It’s Midsumma Melbourne season which is the city’s annual celebration of LGBT culture existence and omnipresence.
Here is how you can participate…
1. Beyond the Binary: Marlow Moss
Date & Time:
Celebrating the NGV’s landmark acquisition of queer British artist Marlow Moss’s painting Composition yellow, blue, black, red and white, 1956-57, this program reflects on Moss’s contributions to 20th-century queer art and culture.
Moss is renowned for their abstract Neoplasticism works and embraced queer modes of appearance and art-making throughout their life and career.
Speakers:
- Meg Slater, Curator, International Exhibition Projects, NGV
- Laura Castagnini, Curator, Researcher, and Writer
The discussion will explore Moss’s contributions to the Neoplasticism movement and how living an openly queer life shaped their artistic practice.
2. Queer Worldmaking: Women Photographers 1900–1975
Date & Time:
Saturday, 7 February, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Location: NGV International | Exhibition ticket required
Join NGV curators Maggie Finch and Meg Slater, along with special guest Karen Bryant, Chief Executive of Midsumma, for a tour exploring LGBTQIA+ moments in the Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light exhibition.
The exhibition features over 80 artists and photographers, including:
- The experimental work of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore
- Celebratory images of Gay Liberation by Ponch Hawkes
3. Re-Imagining Gender: Rei Kawakubo & Vivienne Westwood
Date & Time:
Saturday, 7 February, 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: NGV International, Clemenger Auditorium | Free Entry, Bookings Required
Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood are celebrated for questioning and transforming fashion by subverting traditional gendered codes.
Speakers:
- Meg Slater, NGV Curator
- Katie Somerville, NGV Curator
- Glen Rollason, Fashion Designer and Patternmaker, Founder of 1990s label Rude Boy
This program will delve into the queer dimensions of Kawakubo and Westwood’s design approaches.