World Pride at the Art Gallery of NSW

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is celebrating Sydney World Pride 2023 with a slew of events showcasing the Emerald City’s LGBTQIA+ arts community between Sunday February 12 and Sunday March 5.

From Friday February 17, visit Queer Encounters at the Art Gallery’s original building for a presentation of new works by Bhenji Ra, Dennis Golding, Sione Tuívailala Monū and Sidney McMahon – the exhibition provides a snapshot of the current state of contemporary queer art in Australia today.

Explore through a queer lens more than 50 artworks on display in the Art Gallery’s historical collection galleries, showcasing the breadth of existing queer histories and artists in the collection – look out for the special wall labels to learn about the works.

On Wednesday February 22, an epic Queer Art After Hours event will take over the brand-new building of the Art Gallery for the very first time. Featuring a stellar line-up of LGBTQIA+ artists with music, performances, installations, DJs and pop-up bars, plus the return of the LGBTQIA+ Youth Space hosted by the Art Gallery’s Youth Collective.

Also in the program are new works from Briana Fuata, Blu Jay, Al Joel and Leo Tsao, developed through the Sweet Incites artist residencies over the past few months. On February 26 a special afternoon screening of queer film will take over the Art Gallery’s Domain Theatre, followed by panel discussion hosted by by Jen and André (Garden Reflexxx), hosts of FBi Radio’s Movies, movies, movies.

Redfern locals will be familiar with the Bearded Tit – a neighbourhood queer bar and creative space where emerging artists and diverse communities frequently converge. For Sydney World Pride 2023, the Bearded Tit team brings their much-loved talks program to Art Gallery in a series curated by Bearded Tit owner Joy Ng and moderated by radio presenter Kilimi. The talks will enable a discussion between arts practitioners and community leaders on the topics of identity and belonging across LGBTQIA+, migrant and Western Sydney communities.

Browse the full list of Sydney World Pride happenings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales here. All events are free, including entry to the gallery, with no bookings or tickets required (except for the film program).

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW.