Queer+ Croydon launches 18th July, 2020 with ‘Chapter 1: Queer Artefacts’, to correspond with dates of Croydon Pride 2020. Divided into four chapters, each chapter explores a different area of Mark’s research as it continues to evolve. Additional blogs, podcasts, artworks and new donations will document the journey and offer new perspectives across a variety of themes relating to Croydon’s queer history.
Meet the artist
Mark Goldby is a multidisciplinary artist with a Masters in Fine Arts from Wimbledon College of Art. Mark’s connection with Croydon began in 2017 with an artist residency programme at First Floor Space, based at the Croydon Arts Store inside The Whitgift Centre. It concluded with an exhibition in the LOFT gallery and following this, he began working with the Museum of Croydon as an artist in residence, exploring creative ways to activate the archive. This led to Mark designing and curating the group exhibition ‘Bold.’. at the Croydon Clocktower in 2019. Queer+ Croydon is the result of Mark’s successful bid for What’s Your Croydon? 2020 programme, discovering Croydon’s LGBT+ history through the Museum’s collection. This exhibition is an exploration of Mark’s research, as written in his own words.
Click here to see Mark’s art process
My objective
This exhibition documents an unfolding story as I moved between the historical and the contemporary, landing upon the reoccurring theme of ‘visibility’. Being seen is an acknowledgement of existence; it commands respect and instigates political change. I will look at examples of queer visibility in the Borough and will conclude by establishing a queer archive of Croydon. This will be an opportunity for LGBT+ people with a connection to Croydon to digitally donate their own stories, images and objects to an ongoing collection, first established in 1995. These donations will be released in blog format on the Museum’s website. Croydon PrideFest 2020 would have been a time for us to be seen, to gather in person and march through the town of Croydon, but due to COVID-19 it is no longer safe for us to do so. By digitizing our histories and making them accessible online, we can reclaim our sense of community and be visible by dedicating our histories to the archive.
