Welcome to the Museum of Transology
The Greys founder Daisy speaks to Kosma, curator and archivist at the Museum of Transology in London for issue 1 of The Grey, exploring the importance of fashion in the museum collections.
Could you start everything off by giving a little intro to the museum of transology, for any readers who aren’t familiar?
The Museum of Transology (MoT) is the UK’s most significant collection of objects representing trans, non-binary and intersex people’s lives. It was established almost 10 years ago - we will celebrate the 10 year anniversary in spring 2025 with a Trans Pride UK collective exhibition at Lethaby Gallery in King’s Cross, London. MoT is a grassroots organisation, entirely run by the trans community. Everyone is welcome to join and help out in preserving trans history and trans ancestry - transcestry! The aim of the museum is not only to preserve the physical objects that join the collection, but also the stories, culture, and context of the people who donate them. MoT has an approach to take the archiving of trans history into our own hands, the hands of the trans community, so our lives are described using the right words we choose. Community archiving fights the erasure and misrepresentation of transness in culture and media.
Can you tell me about your work as the Community Curator and Archivist at the Museum of Transology, what do you do
day to day?
When archiving, we describe the item physically and in its context and symbolism. Archiving placards may seem monotonous, but when you really dive into the detail of the writing or art, the intention of the maker, and meaning behind drawing and writing, you find yourself running out of space on the page. When it comes to Community Curating, we reached out to local groups before collecting events, and then facilitated the collecting itself. Doing it in small groups works the best, so we can help donors to tell their stories, number each item, photograph it and take a polaroid with the donor too!
And when and how did you get involved with the museum?
I found out about the Museum of Transology when visiting Brighton Museum & Art Gallery in 2018. Then I got reminded of it again while on a tour of the Bishopsgate Institute Archives at the end of 2022. At first, like many other volunteers, I joined one of the archiving lates that the Museum organises at Bishopsgate Institute once a month. Anybody interested can show up and help archiving protest placards or other items in the collection, there is no expectation of knowledge in archiving, everything is taught, and the volunteers help each other. At one of the archiving lates, the residency project at Queercircle for the National Day of Collecting was announced and I thought it to be a great opportunity to help out more.That’s why I joined the residency every weekend from January to March, where an amazing team archived and digitised 192 placards from London Trans Pride 2023, but also organised and prepared for National Day of Collecting in 15 locations in the UK.
Why do you think physical items and artefacts are so important to preserve?
Objects carry personal stories of their owners. Without them, they would be just ‘stuff’. It is important to preserve material culture, because it contains important historical contexts. The story of many individuals together will build up the history of the community. When you collect objects from trans donors and see them as a whole, the themes of them will interlink and make you reflect: symbolism, day-to-day life, art, protest, gifts from friends and family, identity signifiers, just to name a few.
Can you explain the work you do and how you got into it?
I work as a digital embroidery and print assistant for a small workwear company, and my previous job was very similar in a company that sold gifts. I was looking for any work in the industry that will give me a reasonable pay, and this is a big problem in fashion, even in big brands. As an immigrant, I can’t afford to complete unpaid internships and unfair paid positions. I’m still able to freelance design and seamstress for friends and hope to grow from that, especially in relation to print! My biggest interest is in GNC and gender-affirming tailoring. Funnily enough, when we started the residency at Queercircle, I was interviewing for my current job and really wanted to get it to be able to work with the Museum on the weekends.
Textiles have a huge role in the history of gender don’t they, from domestic skills to textile based art, to protest… can you talk to me a little about any link that you see between textiles and gender?
These two are closely connected, although many common connotations are only western- and white-centrist. When you think of embroidery and stitch, these are still considered a pastime of the domestic worker, and thought to be unimportant. But many use stitch as art, adding writing to their clothing - I'm thinking of a friend who had “soft boy” or “loverboy” embroidered on their trousers. Types of weight of fabric, colour, or print can also have a masculinising or feminising effect on one’s appearance, but it's very binary to look at just that. There are so many ways to play with those and dress the way that feels right.
And following that, do you have any thoughts about clothes specifically, they are often such gendered items, do you love that about them or hate it?
I find the cut and fit of contemporary clothing very gendered, and also often not affirming larger bodies. There is a lot of advice online on how to change it. For masculine appearance, it’s cropping shirts at hip length to give a boxy silhouette, emphasising the shoulders, and wearing fitted sleeves or cropping them to middle biceps. For feminine appearance, you would accentuate the waist, for example by wearing a skirt that flares out from the waistline. Of course, this is a very binary view on clothing, but it is also how a lot of trans folks would start to experiment with their appearance, building up their confidence as they try what works for them. In my opinion, a lot of vintage masculine clothing works great for transmasculine people like myself.
In the context of clothing in relation to transness, can you maybe share a few words about why clothing is important to individual expression?
Clothing is one of, if not the most, accessible form of gender-affirming appearance change. It helps those struggling with gender dysphoria to live a little more comfortably. For example, binders are an essential part of some transmasculine peoples’ lives. It also helps with being misgendered less, when you express yourself in a the conventional appearance of your gender. This is directly tied to the idea of passing as your gender (so also passing as cis), which is a survival strategy - some people need it and want it.
I have a theory that clothing and appearance (whether design and manufacture, or even an interest in fashion) is treated as frivolous, or invaluable, because it tends to have a feminine connotation, I wonder if you would say the same?
I agree! There is definitely a historical association of fashion being a feminine interest and profession and a lot of university fashion courses are female-dominated. However, the highest positions in fashion brands are often occupied by men. You can also see this downgrading of women’s skills when comparing the words of ‘seamstress’ and ‘sewist’ or ‘dressmaker’
Are there any items of clothing in the museum? Can you tell me about them?
There are loads of clothes, accessories, and other fashion related items! I can remember two pairs of red ‘boys’ trousers, that were given to the donor by one of his friends, which were the only items of gender-affirming clothing that he could get while living at home. He wore them for 7 years until the trousers didn’t fit anymore! There is also some underwear: bras, bralettes, boxers. There was one person that donated a pair of period blood stained boxes, they were their favourite pair and were ruined as a result of stopping taking testosterone. You can also find some t-shirts that are connected to Trans Pride events, charities, protests. Such a variety to browse through!