On Sunday, June 7, the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum’s virtual exhibition Fashioning Identity: Clothing and the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community of the Mississippi Valley will go live as part of the Digital Museums Canada Community Stories collection. Celebrate the launch with the Museum’s annual Pride flag raising on June 7 with Pride Mississippi Mills! Check out mvtm.ca on June 7 for the exhibition.
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 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 Textile Museum has spent two years developing this exhibition and is proud to finally share it with the community. It was developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.
“I was honoured to participate in this project with the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum,” reflects exhibition participant Nils Hamster. “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.”
“Clothing is such a deeply personal thing that reflects how you feel, what you think, how others see you, and how you see yourself,” adds Laila Hack, MVTM Exhibition Coordinator/Writer & Outreach, Engagement, and Development Coordinator. “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 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.”
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is committed to collecting, preserving, and telling the stories of the local mill workers and labour history, while offering an open, inclusive space for the local community and visitors from across the globe. For more information, please visit mvtm.ca.
