FREE ENTRY / Elysium Gallery - Queer Perspective Open Call

Elysium is an artist led organisation with an emphasis on community and collaboration. We embrace experimentation, freedom, and nurture creative practice by focusing on emerging and established practitioners. Elysium prides itself on being a safe and inclusive venue. We are the custodians of a building which has historic significance in terms of the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene in Swansea. Having been described as a ‘city mourning the loss of its gay culture’ the number of exclusive LGBTQ+ spaces in Swansea has fallen. The proposition of a Queer Space exhibition has come about in response to this but also aims to support queer visual artists in Wales and beyond. We are looking to work with 5 artists to explore and respond to the theme of queer space working towards an exhibition that will run from 31st May 2024 – 6th July 2024. The term queer space fluctuates between two contested concepts ‘queer’ and ‘space’.

Fundamentally, queer spaces are ones of safety, allowing queer people to embrace their authentic selves, offering a space of empowerment and resistance against mainstream norms. For many, the term may be synonymous with queer nightlife but that denies the myriad of spaces that perhaps fall under this blanket term. For example, these spaces may be architectural, virtual, personal, historical, or imagined. Queer spaces, also have potential to be political in and by their existence and practice. Perhaps not having a singular definition is part of the point, the term remains transient, open and amorphous. We invite artists to submit a proposal outlining how they would develop work in response to the theme of queer space.