Queer Summer Escapes: A History of Queer Holidays

The exhibition explores how queer people spent their summers in the past. Drawing on a rich collection of photographs, oral history interviews, documents, and literary sources, it reveals that much of queer life in the 20th century unfolded in summer cottages, country houses, on trips, holidays, and summer camps.

Through authentic stories and visual materials, the exhibition brings these experiences to life. What became of the attempts to establish a queer-only holiday lodge outside Prague in the 1930s? What was the Sacred Book of KPJK? What role did cottages and holiday homes play in queer lives? What could be found in the first queer travel guide to the countries of the Eastern Bloc, published in the 1980s? And where did Lambda Tours take its travellers?

Curated by
Ladislav Jackson, Lukáš Samek, and Denisa Vídeňská from the Society for Queer Memory

Entrance fee – free, except 3rd August – during Festival opening concert – 200 CZK

Accessibility – suitable also for children and teenagers, accessible with a dog, barrier-free

Vibe check – standing only, outdoors

Organized by – The Society for Queer Memory
The Society for Queer Memory is a non-governmental non-profit organisation dedicated to collecting, preserving, researching, and promoting the history of queer people in the Czech lands. Its collections comprise a museum with a unique archive of materials documenting queer lives (including an oral history collection), an archive of personal and organisational records, and a specialised library containing both contemporary literature and periodicals as well as valuable historical publications. The Society makes its collections, archives, and library accessible to researchers.