The Closeted

The exhibition consists of three stages. The first stage frames some of the key political and social issues affecting the lives, of queer people in East Asia.

 

The second stage tells a personal story of the queer communities in East Asia through the life of one fictionalised individual. It explores that influences and pop culture they enjoy such as Japanese manga and the social challenges they face for example the conversion therapy. In this stage, audiences will also get a chance to see some gorgeous artwork done by our guest queer artists. They will firstly come across a collection of aesthetic photography named In the Mist. It was shot by Eva Zhang for her graduation project at London College of Communication. In the Mist explores the very personal experiences of six queers in China; it aims to shed some light on the lives of sexual minorities in China. Another series of fascinating digital paintings named Magnet World will also be shown, which tells a story about Sham Marriage in a world of cute magnets. The work is made by Howard Liu, a postgraduate at Goldsmith University majored in graphic design who is self-identified as a queer.

 

The third stage will celebrate the positive and potential of individual and collective efforts that seek to improve the living condition and life quality of LGBTQ+ groups. One of the examples used for the third stage is a Chinese social enterprise, called “Trueself” (former name: PFLAG China). More importantly, in this stage, the audience will see the star piece of the exhibition —- “Phoenix” a beautiful dress used in the graduation musical Blossoming (You Undo Me) which depicts a gay man’s adventure of self-discovery and self-acceptance when studying abroad. The musical is produced by a RADA graduate named Xun Huang. The dress was worn by an actor during the musical when he was performing the theme song This Is Who I Am.

 

By creating an intimate space that explores various examples of queer culture in East Asia, the creative team hopes the audience will gain a better understanding of the modern queer communities in East Asia, and enter into a dialogue with the worldwide queer community.