Changing Room explores the question of gender identity through one of the most influential cultural phenomena in the world: football. Chiara Calgaro begins her photographic journey with the team she plays for — a self-managed, self-funded collective made up of women*, trans, and non-binary people — and continues with a journey across Europe in search of other queer teams. With faces often obscured, the athletes’ bodies bend, twist, and perform for the camera, just as every individual “performs” throughout life behaviors expected to match the gender assigned at birth. Through the enactment of “parody-gestures”, the artist suggests the possibility of reimagining gender identity within a more nuanced and complex narrative — one that permeates social spaces starting from the dimension of play. The football team’s changing room becomes a microcosm for experimenting with practices that challenge those dominant in society, suggesting new forms of collectivity and participation, and using the world’s most popular sport as a tool for self-determination.
Photo: Courtesy of Chiara Calgaro and Altana.
