The Museum of Queer Arts: An LGBTQIA+ Arts Space Manifesto
This is an idea I’ve been working on for a while, and in the last few months I’ve been talking with some friends about making it happen. Currently we’re aiming to create a temporary space here in Bristol in Autumn 2022.
You can get in touch via our Facebook page or by emailing us at bristolqueerartgallery@gmail.com
The goal of this project is to create space for LGBTQIA+ folk to gather and share/experience art, history, culture, and knowledge through exhibitions and events, and to document these online and in journals, books and other publications. We will work with guest curators and artists and support them to share their vision and engage the community with their work, centering the voices of those who are marginalised within LGBTQIA+ communities including queer people of colour, women, trans people, disabled people, displaced people, etc. Our goal is to establish a permanent physical space, but until that is possible we will create temporary spaces lasting several months at a time.
LGBTQIA+ folk and other marginalised people are often unwelcome or un/underrepresented within artistic and academic establishments and may not have the resources to be professional artists/creators/writers or to access work held by institutions. Because of this we will work with people both within and outside of these establishments and work to make LGBTQIA+ art, history, culture, and knowledge more accessible to all. We reject the idea that people need approval from specific institutions to have art and ideas worth sharing and documenting. We also reject the hoarding of knowledge and history relevant to the lives of LGBTQIA+ people by these same institutions.
We understand the problems of artists needing to pander to wealthy art buyers to survive financially and how this limits both the format and content of the work they can produce. Whilst we will have a shop selling art, prints, books/zines and other products, our exhibitions will be non-commercial, with those exhibiting paid by the centre rather than through art sales. We will strive to be as financially independent as possible whilst keeping events financially accessible, so while we will apply for grant funding we will also work to build alternative sources of income including donations/subscriptions, cafe and book/art shop sales and hiring space.
We recognise that this sharing of LGBTQIA+ art, history, culture and knowledge is inherently political, and we do so towards the goal of dismantling oppressive white hetero/cisnormative systems within both art and academic institutions and the wider culture.
The aims of the project are to:
- Build community around LGBTQIA+ expression, creativity, and shared learning
- Provide a forum for LGBTQIA+ people’s contributions to art, history, culture and knowledge to be shared, celebrated and preserved
- Share and document the art and knowledge of LGBTQIA+ folk who are marginalised within artistic, academic and historical institutions
- Create a space that isn’t reliant on the commodification of art to support the work of creatives
- Strive for independence and sustainability by working towards acquiring a building to act as a permanent home for the project
