Pride (R)evolution at the State Library

The love from WorldPride keeps flowing – from June 1, Sydney has been celebrating Pride Month, and with its massive Pride (R)evolution exhibition, the State Library of New South Wales is right at its centre.

A free event will run until July 9 and promises a “queer smorgasbord, with the space organised to stages of the day from twilight tonight to dawn (and) visitors can expect an embodied, sensory, immersive experience,” Catherine Freyne, co-curator said.

The exhibition draws extensively from the Library’s own LGBTQI+ archives and tells the stories of many of the movement’s pioneers, some like cabaret artist Nellie Small, long forgotten, while others like drag artist and performer Doris Fish, the subject of much recent WorldPride adulation.

“This is the largest LGBTQI+  exhibition that the State Library has done and it is one of the largest ever done in Australia,” Bruce Carter, co-curator said.

In a free and early evening event on June 21, Carter will share the Library’s recent LGBTQI+ acquisitions and explain how these relate to the current and future shows while securing the movement’s history.

On display will be the pioneering photographic works of William Yang, newly acquired images from Jamie James show alongside work by First Nations writers and poets.

Also, for the first time on show will be over 100 photographs of Sydney transgender and drag queen subjects by the late Barry Kay, who worked as a stage designer in London.

Kay’s mid-seventies photo-essay book, As a Woman, is a remarkable snapshot of transexual and transvestite pioneers living in Sydney in the mid ‘70s that depicts them in a sympathetic light. It became a beacon for tolerance and acceptance when published.

A special commission will see House daughter Tashinga Sle present a video essay with photographer Alia Ardon about the rise of Queer,Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour scenes in Sydney’s western suburbs.

On June 13, a free event will see David Unaipon Award winner Ellen van Neerven talking with ABC sports journalist Samantha Lewis about her new book Personal Score, while Rosa V Campbell has created a digital map of lesbian sport and fitness culture in Sydney which will feature in another forum.

After many years of having the story of groundbreaking Indigenous cabaret artist Nellie Small sitting in her drawer, playwright Alana Valentine finally gets the chance to tell all on June 15 in an evening celebrating the singer, entertainer and cross dresser who performed across Australia and New Zealand from the 1930s to the 1960s.

“I became interested in her years ago and then Catherine (Freyne) from the (R)evolution called and said they had found a cutting in an old magazine that I had a play about Nellie,” Alana Valentine said.

Early in her career Nellie adopted men’s clothing which she continued to wear outside of performances and lived with a married couple, who were her devoted fans.

Valentine is presenting a hybrid evening of performance alongside renowned actress and performer Elenoa Rokobaro and a lineup of panelists.

The State Library will also be delving into its own history with the story of Ida lesson, who in 1932 became the first female Mitchell librarian, despite opposition due to her working class background and openly living with her partner Florence Birch.

Conversations feature high on the Library’s agenda for Pride (R)evolution with upcoming talks by Sweatshop and Queerstories.

These are just some of the free and paid ticket events that the State Library of New South wales will be running in the final month of Pride (R)evolution.

Until July 9

The State Library of New South Wales, 1 Shakespeare Pl, Sydney

sl.nsw.gov.au/pride