30 January 2023
Night at the Museum: Queer
The National Museum of Australia will hold a queering the museum event in honour of Australia hosting WorldPride in Sydney which takes place over 17 days in February and March 2023.
Night at the Museum: Queer will take place on Friday 10 February 2023 and will feature live performances, a drag queen glow up, a pop-up exhibition and a collaborative artwork creating a Defining Moments in Australian 'Queer History' wall.
National Museum of Australia Assistant Director Public Engagement, Tracy Sutherland, said, ‘The National Museum prides itself on being innovative and pushing boundaries. We hope this event will illustrate our commitment to inclusivity and to making the Museum welcoming to all Australians.
‘The National Museum is committed to including and celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer plus people and communities.
‘We are working with queer-identified people and communities to create a night of thought-provoking conversations, playful performances, and hands-on activities which celebrate queerness and challenge assumptions.’
Museum senior curator Craig Middleton, co-author of the book Queering the Museum, said, ‘We are excited to open our doors for a night of queer joy as we explore and celebrate our diverse cultures and histories.
‘This event is part of a process that acknowledges the marginalisation of queer lives and works to open up our cultural institutions to different ways of knowing, being and doing, and ultimately engaging with human experiences in much more complex ways.
‘No matter who you are, bring your friends and chosen family for an evening of dazzling drag shows, curious collection stories, a pop-up queer exhibition and a dance party to close out the night.’
On display for one night only are several objects from the Museum’s collection, including a 1994 broadcast of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras; a T-shirt worn by Robyn Archer; a woollen shawl crocheted by Burmese refugee from Myanmar, Aung Saw Lim (Man Man), who spent over four years in detention on Manus Island; costume designer Ron Muncaster’s first prize award from the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, plus a stunning pair of shoes he created.
Marking the successful ‘Yes’ campaign, the Love Wheels rainbow-coloured crocheted bicycle by yarn bomber Eloise Murphy that was left outside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s home during the marriage equality debate, donated to the Museum in January 2018, is concurrently on exhibition at the National Archives of Australia as part of its Disrupt, persist, invent – Australians in an ever-changing world until 12 June 2023.
Night at the Museum: Queer will take place Friday 10 February 2023 from 6pm to 10.30pm. Visit the website for the full program and tickets.
Media contact: Diana Streak 02 6208 5091 | 0409 888 976 or media@nma.gov.au
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