Ferranti F. (2018). Details from Bedroom to Battleground’s wall.
The exhibition From Bedroom to Battleground, opened to the public on February 1, will be on until May 5: hosted by Hackney Museum, it aims at celebrating the inclusive and ground-breaking attitude of the borough towards LGBTQIA’s values.
As the major of Hackney Philip Glanville puts it,
“I’m excited we’re hosting this exhibition at Hackney Museum; when we relaunched LGBT History month last year we asked residents to get involved and tell us their stories. I’m pleased together we’ve started to capture and celebrate the experiences of Hackney’s LGBTQI+ residents, especially giving voice to older residents who fought so hard for the freedoms we now enjoy.”
From Bedroom to Battleground has been envisioned by Indigo Project, a youth group run by health care charity Off Centre , whose goals are to provide “counselling, therapy, advocacy, advice and psychosocial service for young people aged between 11 and 25 who live, work or study in Hackney.”
We are Project Indigo’s video. Courtesy of Martha Rose McAlpine. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=729kKs0okqU.
Project Indigo was facilitated and led by artist, educator, activist and writer from South London Liv Wynter as a reflection on the sense of family and belonging between queer people.
“Queer people have a long history of creating our own families, and never have I felt more of a family connection than within Project Indigo. It is so phenomenal to see a group of young (and youth workers) so dedicated to not just the survival, but the joy and happiness of each other”.
Ferranti, F. (2018) Stik’s Hackney Pride Banner.
Elaborating on the manifesto, this project shows that collaborating and sharing creative inputs enable the creation of empowering bonds, solidarity being the main drive for social change and artistic production.
The project was funded and made possible by street artist Stik thanks to the Christie’s auction of his well-known Hackney Pride banner, displayed at 2017 London Pride on top of a black cab during the parade.
Ferranti, F (2018). From Bedroom to Battleground’s zine, facilitated by Liv Wynter and Susy Langsdale with thanks to Hackney Museum.
Focusing on my favourite highlights of the exhibition, a zine on self-acceptance, discrimination, gender stereotypes, rage and safe spaces was made in order to encourage a discourse on the issues that queer people still face in our society.
Moving to the conclusive part of this inspiring exhibition, the Out and About’s wallpaper design is a collaborative project between artist Angela Groundwater and Out and About, a Lgbtq+ life coaching service for people aged 50 and over in Hackney initiated by project manager Katharine Collins.
Ferranti, F. (2018). Out and About’s collaborative design wallpaper: a project run by artist Angela Groundwater and Lgbtqia’s group Out and About.
The wallpaper weaves a fascinating insight into the stories of five group members through a selection of their favourite objects. In doing so, objects might be seen in a queer perspective as personal archives that tell much more than words.
I recommend this exhibition to all the people who are persuaded that their thoughts can move out from their bedrooms to become active stances for social change: February as the Lgbtq+ History Month is a crucial time of the year to gather round, listen to other people’s stories and talk change and these exhibitions in local museums are an extraordinary source of inspiration.
Gender is a construct 