UNSW Explores Queer Kinship

In October, UNSW Galleries will launch a companion program to their Friendship As A Way Of Life exhibition entitled Forms Of Being Together.

The Friendship As A Way Of Life exhibition is an exploration of queer kinship and ways of being together. The Forms Of Being Together program will feature talks and events that explore LGBTQI gatherings from different social and historical perspectives.

The program will feature a variety of events including Dyke Bar TV, Flesh Meet, Blogging For Brown Gurls, Farrant Street House Books and a presentation by curator Anni Turnbull – who will discuss the history of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt Project.

Dyke Bar TV will involve three consecutive episodes, the first will premiere on October 30, the second on November 6 and the third on November 13. This will be an immersive installation series by American artist Macon Reed and will explore the legacy of dyke and lesbian bars. Dyke Bar TV will include a program of music, comedy, poetry and burlesque with entertainers including comedian Zoë Coombs Marr, musician June Jones, Sydney Drag King Markena Dalí and Glitta Supernova. Each episode will be hosted by MC Annaliese Constable. In a similar vein, Flesh Meet will explore the rise, decline and transformation of lesbian and queer spaces.

 In Blogging For Brown Gurls, José Da Silva will introduce Chicago-based artist Mark Aguhar (1987-2012), whose work strived to affirm brown femme agency, whilst in Farrant Street House Books, Kelly Doley will introduce 13 house books from an all-female share house active between 1987 and 1993. This share house had connections to the lesbian community and Women’s Liberation Movement in South Australia.

Forms Of Being Together will also host a number of ‘In Conversation’ events with Frances Barrett and Kelly Doley, Helen Grace and José Da Silva, Dani Marti and José Da Silva as well as Macon Reed and Jade Muratore.

Digital media scholar Paul Byron will discuss how queer digital spaces are created and re-established through peer support and friendship in Social Media As Queerspace on Thursday October 31. DJ Sezzo will advocate for the importance of party spaces for queer people of colour on Thursday, October 15, whilst also reflecting on her experiential club nights as expressions of identity and culture.

New content will be streamed online and on UNSW Galleries Social Media accounts each week.

You can find more information, or links to the different events and programs on the UNSW Galleries website.