Tate Britain is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Pride in London and will officially launch the two-week Pride Festival at Tate Britain on Saturday 24 June.
A day long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community has been planned to coincide with Tate Britain’s exhibition Queer British Art 1861-1967 and will be the special launch event for the Pride in London festival. Tate Britain will also be flying the rainbow flag above the gallery from 5 April, the opening date of Queer British Art, until the end of July.
Pride in London at Tate Britain will run from 2pm to 10pm on 24 June and will explore and celebrate LGBTQ+ through music, performance, talks, tours and film. The event kicks off the two-week festival which culminates in the annual Pride parade, where Tate will have a float.
Clare Barlow, Curator of Queer British Art, said:
‘We are so pleased to work with Pride in London on this fantastic event that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community in London and beyond. It is a great addition to the programme surrounding the Queer British Art exhibition and it will be an amazing opportunity to celebrate the diversity of Queer culture in Tate’s collection.’
Alison Camps, Co-Chair and Director of Marketing for Pride in London:
‘Pride in London is honoured to be partnering with Tate, and working alongside one of Britain’s most loved and iconic institutions. Art and creativity have always been wonderful partners with the LGBTQ+ community. As Tate’s exhibition shows, it has been an amazing example of freedom and expression. There is so much about art that embodies the highs and lows of our community, and exemplifies everything that Pride stands for. This year we will host our biggest, most diverse and most exciting festival programme ever, and the event at Tate Britain is the perfect way to kick it all off.’
On 24 June there will be activities for families, including stalls and food throughout the day both inside and outside on the gallery lawn, as well as talks and performances highlighting related collection works and contemporary displays. The evening will see the gallery filled with music, performance, talk and discussion, bringing together key contemporary voices and perspectives from across the LGBTQ+ community.
Queer British Art (5 April – 1 October 2017) is the first exhibition dedicated to queer British art. Unveiling material that relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) identities, the show marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales. It presents work from the abolition of the death penalty for sodomy in 1861 to the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967 – a time of seismic shifts in gender and sexuality that found expression in the arts as artists and viewers explored their desires, experiences and sense of self.
For further press information please contact:
Rebecca Ward for Tate Britain press enquiries on 07977 071450 or rebecca@rebeccaward.co.uk
Adam Browning for Pride in London press enquiries on adambrowning@prideinlondon.org
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NOTES TO EDITORS
QUEER BRITISH ART 1861-1967
Spanning the playful to the political, the explicit to the domestic, Queer British Art 1861-1967 showcases the rich diversity of queer visual art and its role in society. Themes explored in the exhibition include coded desires amongst the Pre-Raphaelites, representations of and by women who defied convention (including Virginia Woolf), and love and lust in sixties Soho. It features works by major artists such as Francis Bacon, Keith Vaughan, Evelyn de Morgan, Gluck, Glyn Philpot, Claude Cahun and Cecil Beaton alongside queer ephemera, personal photographs, film and magazines. Queer British Art 1861-1967 shows how artists and audiences challenged the established views of sexuality and gender identity between two legal landmarks. Some of the works in the show are intensely personal while others spoke to a wider public, helping to forge a sense of community.
Queer British Art 1861-1967 is curated by Clare Barlow, Assistant Curator, Tate Britain with Amy Concannon, Assistant Curator, Tate Britain. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue from Tate Publishing and a programme of talks and events in the gallery. For more information visit www.tate.org.uk
PRIDE IN LONDON
Pride in London is one of the largest Pride events in the world and last year attracted more than 1m people. The festival, which is partnering with Tate for the first time, hosts more than 60 events across the capital.
The Pride in London Festival will take place from 24 June to 9 July, and will showcase some of the most inspiring talents and celebrate diversity in the LGBTQ+ community, including theatre, dance, talks and conferences, LGBTQ+ tours, art and much more. The Pride in London parade will take place on Saturday 8 July and mark 50 years since Parliament first voted to partially legalise homosexuality in the UK. The LGBTQ+ community has come a long way in 50 years, yet faces daily reminders that the global battle for true equality is far from over, and rights hard won can be threatened, attacked and taken away.
For more information about Pride in London 2017 visit http://prideinlondon.org