MACON REED
EULOGY FOR THE DYKE BAR

Macon Reed, Eulogy for the Dyke Bar, 2023, Installation at the National Art School Cafe for Sydney WorldPride 2023

Eulogy for the Dyke Baris an installation and participatory project by American artist Macon Reed. It was presented by UNSW Galleries in partnership with the National Art School in association with Sydney WorldPride.

The installation comprised a sculptural environment andmemorial to bygone dyke bars—an increasingly rare componentof the queer cultural landscape. It was created using ephemeralmaterials and featured archival material of now-vanished lesbiannights, parties, and bars in Sydney. The installation transformed the National Art School café to function as an operating bar and community space forperformances, conversation, cruising, and socialising. Catherine Woolley (UNSW Galleries), Sian McIntyre (NAS), and Sarah Hibbs (NAS) collaborated with Macon Reed and community members to curate an ambitious public programming series.

The bar was activated with 11 programs and events staged across 10 nights, supported by the City of Sydney, and Museums and Galleries NSW. The project offered an opportunity to think about the legacy ofthese spaces, and what kinds of queer spaces we want to create moving forward. It reclaimed the term ‘dyke’ in its most expansive sense, recognising that gender and identities arecomplex and fluid. The bar was a key hub for those who identified with, or felt an allyship with, the dyke part of the queer spectrum during Sydney WorldPride.