On Sunday, June 7, the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum’s virtual exhibition “Fashioning Identity: Clothing and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of the Mississippi Valley” launched as part of the Digital Museums Canada Community Stories collection. Check out the exhibition here: Fashioning Identity: Clothing and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of the Mississippi Valley.
How do you use clothing? For millennia, different cultures, communities, and individuals around the world have been using clothing in many ways; not just a means to cover their bodies, but as a form of expression, connection, identity, solidarity, and resistance. Created by and for the queer community, this online exhibition empowers folks to tell their stories with their voices and preserve queer culture — a culture that is historically and presently marginalized. Representing the 2SLGBTQIA+ community on their terms, “Fashioning Identity” inspires and encourages people to connect through this shared expression and let people know that they are not alone in their journeys of self-determination.
Nine members of the Mississippi Valley’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community have sat down with the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum to share their wardrobes and their journeys with style. Explore how they use clothing to fashion their identities in their own words. The exhibition is in both French and English, and contains interview clips, images, and links to the full interviews.
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum has spent two years developing this exhibition and are proud to finally share it with the community. “Fashioning Identity: Clothing and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of the Mississippi Valley” was developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.
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“As we are unable to often find 2SLGBTQIA+ histories in our community, knowing that 2SLGBTQIA+ people were always here, though not always free to be their true selves, I’m humbled and ecstatic to capture some of our current 2SLGBTQIA+ community’s stories through their clothing and life experience. I’m honoured to showcase our community in this virtual exhibition.”
– Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Executive Director/Curator, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
“I was honoured to participate in this project with the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum. It was a privilege to share my personal journey of self-expression through fashion and to explore the significance of clothing in shaping identity within this community. Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to receive the craftsmanship of my mother’s exquisite couture pieces. Additionally, I discussed the local influences that have shaped my artistic vision and my deep appreciation for cinema.”
– Nils Hamster, Exhibition Participant
“Clothing is such a deeply personal thing that reflects how you feel, what you think, how others see you, and how you see yourself. Not everyone has the privilege of truly choosing to curate their own style- whether those limiting factors be cost, access, safety, size, or otherwise- but seeing someone be so completely themself and express that through clothing is a special experience. This exhibition follows nine individuals who are all in different places in both their life and style journeys, and there’s something that we can all relate to in every story. I hope viewers take the time to sit down and play through each full interview, and connect through their storytelling.”
– Laila Hack, Exhibition Coordinator/Writer & Outreach, Engagement, and Development Coordinator, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
Image Credits
“Nils sharing the coat that his mother, Ingrid, made for him when he sat down to share his story.” Photographed by Eliakim Hawi
“Chrissie’s ‘Still here. Still queer.’ shirt that she wore at the first Pride parade she marched in. She tie-dyed it with her daughter.” Photographed by Eliakim Hawi
“Community gathering for the annual Pride flag raising at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in 2024.” Photographed by Eliakim Hawi
