PREVIEW: Queer Space @Dalston Superstore

Queer Space is an exhibition at Dalston Superstore Gallery which draws queer artifacts and
ephemera from national archives, personal collections and influential queer meccas to create a
brief but passionate exploration of queer culture over the last century.

The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act (the partial
decriminalization of homosexuality in the UK) with a collection of personal photographic
memoirs, advertisements, news articles, posters and flyers of various LGBT+ events, clubnights
and venues. From the illicit Caravan Club of the 1930s to the ‘original all night bender’
that was Trade in the 1990s, the exhibition aims to provide a brief snapshot of how the
LGBT+ communities have partied and come together throughout the twentieth century.

Speaking about the importance of the exhibition, co-curators Joseph Alloway and Josh Enright said: “As LGBTQ+ people, our story is often written by others as one of exclusion, oppression and tragedy. We aim to show an alternative history of LGBT+ people, one of joy, community and defiance. These places were a world fashioned by queer people to celebrate our identity.”

The project is supported by Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time a tour of London set up to bring forth the visibility of our incredible LGBT+ communities at large and the journey to how we became who we are today.

Contributions are included in the exhibition from:

Club Kali, The National Trust Archives, London Metropolitan Archives, Rukus! Archive at the
LMA), Bishopsgate Archive, Hall Carpenter Archive at the LSE, Jill Gardiner (From the Closet to
the Screen; Women at the Gateways Club), Matt Cook (Birkbeck University of London), Ben
Campkin (UCL), Islington Museum, I Remember the Bell, Shaun Cole (London School of
Fashion), Stuart Feather (Blowing the Lid), Siobhan Fahey (Rebel Dykes), Gay’s the Word, Dan
Glass (Queer Tours of London), Anton Johnson and Jeffrey Hinton.