From January 30 to February 13 you can see the exhibition “FREE, history of a gender change” by Johan-Jenny Ehrenberg in Barcelona
Exhibition “FREE, the story of a gender change” de Johan-Jenny Ehrenberg, curated by Tere Guix, can be visited in Barcelona from January 30th to February 13th Igualada from February 21 to March 16. The exhibition displays 60 photographs and a movie an hour-long film about the transition of this tireless Swedish personality.
Johan-Jenny Ehrenberg, born in 1957, is a well-known Swedish journalist, polemicist and writer. At the age of sixteen, together with other young people, she founded the magazine Partisan, which later evolved into the magazine ETC. During the 1980s, ETC finds a growing audience, while the media establishment struggled to understand its combination of powerful graphic design, investigative journalism and deeply personal narratives.
In 1983 the report “Kingdom Byte(Gender Change). Ehrenberg She revealed her experience of living as a woman –Jenny– for six months in a patriarchal society based on the binary system of man and woman, with no room for nuances or transgressions. The response of the main media was harsh. Faced with so much pressure, constant displays of hatred and incomprehension, Jenny disappeared from the public scene.
Until now.
History of a transition
Ehrenberg continued her career as a publicist and entrepreneur. She founded “Today's ETC”, today the Sweden's largest independent and radical newspaper. Today, it is a pioneer in innovative projects, such as crowdfunding in the generation of electricity through solar panels and crowdfunding in the construction of affordable and environmentally friendly housing.
When the populist wave of the right hits the community hostilely LGTBIQ + swedish, Ehrenberg decides to evolve the original report and turn it into “Gender Bender: The Real StoryIt was intended to be a text about political fanaticism, but it turned out to be a decisive journey. Johan, at 66 years old, has become Johan-Jenny, fully embracing a trans identity and publishing again journalism that shakes the Swedish debate to its foundations.
The culmination is the exhibition BEFRIELSE (FREE, story of a gender change), composed of photographs and videos spanning four decades. It opened in “The Culture House” (The House of Culture) of Stockholm in December 2023. And now, we can see it in Barcelona and Igualada.
BARCELONA, UTOPIA 46 Room (Sant Pere Més Alt 46)
Opening date: January 30, 2025
Closing February 13, 2025 (with the participation of Johan-Jenny)
EQUALIZER, FineArt International Photography Festival
Opening February 21, 2025 (with the participation of Johan-Jenny)
Film screening and talk February 22 (with the participation of Johan-Jenny).
Closing date: March 16, 2025
