Leather Archives and Museum
The Leather Archives and Museum (LA&M) is an establishment of the international gay leather scene and part of the BDSM and fetish subculture , headquartered in Chicago .
The organization brings together both one of the largest archives and one of the largest museums on the subject worldwide.
The Leather Archives and Museum publishes topic-specific publications and organizes information events and exhibitions on the topic. In addition to a permanent exhibition, it organizes temporary and international traveling exhibitions. Another area is the documentation of the history of the worldwide leather scene. Anthony (Tony) F. DeBlase developed a so-called Leather History Timeline which was also published in print form.
The museum has an auditorium with 164 seats, a reading room with a library, office space for employees and a professional, climatically controlled archive.
The Teri Rose Memorial Library , which is integrated into the museum, has over 5,000 subject-related volumes and around 11,000 magazine copies.
The LA&M has a European branch in Amsterdam.
history
The facility was founded in 1991 on a private initiative in Illinois.
In mid-1997 Joseph W. Bean became managing director. Under him, the institution organized a series of changing exhibitions and initiated a fundraising campaign with the aim of acquiring its own building as a future-proof location. The response to the campaign made it possible for the company to move into its own building in Chicago at the end of 1999.
Rick Storer, who succeeded Joseph W. Bean in January 2002, continued the activities that had started. As a result of worldwide donations, in which German BDSM groups also participated, the mortgages that still weighed on the property were paid off in August 2004. At the same time, the exhibition area was expanded to eight areas.
After the institution had initially limited itself to exhibitions in the USA, it held a traveling exhibition in Europe for the first time in 2005, which was extended due to its success.
Newsletter
The Leather Archives and Museum publishes under the title Leather Times. News from the Leather Archives & Museum regularly researches and reports on its activities. The publication is available both in print and online.
Project publications
- Leather Archives & Museum (Ed.): Leather History TimeLine , 4th edition, 1999, Chicago (compiled by Anthony F. DeBlase, also as an online version)
Exhibitions
The Leather Archives and Museum offers exhibitions on the following artists and institutions:
- Les Farnek
- Etienne
- Joseph W. Bean
- David Greiger
- Naomi Leilani Kawkam
- Kris Studios
The facility also offers several online exhibitions with different focuses:
- The Oral History project with documentaries on the life of:
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- The Tony DeBlase Collection
- National Library Week Survey
- International Mr. Leather, 25 Years of Champions
- Kris Studios of Chicago
- Colors of the Cycle MC
- What Kinky People Are Reading
- Online Art Exhibit
- Online Photography Exhibit
swell
- ↑ The art of Les ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The art of Etienne: Court Jester of Erotica ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ LESS INFORMATION MORE IMAGINATION: The art of Joseph W. Bean ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Art of David Greiger ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Art of Naomi Leilani Kawkam aka Naomi LK ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Photography of Kris Studios ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- leatherarchives.org (Official Website)