lgbtq Archives

“At the center, a kind of care”: PJ Raval on intersectional storytelling

In November 2018 the Block Museum of Art welcomed documentarian PJ Raval for a conversation on his award-winning feature documentary Call Her Ganda. The film following the 2014 murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender Filipina woman killed by an American Marine, and the struggle for justice waged by her family, friends, lawyers, and investigative journalist […]

Lost Hindi film “Badnam Basti”: Uncovering a classic of queer cinema history at The Block

Prem Kapoor’s 1971 Hindi film Badnam Basti (Alley of Ill Repute) is considered one of the first Indian films to explore queer relationships. Based on a novel by Hindi writer Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, it centers on a love triangle between two men and one woman on the margins of society. The film is noted for its adventurous […]

Block Cinema

“They said you can’t make a film like this”: Lizzie Borden on revolution, race, and radical action in”Born in Flames” [Audio]

Set in an alternate-reality socialist democratic United States, Lizzie Borden’s speculative fiction Born in Flames (1983) finds the country still plagued by social injustice. This feminist classic is a low-budget, grassroots production, documentary-like in its reflection of a long-gone grungy yet vibrant downtown New York City. Made at the height of the Reagan years, it […]

Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Skeeter, Catherine Opie

Title: Skeeter Artist: Catherine Opie (American, born 1961) Date: 1993 Medium: Chromogenic print Edition: 5 of 8 Dimensions: 40 x 30 in. Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Armyan Bernstein and Christine Meleo Bernstein, 2018.9. Reproduced with permission from the artist. Skeeter; Sunflowers; Sunrise “A lot of my friends […]

Block Cinema

Themes of protest and dissent unite a season of cinema

This winter the Block Museum presents two unique film series which stand at the intersection of artistry and politics. Block Cinema selections this season offer experimental and independent views of protest movements, unsanctioned narratives, and methods of celebrating the struggle for justice. The historic videos and films on display document varied forms of protest and […]

Programs & Events

Outing Queer Fluxus: Geoffrey Hendricks and David Getsy in Conversation [Audio]

A prominent member of the Fluxus movement and a legendary organizer of 60’s era Happenings, American artist Geoffrey Hendricks’s art communicates a fascination with nature, collaborative rituals, and the performance of gender and sexuality in public life. A frequent performer at Charlotte Moorman’s Annual New York Avant Garde Festivals, Hendricks’ work was display in the Block Museum […]