I’ve just started some editorial work on a really fast-burn exhibition project for the European Commission offices in London. It’s a photographic display opening in a few weeks called Fall of the Wall Meets Stonewall.
It’s a collection of pictures from gay pride marches across eastern Europe where the right to hold such marches has not been around as long as we’ve had it in the USA or the UK – in fact that fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Soviet influence were huge catalysts for the development of gay rights in eastern Europe so there’s been a huge swathe of activity in this area in recent years.
What’s interesting about some of the photographs is that many of the scenes of the marches are the same as those we see in photographs of anti-government protests and marches in the 1980s. A photograph of the rainbow flag waving in front of Ceausescu’s palace in Bucharest is a perhaps a peculiar image for those who can remember what live was like under Romania’s totalitarian state and definitely a pleasing one for gays and lesbians in Romania today.
I’ve been working with the exhibition’s curator to some up with an interpretation plan for the show. I’m going to be writing the copy for the panels and editing the labels/captions for the individual photographs. A bit of a learning curve for me, but great fun!
The exhibition is open 9-18 June at the European Commission offices, near Victoria.