It’s time to revel in your rainbow palette, because the respectable Art Gallery of NSW is about to let her freak flag fly with a great big after-hours party platforming LGBTQIA+ artists, performers and storytellers. Queer Art After Hours is the gallery’s annual free event for the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival – and it’s back in action across both the original North Building and the shiny new South Building on Wednesday, February 28 (5-10pm).
Visitors can enjoy a kaleidoscope of interactive pop-up performances, installations, workshops and DJ sets as they embark on a choose-your-own-adventure exploration of the gallery’s exhibitions and collection.
This year’s line-up includes the video and spoken word installation Queers as in Crip, performances exploring butch and leather culture in Dyke vignettes, fierce and fabulous drag performances by Miss First Nations queens Nova Gina, Josie Baker and Shaniqua Empirè, a performance inspired by the pigeons that sometimes make their way into the Art Gallery by Eugene Choi and a celebration of bodies of all kinds in Lap Dance for Your Rights.
For visitors looking for a more chill experience, take part in Origami card-making with Western Sydney artists emoeba h♡rtbridge and Bonnie Huang, drop into a queer youth space co-hosted by Twenty10 and the Art Gallery’s Youth Collective, learn to serve in a hand-voguing workshop facilitated by Davina Chor and visit the cinema throughout the night to see Tarik Ahlip’s Three pieces of erotic autofiction. The evening will play out to a backdrop of beats spun by DJs including Ma'ata, Xfling, Rocky Stallone and LAKQUENTA.
A variety of pop-up bars will be offering refreshments, along with the Art Gallery’s existing restaurants and cafes. This is also your chance to check out the major ticketed exhibitions Kandinsky and Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day? to cap off your colourful queer art experience.
The Queer Art After Hours program is co-presented with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and is co-created with key community members including Dennis Golding, Riana Head-Toussaint, Megan Holloway and Ripley Kavara. Find out more about this free event over here.
