Friday 26 November

The new free and interactive exhibition ‘Queer-ways: Retracing Melbourne’s Queer Footprint’, has opened at the Victorian Pride Centre, and will be displayed in the Pride Gallery from November 26 to late January 2022.

The exhibition is curated by Melbourne/Naarm-based artists LUCIANO and Georgia Keats and features augmented reality illustrated maps of Melbourne’s queer history. ‘Queer-ways: Retracing Melbourne’s Queer Footprint‘ is displayed on the ground floor of the building, opposite the Pride Gallery’s inaugural exhibition ‘identity, adornment, transformation’.

‘Queer-ways: Retracing Melbourne’s Queer Footprint’ showcases a re-telling of Melbourne’s queer history through the voices of local queer people in a series of five maps. After initial research supported by (resident organisation at the Pride Centre) the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA) and community consultation directly with Melbourne’s LGBTIQ+ communities, LUCIANO and Georgia Keats have charted queer experiences, locations of significance, and memories onto illustrated Augmented Reality maps of the city. The exhibition also includes a display of archival material from the Australian Queer Archives.

Broken down into sections, similar to pages in the iconic Melway street directories, the illustrated maps come to life through the use of augmented reality, becoming an interactive experience for viewers. Viewers can explore Melbourne’s iconic and familiar queer landmarks guided by local queer voices, such as Sally Goldner AM and Cerulean – Miss First Nation 2021.

‘Queer-ways’ intends to unite Melbourne’s queer community in Australia’s first purpose-built space for LGBTIQ+ communities, celebrating the historical and contemporary queer venues, events and spaces that have shaped and continue to tell the story of Melbourne. This initial showing of the works is significant to the purpose of the project, aiming to catalyse cross-generational, cultural, sexual and gender identity communication within LGBTIQ+ communities after two years of isolation.

Angela Bailey, President of Australian Queer Archives:

“As an organisation that actively collects, preserves and celebrates our queer histories – it’s always important to further the narrative and create more diverse engagement with our shared histories. The Queer-ways illustrative augmented reality maps enable this engagement and open up of city’s queer history to a wider audience.”

Justine Dalla Riva, CEO at the Victorian Pride Centre:

“We excitedly welcome our second exhibition to the Pride Gallery, a unique space for LGBTIQ+ artists to showcase their work. The Queer-ways exhibition reveals our city’s LGBTIQ+ histories in such a novel and engaging way.”

Queer-ways is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and the City of Melbourne Arts Grants.

Find out more about visual arts programming at the Victorian Pride Centre here.