Trans Photography Under Attack In Peru

The work of collaborative artists Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo and Andrew Mroczek is rooted in themes of masculinity, sexuality, gender, gender identity, and the effects of patriarchy as a social system. Their current projects focus on LGBT rights and equality in Latin America, specifically the LGBTQ communities of Peru.

The two exhibits are: Museum of Contemporary Art, Lima, Peru, "Canon: Virgenes de la Puerta," through April 1, and Cultural Center of Spain, Lima, Peru, "Canon: Los Chicos and Anda,"through April 23.

The exhibitions that support Peru's transgender and gay communities are under attack by the Tradicion y Accion por un Peru Mayor, the Revuelta Contra el Arte Moderno, and the Asociacion Antonin Scalia, an association of lawyers who "defend and promote the traditional values of Peru." The exhibitions opened on February 7 and 8 at Lima's Museum of Contemporary Art, a private institution, and the Cultural Center of Spain, a public institution. A Citizen Go petition addressed to Luis Tejada Chacon, the director of the Spanish Cooperation Agency for International Development, Enrique Stiglich, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, and Ernesto de Zulueta Habsburgo-Lorraine, the ambassador of Spain in Peru, has garnered over 20,000 signatures demanding the closing of the exhibitions.

In an article on the exhibits, La Republica stated, "To disrupt the 'canon' of feminine beauty: Photographers Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo and Andrew Mroczek open two parallel exhibitions in which they explore the ideal of beauty in art, while vindicating the rights of the LGTBQI community."

Pictured above: Denise, Yefri, & Angie, from the series "Virgenes de la Puerta," 2015