Queer curators, creatives and activists have come together to produce a major exhibition — opening Saturday 18 February — that shines a spotlight on little-known LGBTQI+ heroes and stories drawn from the Library’s vast collection, alongside subversive voices of today.
Pride (R)evolution celebrates the lives, loves and works that have historically been overlooked or hidden, through an immersive display of 250 photographs, posters, letters, scrapbooks, clothing, film and sound — as well as newly commissioned pieces from queer and trans writers and artists.
According to exhibition co-curator Catherine Freyne: “This is a chance to encounter some of the characters and dynamics that have shaped Sydney’s queer history — from hook-ups to ACT-UP, Ballroom to ball sports, fag hags to radical drag, and coalition to intersectionality.”
“The exhibition resembles a kind of queer smorgasbord,” she says. “With the space organised according to stages of the day — from twilight to night to dawn to day — visitors can expect an embodied, sensory, immersive experience.”
Exhibition visitors will meet LGBTQI+ pioneers including Doris Fish (1952-1991) who pioneered radical drag in Sydney and San Francisco; artist Allan Booth (1959-1990) whose private, illustrated diaries detailing his fight with HIV/AIDS will go on show for the first time; and designer Barry Kay whose 100+ portraits of transgender women and drag queens from mid-1970s Sydney will be seen for the first time.
Queer life — then and now — is reflected in a number of creative commissions, including a captivating video essay with House daughter Tashinga Sle in conversation with photographer Alia Ardon about the history and future of Ballroom as a QTBIPOC scene in Sydney’s western suburbs. Queer historian Rosa V Campbell has created a digital map of lesbian sport and fitness culture in 20th century Sydney.
The work of First Nations queer poets and writers is showcased throughout the exhibition.
“The exhibition is part of a collecting drive to ensure the contemporary voices and experiences of LGBTQI+ people and communities are available in the State Library’s collection,” says exhibition co-curator Bruce Carter. “Our stories have a right to be visible here.”
Pride (R)evolution is a free exhibition at the State Library of NSW until 9 July, presented as part of Sydney WorldPride 2023. sl.nsw.gov.au/pride
Featured image : Moogahlin_Blak Nulla_photo_Jamie James