Are you looking to learn some more about queer history?
BY CAROLINA MENDONCA, IMAGE BY PEXELS
With the end of LGBT+ month just creeping around the corner, make sure to squeeze these excellent exhibitions into your itineraries!
Queer Britain
As the UK’s first LGBTQIA museum, Queer Britain is a fabulous place to visit just on its own. However, if you’re already familiar with the venue (and its irresistible shop), make sure to grab a ticket for their captivating discussion of Camden’s LGBTQIA activist history over the past 60 years on the evening of 26 February.
Liberating Love
This transformative exhibition features an extensive multi-media archive which explores the lives of Croydon-based activists Ray Harvey-Amer and Clare Truscott. As if that was not exciting enough, they also have some incredible workshops planned, such as a Badge-Making with Badge Café or Drag Photography with Christa Holka and drag queen Bourgeoisie this weekend. This exhibition is only on until the 23 February, so make sure to make your way down there soon!
Leigh Bowery
This queer Australian icon is being honoured at one of London’s staple venues, the Tate Modern. This eccentric exhibition is one of the rare opportunities to engage with Bowery’s work, especially his eclectic looks and collaborations with renowned artists such as Lucian Freud! Opening on the 27 February, this is the perfect end of LGBT+ History Month treat.
LGBTQIA tours of the Tate
Who doesn’t love an excuse to visit the Tate? If Leigh Bowery’s exhibition is not enough for you, hop onto one of the Tate’s guided LGBTQIA tours. Happening at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern, this free guided tour has something for everyone, and is the perfect opportunity to engage with art through a new perspective. Make sure to grab a ticket for the next one before they run out!
Bishopsgate Institute
This cultural hub is embellished with over 10,000 LGBTQIA book titles, 200,000 cuttings from the Lesbian and Gay News Media Archive, houses the UK Leather and Fetish Archive… the list is never-ending. That is what makes it the perfect spot to celebrate LGBT+ History Month! If you weren’t able to make it to one of their guided tours of the LGBTQIA archive, add a visit to their researcher’s area to your bucket list, or if you’re looking for something a little more funky, go dance the night away at one of their Queer Tango classes.
Loudest Whispers
This 15th edition of Loudest Whispers, an annual exhibition in the conference room at the St Pancras Hospital, is dedicated to celebrating activism and social change. Housing works of over 48 artists, this exhibition is dedicated to promoting the diversity and wellbeing of the local queer community.
Alongside their incredible art catalogue, the exhibition contains an interactive section for visitors to create signs and symbols using stones. Alternatively, If you are a movie-geek or a Letterboxd enthusiast, make sure to grab yourself a ticket here for their screening of Jean Genet’s short film, Un Chant D’Amour (1950) this weekend.
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