Lieber AIDS als gar nichts aus dem Westen

What did it mean to live with AIDS in the GDR – and what did it mean to be queer at a time when visibility could mean both freedom and risk?

Drawing on interviews with people affected by AIDS and literary fragments about AIDS, a personal monologue emerges that approaches the history of AIDS and AIDS politics in the GDR. It explores queer life and queer politics in East Germany, condoms and art, but also the Cold War and the political and social conditions under which people lived and loved.

The performance tells of visibility and concealment, self-assertion and vulnerability, while also looking at a history that remained invisible for a long time. The work by Thomas Schmale and Daniel Neumann is created in cooperation with AIDS-Hilfe Weimar & Ostthüringen e.V. and approaches the history of AIDS and AIDS politics in the GDR in a personal and artistic way.

World premiere: March 25, 2027