An immersive installation and pop-up bar celebrating dyke culture
Sydney, Australia: UNSW Galleries and the National Art School present Eulogy for the Dyke Bar by American artist Macon Reed. This immersive installation, pop-up bar and community space are presented at the NAS café from 17 February – 4 March 2023 as part of the Sydney WorldPride arts program.
Eulogy for the Dyke Bar sees artist Macon Reed transform the National Art School café into a vibrant sculptural environment and memorial to bygone lesbian bars—an increasingly rare component of the queer cultural landscape. The installation incorporates an operating bar and functions as a community space for performances, socialising, and contemplating the future of queer spaces.
The installation is created using ephemeral materials and features archival material from Sydney’s lesbian bars, nights, parties, and collectives. The project aims to reclaim the term ‘dyke’ in its most expansive sense and recognises that gender and identities are complex and fluid. It will be a key hub and community venue for those who identify with, or feel an allyship with, the dyke part of the queer spectrum during Sydney WorldPride.
“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 including gentrification, assimilation, and perhaps changing needs in the community”, explains artist Macon Reed.
“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 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.”
Eulogy for the Dyke Bar is activated from 5.00 pm Tuesday–Friday as a venue for programs, workshops, panel discussions, performances, and more. The project launches on Friday, 17 February, for a night of dancing and cruising with music from Afro-Caribbean crip DJ Aquenta, the founder of CRIP RAVE THEORY, which draws on disabled knowledge to create intersectionally-accessible rave spaces.
Sydney’s first lesbian and gay political organisation, CAMP (Campaign Against Moral Persecution) recreates their ‘women’s night’ on Wednesday, 22 February, inviting 78ers to share their histories of activism and resistance. BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation will take over programming on Thursday, 24 February, recognising the histories and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ communities.
The program also features an information session on safe dyke sex practices, queer tarot readings, and ‘Dykes on Mics’ karaoke. Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money leads a poetry and open mic night. Drag king legends Sexy Galexy and Papi Chulo are joined by performance artist and director of Big Thick Energy Demon Derriere for a night celebrating dyke excellence. Club Chrome curates a performance program featuring queer artists at the intersections of the POC and sex worker communities to queer gendered expectations of pole dance as an art form.
Eulogy for the Dyke Bar is a satellite project commissioned by UNSW Galleries and co-presented with the National Art School. Programs are supported by the City of Sydney and Museums and Galleries NSW.
SCHEDULE
Launch Party
5–10 pm Friday 17 February
Club Chrome Takeover
6–9 pm Tuesday 21 February 2023
CAMP Women’s Night
6–8 pm Wednesday 22 February 2023
BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation Takeover
6–9 pm Thursday, 23 February 2023
Queerly Divine Cosmos: Astrology & Tarot Readings
6–7.30 pm Friday, 24 February 2023
Dykes On Mics Karaoke
7.30–10 pm Friday, 24 February
Dyketactics: fisting as erotics, politics and practice
6–7 pm Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Panel: DIY Dykes & Queer Futures
6–8 pm Wednesday 1 March 2023
Radiant: Poetry & Open Mic Night
6–8 pm Thursday 2 March 2023
Dyke Decadence: Finissage Party
5–10 pm Friday 3 March 2023
DETAILS
Where: National Art School Café
Address: 156 Forbes St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 When: 17 February – 4 March 2023
Opening hours: 9 am–5 pm Monday – Saturday Bar open: 5–10 pm Tuesday – Friday
Please check the website for programs and events. Tickets: Free
UNSW Galleries website: unsw.to/galleries
National Art School Website nas.edu.au/sydney-worldpride-2023/
