Macon Reed: Eulogy for the Dyke Bar

UNSW Galleries, the National Art School and Sydney WorldPride present Eulogy for the Dyke Bar, an installation and participatory project by American artist Macon Reed.

The installation is a sculptural environment and memorial to bygone dyke bars—an increasingly rare component of the queer cultural landscape. It is created using ephemeral materials and features archival material of now-vanished lesbian nights, parties, and bars in Sydney.

The project offers an opportunity to think about the legacy of these spaces, why they are closing at a disproportionate rate, and what kinds of queer spaces we want to create moving forward. The installation incorporates a café and operating bar, and functions as an active community space for performances, cruising, socialising, and contemplating the future of queer spaces.

The project reclaims the term ‘dyke’ in its most expansive sense and recognises that gender and identities are complex and fluid. The ‘bar’ is open to anyone who identifies with, or feels an allyship with, the dyke part of the queer spectrum in the past or present (or perhaps future).

“Eulogy for the Dyke Bar honours the complex role and histories that dyke bars have played for the larger queer community. It acknowledges that many are now gone due to factors like gentrification, assimilation, and perhaps changing needs in the community. The project is an opportunity to talk about all of this, as well as to celebrate dyke culture. To ask ourselves what kinds of alternative community spaces we want to create moving forward and how to share resources to make that happen. It’s about thinking of our community both on, and beyond, the dance floor and what collective liberation can look like while also honouring our queer histories.” — Macon Reed, 2023

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Eulogy for the Dyke Bar is a satellite project commissioned by UNSW Galleries and co-presented with the National Art School in association with Sydney WorldPride. Programs are supported by the City of Sydney and Museums and Galleries NSW. 

Watch Isabel Farrington's short documentary on the work's presentation in New York City.

 

Public Program

 

Banner and Tile Image: Macon Reed, Eulogy for the Dyke Bar 2016. Image Courtesy of the artist.
Installation Image: Macon Reed, Eulogy for the Dyke Bar 2023. Installation view at the National Art School Café for Sydney WorldPride, 2023. Photograph: Jacquie Manning.