Incredible Lineup At ‘Queer Art After Hours’ 2025 Centres Queer And Bla(c)k Perspectives

Despite being a relatively new addition to the prestigious lineup of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the Art Gallery of NSW’s Queer Art After Hours event is a night not to be missed as part of the annual celebrations. 

Set to take place on Wednesday February 26th, Queer Art After Hours has quickly become a beloved annual tradition within the local Sydney LGBTQIA+ community. This year, Ayebatonye Abrakasa, Kai Clancy and Gusta Silky have co-curated the event to have a heavy emphasis on Bla(c)k artists while responding to this year’s Mardi Gras theme ‘Free to be’, with a huge array of performers and installations, as well as a queering of the Gallery’s existing collection.

Following its humble beginnings, Queer Art After Hours has grown exponentially throughout the years and has quickly become one of the Art Gallery’s biggest annual events that queers their usual weekly Art After Hours event for a huge audience. For Evgenia Anagnostopoulou, acting programs producer at the Gallery who’s been involved with every instalment since it began in 2017, is thrilled to see this event for queer people, by queer people thriving. 

“It’s developed quite a bit from the initial years,” Evgenia tells City Hub. “I think the appetite for queer performance and artistry in general has grown over the years, too. It’s grown in numbers, and has become one of the flagship events of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which is really exciting! And it’s an event that’s grown in notoriety in the community; it’s become an event more and more people are coming to know in a really positive light.”

A new flagship Mardi Gras event

As the program has developed, it’s also grown in its ability to be developed by LGBTQI+ community members. “We now have an almost entirely queer staff force working on Queer Art After Hours in the back end,” Evgenia says. “That wasn’t the case for so many reasons when it first started; now it’s just a given that you’ll have queer curators, installers, marketers and advertisers, and focused on art forms that may not be hyper visible.” 

This year, the program by Ayebatonye Abrakasa is offering a huge array of activities for Gallery patrons on the 26th. With a full installation by Elesi Atsu, a sensual movement workshop by Basjia and a huge number of performances and DJ sets taking place across both buildings, plus a drag-and-draw session in the Member’s Lounge, this year’s Queer Art After Hours is shaping up to be one of its biggest yet. 

“This year, there’s a very beautiful vision being led by Ayebatonye this year that loosely follows a theme that legendary jazz musician Sun Ra coined; space as a sight for transformation,” Evgenia explains. “The program takes that concept and centres Bla(c)k and queer artistry, responding to the Mardi Gras theme of ‘Free to be’ through a Bla(c)k lens. With the other co-producers Kai and Gusta, they’re looking at queer spaces as transformative and holding the potential for connection and community.”

She continues: “It’s also centring Bla(c)k voices in spaces that are otherwise known for being quite colonial like a museum. It’s a very sharp curatorial theme this year, and we’re so excited to be working with the co-creators this year to bring the event to life!”

Queer Art After Hours 2025 a safe queer space

When asked how Queer Art After Hours differs from other Mardi Gras events, Evgenia says: “It’s just an incredible opportunity to use all our resources and collaborate with Mardi Gras to bolster queer artistic activity in Sydney, and highlight that for everyone to see. 

“It’s important to have this meaningful visibility and representation, and for Queer Art After Hours to be an open space for artists and audiences alike on the night. We’re all part of this big queer soup, even us as institution workers – and though it’s the closest we come to throwing a party all year, the focus is ultimately on celebrating queer artistry, storytelling and this community we’re part of.” 

Queer Art After Hours 2025 is on Wednesday February 26th. Entry is free, but bookings this year are essential due to high demand. Discover the whole program and book your spot on the Art Gallery of NSW’s website.