A multimedia exhibition offering a glimpse into the life of LGBT Latinx in San Francisco from the 1970s to the 1990s opens at the GLBT History Museum in the Castro Friday, October 28.
Entitled "Noche de Ambiente" (night of atmosphere, or environment), the exhibit runs through February.
According to the museum, the exhibit offers a "small window" focusing on queer activism, AIDS activism, drag performance, and "ambiente." For decades, the museum said, ambiente has served as a queer code word in the U.S. and Latin America by Latinx LGBT people to identify themselves, their distinctive cultures, and their spirit of resistance.
The show, curated by Juliana Delgado Lopera and Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Conceptión, is an "innovative display" of diverse documents, images, and videos from the archives of the GLBT Historical Society and from materials contributed by the community to celebrate a quarter century of ambiente in San Francisco.
Lopera, a writer, educator and spoken word performer, is the author of ¡Cuéntamelo!, an illustrated bilingual collection of oral histories by LGBT Latinx immigrants and is executive director of Radar Productions, which organizes queer literary programs.
In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter , Lopera explained how she first learned about the term "ambiente."
When Lopera moved to San Francisco nine years ago, she met a Cuban transwoman, Adela Vazquez, "who became my 'queer mom,'" she said.
Vazquez, an AIDS activist in the 1980s, told Lopera stories that "opened an underground world" of queer Latinidad stories unknown to most of the public. Through Vazquez, Lopera met many queer Latinx activists, some of whom formed her "chosen family," she said.
"These are some of the many stories I want to unearth and share," she said.
Lopera, 28, who has been volunteering at the history museum for the past 18 months, said the idea for the exhibit came from her co-curator, who "approached me about working together."
Their goals for the exhibit, she said, are to give visitors "a glimpse into the Latino queer life of San Francisco" and to illustrate the "huge impact and contribution" they've made in the city.
"We're talking about three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, so really it's just a window," Lopera said. "It would've been impossible to try to tell the entire story."
The curators also "wanted to start a conversation" about the memories of a marginalized community she said.
"A lot of mainstream LGBT history is very white," Lopera explained.
The exhibit represents an "intergenerational dialogue," something rarely seen in San Francisco, she added.
Co-curator Vázquez-Concepción, 34, moved to San Francisco from Puerto Rico, where he worked in San Juan at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
In a phone interview with the B.A.R. , Vázquez-Concepción said he hopes people will "walk away from the exhibit with a broader and more complex perspective on Latinidad."
While there are lots of Mexican queers living in San Francisco, "we are also from Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico" and many other places, he said.
"We want people to know the immigrant experience can vary widely," he added.
But all of the experiences, as illustrated in the exhibit, and "told through the lens of coming out of the closet," will give people a more articulated perspective, Vázquez-Concepción said.
An opening night reception featuring remarks from the co-curators takes place Friday, October 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum, 4127 18th Street. Wine and light refreshments will be served. Admission is $5; free for members.