Cartography Artist Jeremy Smith To Curate ‘We’re Here, We’re Queer’ At Sydney LGBT Museum

Cartography artist Jeremy Smith has been named curator for the soon-to-open LGBTQI museum, Qtopia Sydney.

Smith uses the term “Queer Cartography” to describe his artistic practice of highly detailed hand-drawn maps, integrating Queer psychology, history, and geography. 

Smith will curate the exhibit We’re Here, We’re Queer at Qtopia Sydney.

‘Pride Is The Antidote To Shame’

As one of Qtopia Sydney’s inaugural exhibits, We’re Here, We’re Queer will map and highlight the “breadth and depth of Pride across Australia.” 

“Pride is the antidote to shame, and it saves lives,” Smith said. “I am so honoured to be mapping and highlighting all the diverse Pride events across Australia be they urban, rural, large or small, that banish shame, celebrate our stories, creativity and culture’. 

“From parties and film festivals to drag events and archives, tea dances and tomboy raves – queer events are in every corner of Australia. Its a rainbow of Queer joy and a demonstration of our existence and visibility.” 

Sydney’s Queer Bubbles

We’re Here, We’re Queer will feature an “LGBTQIA+ Periodic Table” which will graph and outline the A-Z of Queer groups and definitions. 

Another one of his works is ‘Sydney Queer Bubbles’, a large-scale drawing of Sydney’s Queerbourhoods. 

According to Qtopia Sydney, ‘Sydney Queer Bubbles’ is a work “in the style of old hemisphere world maps, and maps Sydney’s traditional gay bubble of the Inner East, alongside the emergent new gay bubble of the Inner West.”

Speaking about the inspiration behind this piece, Smith shared, “I was inspired by an article in which an ABS spokesperson stated that 1 in 10 men in same-sex relationships live within 2 kilometres of Taylor Square in Darlinghurst.

“I wanted to map both the traditional gay bubble of the east using the Progress Rainbow flag-pole in Taylor Square as the centre of this bubble radiating 2 kilometres in all directions. Alongside that, is the Inner West bubble with the newly created Pride Square next to Newtown Station, radiating 2 kilometres out in all directions from there. To map the changing queer landscape of Sydney.” 

Qtopia Sydney Set To Open In February

Qtopia Sydney is set to open at its permanent location at the Darlinghurst Police Station in February.

The site of the old Darlinghurst Police Station on Forbes and Bourke Streets has an important place in the city’s Queer history. 

The police station was once associated with the harassment and persecution of Sydney’s LGBTQI community, including 78ers.