The Party – REVIEW
Image: The Party - Photo: Guy James Whitworth
By GUY JAMES WHITWORTH
I’m sure we are all familiar with the expression, ‘it’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it’. Well, this tied into my concerns before seeing THE PARTY, showing until April 23 at The UNSW Galleries Paddington. I knew it was going to be big, but was it going to be beautiful…?
I‘ll be honest, I feared it would be impossible to put together a show which clearly summarizes such a, diverse and complex scene spanning such a large expanse of time, but you know, I do believe they may have just done it!
Entirely made up of material documenting the LGBTQI+ party culture of Sydney in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s THE PARTY could easily have become a hyper-coloured sprawling mess with so much (possibly too much) vibrant ground to cover, but curators José Da Silva and The Australian Queer Archive’s Nick Henderson have somehow managed to pull together a massive show which is actually cohesive, factually informative, fun and as fabulous as anyone could have hoped for.
THE PARTY works magnificently as both a historical document and a cheeky peep into Queer culture’s scandalous underground scene.
The exhibition is a part of the gargantuan Sydney WorldPride Festival which is currently opening in various venues and forms around town. It will no doubt be easy, in the coming weeks, to lose oneself in the gaiety and queer frivolity of the current party scene; I would definitely recommend a visit to THE PARTY for revellers of any sexual identity to see what has come before, and to understand the fabulous giants on whose shoulders we currently stand – or dance – upon.
