When Nan Goldin herself is present at the exhibition, the feelings are twofold:
- I feel happy.
I miss people, many people have died.
It makes me remember my lost fellowship with my circle.
And it gives me joy over all the freedom and beauty they display, says Goldin to Kulturnyheterna.
- It was very difficult to be trans then.
It's a different climate now and that's good.
But these are the pioneers and they really suffered.
And their battle is so beautiful and important.
History is important and I'm afraid people don't remember the history, of what we went through with AIDS.
"AIDS wiped out the whole community"
One of the six musical slide shows on display at Moderna muséet is The Other Side.
It is the name of the bar in Boston where queers and drag queens met and of which Goldin himself was a part.
- They couldn't leave home in daylight, they couldn't get a job.
We went to The Other Side every night.
It was my home at this point.
As soon as I went to photography school I couldn't photograph them anymore because it had to go through the relationship.
- Everyone who was on that show has died.
AIDS wiped out the entire community.
All my friends died and there was nothing I could do.
I saw all my friends die.
Fight against drug addiction
Goldin's latest slide story "Memory Lost" is about drug addiction.
In a series of high-profile actions, Nan Goldin has protested against major museums receiving large donations from the Sackler family, who built their fortune on the opioid drug that caused a wave of addiction in the United States.
- I am not an artist who puts political art on the walls.
The protests were my work for a few years and it was my art – it's as valuable as anything on the walls, she says.
Nan Goldin's entire artistry reflects the perceived experience, which in itself carries a political explosive power.
- Of course my works change, many times they are more hopeful and brighter.
The world opens up more to me.
In the beginning there were flashes of lightning and closed rooms, and then the world opened up.