Queer spaces have always been disruptive. The stories behind what we recognize as queer spaces are often fragmented, not fitting into the history books as generally heteronormative environments do. In the often patriarchal context of the Caribbean, these spaces may have been historically neglected, but never forgotten. Cüirtopia is the multidisciplinary project directed by designer Regner Ramos, which seeks to visibilize queer spaces throughout a collective process of documentation, including an interactive map, workshops, a podcast, courses, films and its latest event: Cüirtopia Soft Crash, a reimagining of queer spaces and experiences. The exhibit, presented at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, narrates the fictional journey of a group of travelers sailing towards a Caribbean archipelago that knows no boundaries or norms of gender and sexuality.
The exhibition, created by Ramos along with a team of student investigators and designers, explores the realities of queer spaces in Puerto Rico through an interactive map, and a series of three-dimensional models, drawings, documents and films, which originate from a postcolonial perspective. The models and drawings of the fictional spaces, all of which were crafted with architectural software and techniques -as well as the playfulness in shapes and colors- disrupt the formalities within architecture as a discipline. Just like the narratives of queer spaces, the fictional spaces represented in the exhibition are also fragmented: pieces of the story are told through the various components of the exhibit as well as through videogame-like dialogues between the stories’ characters. The story is also tied to the MAC, which is not exclusively a backdrop for the exhibition. Instead, the MAC serves as a historic building that has been transformed into a space for queer expression and liberation.
Cüirtopia: Soft Crash, which opened on March 12th, could not have had a more fitting launch. After a day of guided tours across the exhibition, the Crash was celebrated with a tropically queer, post colonial Ball, organized by Laborivogue, a creative collective dedicated to promoting ballroom culture in the Island.
Even among flashing lights and incredible performances, the Ball itself was more than just a nocturnal celebration of art and expression; it was an act of resistance. Its opening directly critiqued Puerto Rico’s current state of neo-colonization, where Americans from the mainland US, in taking advantage of an unjust tax exemption law, are increasing real estate prices and displacing native residents because of it. Echoing Puerto Rico’s colonial past in the exhibition, and then alluding to the current crisis we’re facing as an island was, above all, a truly powerful statement. In this way, the Ball became an intersectional resistance led by a collective of minorities, proving that a fight can be both collective and queer.
Cüirtopia tells the story of a fictitious adventure, while being a catalyst for necessary conversations around queerness and transgression in both built spaces and personal experiences. Despite all its current components, Cüirtopia is here to stay: the project will be in constant evolution and will offer a series of in-person workshops following the Soft Crash. Meanwhile, the Cüirtoia exhibition will be open until August 14th. You can check the collective’s work and future updates through their Instagram at @cuirtopia.