On the tenth anniversary of the artistic project curated by PeopAll of the Cassero LGBTQIA+ Center in Bologna, the “Ash Pink” exhibition it will be open to visitors from 27 June inside the exhibition space Le Scuderie di Salaborsa, the main public library of the Emilian capital.
The project, born in 2014, aims to investigate and represent the historical reality of the homocaustthat is, the segregation and persecution of LGBTQIA+ people within the Nazi-Fascist concentration camps.
The homocaust
Homosexual men, constantly subjected to violence, malnutrition, abuse and, many times, killed, were identified within the places of imprisonment through a pink triangle pinned on their uniforms, which had the aim of differentiating them from other prisoners. It is on this element that the graphic projects on display revolve, together with the black colour which was associated with people defined as “asocial”. A connotation attributed to lesbian people, not compared to homosexual men as an article of the German Civil Code, Paragraph 175, only criminalized male homosexuality. The law, definitively repealed in 1994, led to the killing of thousands of gay people during the Second World War.
The “Ash Pink” exhibition
The exhibition, which can be visited independently, is made up of 17 tables from the original project, to which are added eight new ones created by nine artists dedicated to the story of seven people. Among them stands out the story of the vicissitudes of Lucy Salanithe only Italian transsexual woman to survive the Dachau concentration camp and pass away on March 22, 2023. Two graphics created by Ada Morandin and Ren Arman are dedicated to her.
For the creators of PeopAll, “Rosa Cenere was born from the will of tell the memory who, over the years, risked getting lost in the folds of a silence imposed by shame in showing the scars that the Nazi-fascist horror had left on the bodies of homosexual deportees”. The exhibition, therefore, is presented following careful study and research work which, during the inauguration, will see the presentation of a new catalogue, created on the occasion of the tenth anniversary, which accompanies the graphic research work with a selection of original texts by the curators of the exhibition.
The Cassero LGBTQIA+ Center
The project was curated by PeopAllpolitical laboratory of Cassero Lgbtqia+ Center, a project born with the desire to train activists who are aware and capable of relating to the local and national LGBTQIA+ panorama. The working group is part of the Cassero center in Bologna, founded in 1982 and always in continuous expansion. To date, it holds the role of Arcigay provincial committee of Bologna.
The PeopAll group, specifically, is responsible for organizing political and street initiatives, in order to raise awareness among the community and citizens towards social and cultural change oriented towards the values of welcome, equality and the fight against discrimination of all kinds.
