Dictionary of the Queer International, 2021
Dictionary of the Queer International is an exhibition that stems from a book by the same name, edited by Yevgeniy Fiks and published by ArtsEverywhere and Publication Studio Guelph in 2020, which consists of words and phrases in local queer languages, including “Temotichesky” from Russia, “Beke” in the Philippines, “Polari” from the U.K., “Pajuba” in Brazil, among others.
In this exhibition, Fiks takes the Dictionary of the Queer International further and composes poems by mixing words and phrases from different local queer languages from around the world. Fiks’s queer internationalist poetry, presented as text on banners and designed by Katya Sivers, reimagines internationalism, evokes experiments in utopian language creation, and contributes to the queer critique of cultural imperialism and globalization.
The question of culture and language comes to the foreground more than ever at times of political uncertainty, as a form of cultural resistance to both hierarchical globalization and a nationalism of exclusion. In this current political and cultural situation, Dictionary of the Queer International proposes a vision of international, intersectional, and non-hierarchical queer culture via the creation of an imaginary queer fusion-language.
Dictionary of the Queer International proposes a vision of an international queer language of multi-locality and horizontality. The exhibition is also imagined as a site of knowledge production -- for the revising of Dictionary of the Queer International, Volume 1 and for the collection of content for Dictionary of the Queer International, Volume 2.
The show was designed by Katya Sivers. Photography by Rocio Chacon.
