queer Culture Festival, St Petersburg, Russia

Once again a successful cooperation with LGBTQ+ NGO Coming Out St Petersburg gathering more stories from Russian that were presented at Queerfest in St Petersburg.

“Playground”

The exhibition ”Playground” was initiated in collaboration with The Swedish Museums of World Culture.

The exhibition was displayed in Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden and closed in 2019.

This exhibition marked the beginning of one of The Unstraight Museums largest undertakings. 

A collaboration between several major Swedish museum institutions and NGO’s in Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma) 2015-2019. The project was called ”No Norm” and had focus on collecting stories from the respective countries and organising 100% locally produced exhibitions and program activities.

”Unstraight Ukraine”

A collection of stories from the LGBT+ community under the name ”Unstraight Ukraine” started in Ukraine.

Art Residency

Once again, an Art Residency project was realised at Zeta Galeri in Tirana, Albania, in collaboration with Aleanca, the Kosovo-Albanian performance collective HAVE IT and Swedish artist Conny Karlsson Lundgren.

”Legislation” St Petersburg 2013

The exhibition ”Legislation” was produced for The Queer Culture Festival in St Petersburg, again in collaboration with the NGO Coming out.

The exhibition shows a timeline of all major countries LGBT+ legislation, of course as a comment on the ongoing legal battles on legality of so called ”LGBT propaganda” in Russia.

A seminar where Swedish and Russian gay police met to discuss the confusion in legislation was organised with great success.

”Art. 1”

”Art. 1”, a larger and more developed version of ”Article 1” was presented at The National Historical Museum in Tirana, Albania. The collaboration with Aleanca resulted in an extensive collection of stories from the community that were presented in the exhibition.

”I’m every lesbian”

A new, Artist in Residence project was initiated in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ NGO Aleanca in Tirana, Albania. The artist Sofia Hultin realised the project ”I’m every lesbian” that documented Unstraight locations in Tirana and presented it as an audio-tour for the public.

”Unstraight Pride”

The Unstraight Museum did a physical collection and exhibition of Swedish items and stories at Pride House during Stockholm Pride.

”The homosexual Stockholms forgotten places”

The digital exhibition ”Hidden Places” was realised, documenting hidden and less known, Unstraight places in Stockholm that historically has played a role for the community.

”Article 1” was presented at Gallery Tetris in in Pristina, Kosovo.

”Article 1” was presented in Skopje, FYR Macedonia (now North Macedonia) at The National Gallery of Macedonia in Chifte Hamam, a gallery in the oldest parts of the city.

”The Coalition ‘Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities" organised a large collection of stories from the local community that made up the major part of the exhibition.

A second version of ”Article 1” was produced, this time in St Petersburg, Russia for the Queer Culture Festival and presented at Gallery Mart. The LGBTQ+ NGO Coming Out St Petersburg was the local organiser and again, a local contributing exhibition was produced to make the exhibition better than ever before. 

”Article 1” was presented at Kriterion Art Kino in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in collaboration Sarajevo Open Centre.

A local exhibition was again produced and presented.

”Article 1” is displayed a second time in Belgrad, Serbia, but this time in a completely different context during the conference ”Justice in the Balkans - Equality for Sexual minorities”.

The exhibition was hosted by ”The Museum of Yugoslav history” and occupied the offices of the museum staff as a response to many museums resistanse to working with so called ”controversial” topics.

Exhibition at Stockholm Pride

A street exhibition was created during Stockholm Pride where people were invited to ”tag” the city and any items they considered Unstraight.

”Article 1” is finally displayed in Belgrade, Serbia. This time at Cultural Centre Rex.

A local exhibition on the history of LGBTQ+ movement is added by local contributors. This marked the beginning of the practice to always have local contributions to the exhibitions and making these parts the core of the project. A theme for the project was ”Whose history is our history? - The role and responsibility of museums in society”.

The display of ”Article 1” at Belgrade Pride in Serbia is cancelled because of violent riots.

”Article 1” is displayed in at Baltic Pride in Riga, Latvia, at D. Fab gallery.

The exhibition ”Article 1” is initiated and opens during Europride in Stockholm.

Article 1 is a collective exhibition with 6 parts:

1. ‘Seized pictures’ by the Swedish Police Museum, consisting of prints of confiscated “illegal” pictures from 1903, aims “to dialogue with the public on the role of the police in relation to important questions in society”; 

2. ‘Images of Christina’ by the Royal Armoury, consisting of images and texts, addresses on the “perceptions and interpretations of Swedish Queen Christina from her time to the present”;

3. ‘Living together – What is a family’ by the Swedish History Museum allows visitors exploring images of skeletons and grave of a male couple as a time capsule and redefining the notion of family. 

4. ‘The Swedish Gay Radio’ by the National Museum of Science and Technology, using artefacts, photos and text, provides historical and social aspects of the first radio station for gay people in Stockholm since 1979. 

5. ‘Insider/Outsider’ by the Nobel Museum, using video interviews with important people who judge of prize winners, provides a context of inclusiveness in science and stresses the importance of being “different” or “unusual”. 

6. ‘Airing Our Dirty Laundry’ by the National Sports Museum, consisting of dirty sports jerseys in a laundry room mock-up, provides the context of LGBT in sports where homophobia is still a challenge to be addressed.