How do you offer a platform for the transgender community?
The Amsterdam Museum created the Transmission exhibition about the Amsterdam transgender community as part of Ontmoet Amsterdam (Meet Amsterdam), which involved the close collaboration of Amsterdammers whose stories are often not told in museums.
Transmission, for and by transgender people
The Amsterdam Museum wanted to provide a platform for stories by and about transgender people. In order to do justice to the wide range of experiences and views on being transgender, the museum remained in dialogue with the transgender community, which retained control over the form and tone in which their stories were told.
They recorded their own views on gender, desire, pride and recognition for use in an audio tour. Their portraits and personal possessions (such as a petticoat and a pride flag) illustrated these stories.
Visitors contributed by sharing their own stories and items that were added to the presentation. During City Talks, visitors could meet hands-on experts to share their thoughts with. They could also watch TransAnders, a documentary about transgender people and cross-dressers in Amsterdam.
The Amsterdam Museum made the transgender community visible and out in the open. By allowing the community to retain control and maintain dialogue, Transmission became an example of a powerful and transparent co-creation with a poorly represented group of Amsterdammers.
For questions, please contact educator/programme creator Mirjam Sneeuwloper at m.sneeuwloper@amsterdammuseum.nl or +31 (0)20 523 17 69