Episode 97: LGBTQ+ Spaces, Public Art, and Memory

Public memorials have many functions: honoring victims, acknowledging history, or symbolizing values. After the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the site was transformed into an interim memorial to honor the 49 people who were killed. As LGBTQ+ groups in Germany and the United States work to build community spaces and bring LGBTQ+ stories into public consciousness, what lessons can be learned from commemoration efforts in Orlando? Participants of the AGI Project “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States” join The Zeitgeist to discuss the power and politics of public art and memorials. Organizations mentioned in this episode: onePULSE Interim Memorial The Center Orlando Kinfolk Monument Lab Guest Host Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program Guests Jennifer Bihr, Queer Rights Activist, Heidelberg, Germany Susanne Dieper, Director of Programs and Grants, AGI Wilfredo Hernandez, Founder/CEO, Communitas Arts + Culture, LLC; Founder/Executive Producing Director, Drag Arts Oral History Project This podcast is part of the project “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future” and is generously funded by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz(BMWK) (Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany with Funds through the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action (BMWK)).