Queering the National Museum of Australia, Canberra celebrates WorldPride

Posted on 30 January, 2023

While WorldPride takes over Sydney in February, the National Museum of Australia will also get its glitter on with a truly inclusive “Queering the Museum” event.

Night at the Museum: Queer will take place Friday 10 February and will feature live performances, a drag queen glow-up, a pop-up exhibition and a collaborative artwork creating a Defining Moments in Australian Queer History wall.

Museum senior curator Craig Middleton, who is co-author of the book Queering the Museum, said “We are excited to open our doors for a night of queer joy as we explore and celebrate our diverse cultures and histories.”

“This event is part of a process that acknowledges the marginalisation of queer lives and works to open up our cultural institutions to different ways of knowing, being and doing, and ultimately engaging with human experiences in much more complex ways.”

Noting that the event was open to everyone aged 16 and above as a way to provide a safe and inclusive space for young people, Craig said he hoped to attract a wide range of museum-goers.

“Obviously we hope to attract queer communities and allies, but we also hope to receive members of the general public who are prepared to challenge assumptions and explore the complexities of identity in the Australian context.”

National Museum of Australia Assistant Director Public Engagement, Tracy Sutherland, said the National Museum prides itself on being innovative and pushing boundaries.

“We hope this event will illustrate our commitment to inclusivity and to making the Museum welcoming to all Australians.”

“We are committed to including and celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer + people and communities, and we are working with queer-identified people and communities to create a night of thought-provoking conversations, playful performances, and hands-on activities which celebrate queerness and challenge assumptions.”

Michelle Newton-Edwards shows Craig Middeltone some of the exhibits for Queering the Museum.

On display for one night only are several objects from the Museum’s collection, including a 1994 broadcast of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras T-shirt worn by Robyn Archer, a woollen shawl crocheted by Burmese refugee Aung Saw Lim (Man Man), who spent over four years in detention on Manus Island, costume designer Ron Muncaster’s first prize award from the 1994 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, plus a stunning pair of shoes he created. Marking the successful “Yes” campaign, the Love Wheels rainbow-coloured crocheted bicycle by yarn bomber Eloise Murphy that was left outside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s home during the marriage equality debate, donated to the Museum in January 2018, is concurrently on exhibition at the National Archives of Australia as part of its Disrupt, persist, invent – Australians in an ever-changing world until 12 June.

Craig said the “look,don’t touch, be quiet” behaviour many expected at museum exhibitions would not apply at the Night at the Museum: Queer, as the gallery is swirled in colour, movement and sound.

“No matter who you are, bring your friends and chosen family for an evening of dazzling drag shows, curious collection stories, a pop-up queer exhibition and a dance party to close out the night.”

Main Image – Craig Middleton with Ron Muncaster’s Mardi Gras shoes.