Pride Gallery

It’s a rare thing to have a space dedicated to LGBTIQ+ culture and it is with immense excitement that we launch the visual arts program in the Pride Gallery. The Victorian Pride Centre provides opportunities for visual arts and archival exhibitions and displays that focus on art by LGBTIQ+ artists and/or art that focuses on LGBTIQ+ issues. See our current and upcoming exhibitions and an archive of past works below.

Visual arts activations and exhibitions at the Pride Centre are determined through an Expressions Of Interest process, assessed by a Visual Arts Selection Panel of volunteer arts professionals. Please keep an eye on the website and socials for information about the next round of EOIs. For further information, please email contact@pridecentre.org.au

Current Exhibition

male//chair

We're excited to announce our next major exhibition – 'male//chair’ – by Melbourne artist garrie maguire. This photographic exhibition will show in the Pride Gallery as part of VPC's visual arts program from March 6 to April 28, 2024.

This photographic exhibition employs a simple set up, where each individual sits stripped of conventional gender or status signifiers, with a red kitchen chair. The camera serves as the audience, capturing the essence of each participant's raw presentation. No names, no identities—just pure expression. This project aims to shift the power dynamic, allowing each participant to craft their own narrative, presenting themselves to you, the viewer, in their truest form. Through these images, garrie hopes to provide the viewer with glimpses into interpretations of maleness that occupy this city.

Upcoming Exhibition

The Air is Electric

During his travels in the United States, David McDiarmid was constantly documenting his experiences in correspondence and photographs, and through these we can start to understand the excitement of the liberatory activism and emergent gay community of the late 1970s - ‘the air was electric’ with new possibilities and freedom.

May - June 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

SEEN/SCENE

SEEN/SCENE exposes the often unseen artistry of TGD Cinematographers, Intimacy Coordinators, Grips, Producers, caterers, all working with actors and directors behind the scenes. These images
create space for greater representation.

May - June 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

Muru-ba

Muru-ba is a physical and online exhibition showcasing the faces and stories of First Nations LGBTQIA+ Elders involved with the LGBTQIA+ rights and First Nations community movements since the 1970s from across Australia.

July 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

Persona

This exhibition by Artist Camila Pazz showcases humanity’s richness, urging a more compassionate world where diversity and tolerance prevail—a poignant reminder that, above all, we share the vital title of being human.

July - September 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

TransTrans: Transnational Trans* Histories

Curated by Birgit Lang and Katie Sutton, TransTrans explores transnational networks of trans people who shaped early gender-diverse histories between the 1900s and the 1960s.

September - November

Past Exhibition

Queer Latinx: Migrating Down Under

As part of our 2024 Midsumma Festival program, this photographic project explores the layers of identity and intersectionality experienced by LGBTIQ+ Latinx people living in Australia. Photographer Arun Ernesto Munoz skilfully captures these narratives, offering a unique perspective that allows the subjects to present themselves authentically, sharing their lives and new realities as migrants.

January - March 2024

Past Exhibition

Beguiling

‘Beguiling’ – by acclaimed artist Professor Dr. Lisa Anderson. The exhibition is an evocative, multimedia exploration of changing landscapes and environmental collapse.

November 2023 - January 2024

Past Exhibition

Rainbow Bridges

The Rainbow Bridges art project brings together the voices of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and older members of the LGBTIQA+ community of the Macedon Ranges.

September - November 2023

Past Exhibition

If the World Was Just

As part of resident organisation Thorne Harbour Health‘s 40th anniversary, ‘If the World Was Just’ is a photographic exhibition exploring LGBTIQ+ human rights around the world through a series of portraits of local LGBTIQ+ community members.

July - September 2023

Past Exhibition

#AllAboard Dress and Exhibition

To celebrate the #AllAboard Pride Tram design competition the Pride Centre is displaying entries from last year’s #AllAboard design competition this winter, along with the iconic ‘tram fabric’ dress designed by Gaetano Contarino for local drag artist Frock Hudson.

June - August 2023

Past Exhibition

The Queer Gaze

The exhibition features a stunning collection of images from the iconic lesbian magazine Wicked Women, which was launched in 1988 and played a pivotal role in disrupting the rigid political climate that dominated the lesbian scene at that time.

April - June 2023