Sydney Pride celebrates 40 Years of Love with Taylor Square installation

An inflatable art installation is due to be set up at Taylor Square during this year’s Sydney Pride Festival, to mark Mardi Gras’ 40th anniversary.

The installation – 40 Years of Love – will cement the precinct’s place in Mardi Gras’ history, and was announced as the winner of the Taylor Square Public Art Project earlier this year by Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

“This wonderfully exuberant work will light up the historical heart of our LGBTI community in Taylor Square,” Moore said.

“What began as a bloody protest almost 40 years ago is now a three-week festival celebrating our diverse and resilient LGBTI communities – acknowledging just how far we have come in the fight for equality and acceptance.

“What better way to commemorate that long history than this politically-charged, joyful work.”

The project, which was launched by Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and supported by the City of Sydney, has been designed on a large triangular aluminium truss that rises above the existing grass island and water fountain to transform the space into a light-filled pavilion.

The installation, by artists Matthew Aberline and Maurice Goldberg, invites passers-by to stop, stretch out on the grass, and ponder the Mardi Gras story.

“The Yes campaign proved that Taylor Square was still an important meeting place for the LGBTI community,” Aberline and Goldberg said.

“Our artwork reinvigorates the Square as a focal point and meeting place, reminding us we have plenty to celebrate.”

The 40 Years of Love installation will be unveiled on the anniversary of the first Mardi Gras on Sunday 24 June, coinciding with this year’s Sydney Pride Festival, which began on June 8 and runs through to July 1.

The festival’s theme this year is True Colours, and it will aim to remember the LGBTI pioneers who have led the way and fought for our rights, including the heroes of Stonewall and the ‘78ers.

Sydney Pride kicked off at the Stonewall Hotel on Friday 8 June before culminating with a Pride Awards event at Crane Bar on July 1, Sydney Pride Festival will provide a special time for the LGBTI community to learn from their history and work towards greater acceptance and equality.

For more information about Sydney Pride or the Taylor Square installation visit: www.sydneypride.com