SYDNEY WORLDPRIDE 2023
The National Art School
2023
DJ Del Lumanta at the Block Party for Sydney WorldPride, The National Art School, 2023. Photographer: Peter Morgan.
The National Art School's Queer Contemporary Program was the visual arts program for Sydney WorldPride 2023 and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The expansive and effulgent program presented exhibitions, site activations around the NAS campus, public programs, and key community partnerships.
Director and CEO Steven Alderton says: “Building on the success of previous years participating in Mardi Gras, Queer Contemporary 2023 at NAS will be our most ambitious offering to date. The vibrant and varied program champions the diversity of our communities and celebrates LGBTQIA+ strength and resilience.
{Centre} Uncle Allen's Welcome to Country (Left) Bettina Girdler providing Auslan translation (Right) Sarah Hibbs, Sydney WorldPride Program Producer Photographer: Peter Morgan
The program was launched by the NAS Sydney WorldPride Block Party. With Welcome to Country by Uncle Allen, the celebration was opened by Program Producer Sarah Hibbs, alongside speeches by Steven Alderton, CEO of NAS and Alex Greenwich. The Block Party featured performances by Ru Paul's Drag Race superstar Kween Kong, DJ Del Lumanta and 2/3rds of The Mumps (Tina Havelock Stevens and Liberty Kerr).
Installation view of Luke Thurgate: Adore You within the NAS Drawing Gallery at the Block Party, 2023 Photographer: Peter Morgan
Installation view of Fulgora curated by EO Gill at the Block Party, 2023 Photographer: Peter Morgan
Installation view of Braving Time: Queer Art in Contemporary Australia at the Block Party, 2023. Front: Time Silver 'can I, just wait here with you' (2022) Behand: Kate Just, 'protest signs' series, (2022) Photographer: Peter Morgan
Braving Time: Contemporary Art in Queer Australia curated by Richard Perram AO celebrated the diverse voices of LGBTIQA+ people in contemporary Australia society, reflecting the breath of genders and sexualities within the community, including artists who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, inter-sex, asexual and non-binary.
Fulgora curated by EO Gill, presented a suite of commissioned video works by 5 Australian-based artists that are punctuated by a selection of films programmed in collaboration with LA-based collective Dirty Looks Inc.
Luke Thurgate’s solo exhibition Adore You was a durational performance created over six weeks across three walls of the Drawing Gallery. Based on the 15th Century polyptych Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyk, Adore You explores notions of desire, hero-worship, and queer subjectivity.
Visions of QueerNAS was student-led exhibition held within the NAS Stairwell Gallery Library. It featured work by current NAS students and recent alumni belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community; Quinn Chen, Henry Xiang, Cadmium Mellow, Giacomo Crosilla, Christian Bonett, Dani King, Beanie Fleming, Darcy Eliza, Kate Riley
Installatiom view of Qtopia: Ward 17 South at the National Art School, 2023 Photographer: Peter Morgan
Ward 17 South in partnership with Qtopia curated by Liz Bradshaw. The restaging of Ward 17 South featured historical and archival objects, imagery, video, and audio to tell some of the stories of this significant period within Australia’s history.
“Between 1984 and 2007, the first dedicated HIV/Aids unit in Australia – Ward 17 – was a haven for those people who were infected with HIV/ AIDS, people who were very sick, who were dying and who were challenged with a situation that until most recently, no one had ever envisaged.
This space will serve as a reminder of the journey and obstacles the Queer community has both faced and overcome in recent decades, particularly with its proximity to St Vincent’s where I, among many, was treated for HIV/AIDS," said David Polson, Chairman of Qtopia Sydney.
NAS’ partnership with Bobby Goldsmith Foundation presented Art Phoenix: Light and Shade; a fundraiser and exhibition of work that resulted from a series of drawing workshops led by artist and NAS academic Luke Thurgate for members of the BGF community living with HIV. 100% of the proceeds of the artwork sales went directly to the artists.