On 1st February Hackney Museum launched two exhibitions to mark LGBT History Month: “From Bedroom to Battleground” by Project Indigo and “Out and About”- a design wallpaper project in collaboration with Angela Groundwater. Project Indigo involved young LGBT+ people to express their recent journeys through growing up, questioning their sexuality and overcoming obstacles while “Out and About”, a life coaching and peer support project for older LGBT+ in Hackney, focused on stories from the past and heard from people who had to fight for their rights.

This is the first LGBT+ exhibition by Hackney Museum in a decade and for the first time in LGBT History Month a rainbow flag is flying above Hackney Town Hall, affirming the Council’s commitment to improving the lives of its LGBT+ communities.

The evening was opened by Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville who said: We were sitting here a year ago thinking about a call out to a community to source stories, objects and contributions for the museum and our archive. We have great collections showing the history of Hackney but what we really lacked were objects from LGBTQI community. It’s brilliant that the community rose to that challenge.

Susy Langsdale from Project Indigo added: I’m really proud to live in a borough that prioritises supporting young queer and trans people to make art.

A person who played an important role in making all of this possible is the artist Stik who designed a banner for 2016 London Pride and then handed it on for auction. The money from the auction allowed the museum collaboration with Project Indigo and Out and About.

Katharine Collins from Out and About spoke about the number of queer spaces and organisations being closed each year and how older LGBT+ people find it hard to find places where they can meet. She said: Many of the people I work with tell me that the older they get the more overlooked they feel.
During LGBT History Month Out and About is putting LGBT elders centre stage and we are going to tell stories that might be otherwise go untold. If you look closely you will see stories of love and heartbreak, a quest for meaning and belonging.

The Mayor of Hackney summed up the event with the following words: We are in a museum, an archive. We are connecting back generations with younger generations and you can see on these walls that activism is alive and well here in Hackney.

The exhibition is available for viewing until 5 May 2018.

More about Project Indigo: www.offcentre.org.uk/project-indigo
More about Out ad About: www.outandaboutproject.org

Hackney Museum is still on the lookout for objects for their LGBTQI+ collection.
Visit www.hackney.gov.uk/museum-projects for more information, e-mail hmuseum@hackney.gov.uk or call 020 8356 3500