As part of LGBTQ+ History Month in conjunction with the Barbican’s 40th Birthday, Bishopsgate Institute will be staging a take-over of The Curve at The Barbican with an archive installation of objects, ephemera and media highlighting 40 moments and stories in London’s LGBTQ+ history.
Bishopsgate Institute has been collecting the lived experiences of everyday people for over a century, and their unique special collections and archives present the stories of individuals, collectives and organisations who fought for social, political, and cultural change.
The archive installation includes items documenting areas of pride, protest, performance and art; from the gay rights movement to the everyday celebrations and struggles of LGBTQ+ Londoners.
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The installation will be accompanied by a programme of informal talks and conversations hosted inside the gallery by the individuals whose stories are on display.
In response to the exhibition, a group of Young Creatives will create new creative work as part of a free programme that will see the group engage with archives, collections and LGBTQ+ themes, unveiled at a Young Barbican Night on 17 March. Also, Barbican Cinema will present a rare screening of the landmark gay sex ed documentary, The Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex (UK, 1992, dir David Lewis) on 1 March followed by a ScreenTalk with producer Tony Carne and film curator Selina Robinson, who will discuss the film’s legacy.
Out and About!: Archiving LGBTQ+ History at Bishopsgate Institute
Mon 28 Feb – Mon 21 Mar 2022, The Curve
The Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex (18) + ScreenTalk with producer Tony Carne and film curator Selina Robinson (UK 1992, 50 mins)
Tues 1 Mar, Cinema 2, 8.30pm
To complement the Out and About! Archiving LGBTQ+ history at Bishopsgate Institution exhibition in The Curve, Cinema will show a rare screening of the landmark gay sex ed documentary, The Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex, to mark its 30th anniversary. Made in association with the Terrence Higgins Trust, when the age of consent for gay and bi men was 21, The Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex was a vital sex educational doc that offered safe sex advice (which had been absent from information communicated by Margaret Thatcher’s government) in an artistic and unashamedly erotic piece of cinema. This film was filmed for a home video audience and the picture and audio quality reflect the time it was made.
