ALMS is a series of international conferences focused on public, private, academic, and grassroots archives collecting and preserving materials of all types from LGBTIQ+ communities. Its mission is to ensure that our history continues to be preserved and shared. The series was initiated in 2006 in Minnesota and the last two conferences took place in Amsterdam in 2012 and in London in 2016. These conferences provide an opportunity for archivists, activists and scholars from around the world to gather, share their stories and discuss the issues around documenting LGBTIQ+ lives. ALMS is an exceptional event as it offers the encouraging experience of being part of an international network overcoming borders and on track for the future.
ALMS 2019 Berlin also commemorates the 100th anniversary of the world’s first queer archive, library, museum and special collection. In 1919 Magnus Hirschfeld opened the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sex Research) which was destroyed by the Nazis in 1933. This institute was located at the very place where the Haus der Kulturen der Welt stands today, and where ALMS Berlin will convene.
We hope that many archivists, activist, scholars and artists from all over the world working in queer archives, libraries, special collections and museums, researching the queer past or generally interested in queer history will join us in Berlin to discuss the current challenges and potentials of queering memory.
Hosted by: Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft in partnership with FFBIZ – das feministische Archiv, Forschungsstelle Kulturgeschichte der Sexualität at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Initiative Queer Nations, Lili-Elbe-Archiv, Schwules Museum, and Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv.