In autumn 2019, the Czech Republic celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended four decades of communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia. New freedoms have made it easier for LGBTQ people to live their lives more openly in this Central European country, yet they still face significant challenges.

Established in 2014, the Society for Queer Memory is the first Czech queer archives and museum. It now holds more than 1,000 objects. Art historian Ladislav Zikmund-Lender will discuss the work of the organization, providing insight into how the history of queer lives and experiences is being documented and presented in the Czech Republic. His talk will compare and contrast the ways that the path to queer emancipation in Central Europe has been distinct from the United States.

Speaker

Ladislav Zikmund-Lender is a Czech art historian who specializes in architectural history and queer cultural history. He is a faculty member at the Department of Theories and Histories of Art at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Brno University of Technology in Brno, Czech Republic.

Location

GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Admission

$5.00 | Free for members

Tickets available here

ASL Interpretation

ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.

Image credit: Detail from an ad for Casino Restaurant in Prague, a 1930s LGBTQ gathering place.