(In)formal Archives: Preserving Queer Histories
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When
- Where
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Address
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd Paddington NSW 2021
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Hours
2–3PM
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Phone
+61 2 8936 0888
Join Nick Henderson and Robert Lake for a conversation on the importance of preserving queer material culture. Together they will provide insight into the rarely seen archival material presented in ‘THE PARTY’, a landmark exhibition celebrating LGBTQI+ party culture in Sydney from 1973 to 2002.
‘THE PARTY’ features documentation and ephemera borrowed from a range of archives, estates, and collections including the Australian Queer Archives—Australia’s pre-eminent research collection for LGBTQI+ histories—and the personal collection of Robert Lake.
The conversation will consider the differences between formal archives held by collecting institutions, museums and libraries, as well as ‘informal’ archives held in personal collections and estates within the queer community. Together Nick and Robert will explore the significance of material culture in shaping and preserving Sydney’s collective queer histories.
Nick Henderson is an art historian, curator and archivist at the National Film and Sound Archives. He is also a volunteer committee member, curator and archivist at the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA). Nick has worked as a curator and archivist across national and state cultural institutions for two decades, including the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Archives of Australia and the Australian Performing Arts Collection at the Arts Centre Melbourne.
Robert Lake worked at various clubs in the 1980s and 1990s including Stranded, Patchs, Midnight Shift, Jamison St and Soho nightclubs. Robert also worked on nine Mardi Gras and Sleaze Ball parties (1983–88), the Eat RAT party (1988) and various Sodom, Fanny Palace and Homo Eclectus parties in the 1990s. From 2001, he has curated a series of exhibitions on recent gay art history including 'Dead Gay Artists' (2002) at the Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney University, and 'Being Boring: More Dead Gay Artists' (2023) at Darren Knight Gallery, Waterloo.
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Presented in conjunction with 'THE PARTY' at UNSW Galleries, 14 January – 23 April 2023.


Images: (In)formal Archives: Preserving Queer Histories for 'Mixed Company' at UNSW Galleries, 2023.