Love and desire between people of the same sex have existed throughout history. For centuries, there was no language to name these desires– except in medical and legal terms that defined them as illness or crime.
This began to change thanks to Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895), a German lawyer who was the first to describe same- sex desire as an identity category. Ulrichs conducted extensive research into what he called ‘uranism’, built a network of scholars around it, and argued that queer desire should be recognised as something innate rather than criminal. With his own vocabulary for queer people, he articulated queer identity long before words such as homosexual, gay, or queer existed.
Ulrichs’ legacy forms the starting point for the exhibition Urning and Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864. The title refers to Ulrichs’ positive description for himself and others with queer desire: Urning and Urningin. He used these words publicly for the first time in his series of pamphlets Riddle of Male-Male Love, published between 1864 and 1880. Before that, queer desires were left unnamed and treated as equivalent to forbidden sodomy in Western society at the time. Ulrichs’ new words were widely used in German at the end of the 19th century and were also adopted in the Netherlands and beyond. Although his terminology did not stick in the current times, Ulrichs’ ideas laid the groundwork for modern queer theory.
In this exhibition, guest curator Philipp Gufler explores the limitations of language–then and now–in expressing desire, and calls for intersectional solidarity. Alongside original documents and letters by Ulrichs, which offer a glimpse into his era and the influence of his thinking, nine contemporary artists have been invited. Through their work, they reflect on themes of (gender)identity, language, and queer desire. Marking the 200th anniversary of Ulrichs’ birth, this exhibition connects past and present, showing how exchange across generations can be both hopeful and transformative.
A publication was be released alongside the exhibition, featuring a pamphlet by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, visual material by the artists, and newly commissioned texts by Gürsoy Doğtaş, Hendrik Folkerts and Simon(e) van Saarloos.
Urning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewKRIWET – Poem Painting 25 (1965/2006), private collectionKRIWET – Mixed Media (1969), courtesy of Philipp GuflerPhilipp Gufler – The Beginning of Identification, and its End (2024)Philipp Gufler – The Beginning of Identification, and its End (2024)Philipp Gufler – The Beginning of Identification, and its End (2024)Philipp Gufler – The Beginning of Identification, and its End (2024)Philipp Gufler – Quilt #56 (2025)Urning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewEli Hill – EFF Drawings (2020 – now)Eli Hill – EFF Drawings (2020 – now)Eli Hill – EFF Drawings (2020 – now)Rory Pilgrim – exhibition overviewRory Pilgrim – Sacred Repository N.3: The Open Sky (2016)Rory Pilgrim – I guess we are not ready for this yet, are we? (2011), private collectionUrning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewUrning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewLouwrien Wijers – From Competition to Compassion (2015)Louwrien Wijers – With Detachment (1977), on loan from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the NetherlandsCAConrad – First Light: Frequency 888 (2025)Sharan Bala – trying not to know is an active process of denial and forgetting don’t forget to forget (2022)Sharan Bala – trying not to know is an active process of denial and forgetting don’t forget to forget (2022)Sharan Bala – trying not to know is an active process of denial and forgetting don’t forget to forget (2022)Urning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewCAConrad – First Light: Frequency 888 (2025)Urning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewCosy Pièro – exhibition overviewCosy Pièro – exhibition overviewCosy Pièro – Identität (1999), courtesy of Forum Queeres Archiv München (FQAM)Cosy Pièro – Präte (2001), courtesy of Annelore OsmersCosy Pièro – Love Planets (2004), courtesy of Forum Queeres Archiv München (FQAM)Louwrien Wijers – Saint Society (2025)sophie serber – Success Breeds Success or You Need To Be A Friend To Get A Friend (2024)sophie serber – Success Breeds Success or You Need To Be A Friend To Get A Friend (2024)sophie serber – Success Breeds Success or You Need To Be A Friend To Get A Friend (2024)Urning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewKRIWET – Text Sign (series) (1968), private collectionUrning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewUrning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – exhibition viewKarl Heinrich Ulrichs – Forschungen über das Rätsel der “Man-Manly” Liebe (Research on the Riddle of Male-Male Love) Issue 9, ‘Argonauticus’ (1869), courtesy of Magnus-Hirschfeld-GesellschaftArnold Aletrino – Hermaphroditic and Uranism (1908), courtesy of Royal Library, The HagueLucien Sophie Albert Marie von Römer – The Uranian Family: Scientific Research and conclusions of homosexuality (1905), courtesy of Royal Library, The HagueUrning & Urningin. Language and Desire since 1864 – library view
