The Vaginal Davis Universität for the Damaged and Gifted

Vaginal Davis is coming to Stockholm, and at the Vaginal Davis Universität for the Damaged and Gifted, the award-winning artist, punk performer, acclaimed author, and international blacktress will do what she does best: lead the way.

Vaginal Davis makes scenes for a living. She was a founding mother of the queer punk underground of her native Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s, before moving to Berlin in 2005 to play a leading role in the queer cultural life of the German capital ever since. In her pioneering and incredibly diverse oeuvre punk meets glamour, queer activism meets racial justice, and resistance meets joy. Ms. Davis also has a long career as an educator, working as a guest professor at various art academies and universities, including in Sweden at the Art Academy Malmö. Her former students are everywhere, extending legacies into contemporary practice.

Taking inspiration from Vaginal Davis’s mentorship, the Universität for the Damaged and Gifted stages performances, lecturinas, workshops, readings, screenings, meals, and more than a few surprises over the course of a weekend at Tensta konsthall. Participants will be inducted into the wondrous world of Ms. Davis and receive a certificate at the end of this intensive weekend “course”.

The full program will be announced in the late spring 2024.

The Vaginal Davis Universität for the Damaged and Gifted is co-organized by Cecilia Widenheim (Director, Tensta konsthall) and Hendrik Folkerts (Curator of International Contemporary Art and Head of Exhibitions, Moderna Museet). This project is part of the exhibition Magnificent Product, which is initiated by Moderna Museet and extends across several locations in Stockholm: Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, Accelerator, Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Tensta konsthall and MDT (Moderna Dansteatern). Each institution highlights a different aspect of Vaginal Davis’s expansive practice.

The exhibition is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Terra Foundation for American Art.