In 2021, Heritage Victoria and the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA) published a landmark report – A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects. Drawing inspiration from this important document, NGV and AQuA have partnered to develop conversations with key figures linked to some of the report’s places and spaces.

The first discussion, between Dr Ted Gott, David Menadue OAM and John Hall, centres on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Melbourne and beyond, its associated activism and loss, and the significance of the creation of the AIDS Memorial Garden, the Memorial Quilt and the ongoing legacy of these resources to the community. This important conversation coincides with the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Victorian AIDS Council and Thorne Harbour Health.

The second discussion, between Angela Bailey, Meg Slater, Bumpy Favell and Tracey Wall, delves into the important contribution of Melbourne’s queer bars, clubs, parties and other night-time haunts in facilitating connection, desire, community and intimacy.

Moderators

Dr Ted Gott
Dr Ted Gott is Senior Curator, International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and one of the co-curators of QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection. He has curated and co-curated more than 25 exhibitions, including Salvador Dalí: Liquid Desire and Napoleon: Revolution to Empire. He has published widely on Australian, British and French art, and in 2013 co-authored a cultural history of the gorilla in nineteenth and twentieth century art, literature, scientific discourse and cinema (Gorilla, Reaktion Press, London).

Meg Slater (she/they)
Meg Slater is Curator, International Exhibition Projects at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Since 2017, Meg has worked on a number of the NGV’s major international exhibitions, including MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the forthcoming Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi. Meg was also one of the five curators who organised QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection (2022), the most historically expansive thematic presentation of its kind ever presented by an Australian art institution. In 2021, Meg completed a Master of Art Curatorship at The University of Melbourne with First Class Honours. Meg’s thesis explored the potential for large arts institutions to more meaningfully engage with marginal subjects and histories through exhibition making and programming.

Angela Bailey
Angela Bailey is a curator, photographer and creative producer whose practice actively explores and interprets our rich and diverse queer histories and culture by creating exhibitions, installations, discourse and public programs of engagement. Her experiences as a young activist participating in the fight for gay law reform in Queensland continue to inform her work with LGBTIQ+ communities. Angela has a Postgraduate Degree in Fine Art, a Masters of Art Curatorship and is currently a Fellow at Arts Centre Melbourne and Vice President of the Australian Queer Archives.

Speakers 

David Menadue OAM
David Menadue OAM is one of the oldest living survivors of HIV AIDS. Diagnosed in the mid 80’s he has buried over a hundred of his friends while being at the coal face of the epidemic. He has worked to change legislation, seen improvements in medications and learnt how to live side by side with a virus that has taken so many of his loved ones. Menadue has been a board member of Alfred Health and the Victorian AIDS Council. He was also a special representative of the National Association of People with HIV Australia. For 14 years, he was an Editor for the Education Department of Victoria.

John Hall
John Hall is a long-time community health worker, who endeavours to raise the profile of the associated issues for people living with HIV, those within the queer community and others with chronic illnesses. For the past 10 years, he has been the Partnership Program Leader in the People and Culture Division for the Victorian AIDS Council.

Bumpy Favell
In 2000, aged 38, after years of playing in bands and running other queer cabaret events, Bumpy Favell started up King Victoria drag kings with dear friend Tom Erge. Bumpy went on to produce over 500 King Victoria cabaret and festival events, with Ray Jalil till 2003, then as sole producer till 2011. King Victoria drag king events were held every Friday night at Melbourne venues like the Star Hotel in Abbotsford, Salon Kitty and The Glasshouse in Collingwood, and the Greyhound Hotel in St Kilda, as well as at Melbourne’s Midsumma festival, Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and other venues around Australia. King Victoria offered raunchy, comedic cabaret entertainment that explored and subverted male gender stereotypes, with both cisgender and transgender people performing drag acts dressed as men. Drag queens and other gender-bending performers also featured weekly. King Victoria was a popular weekly social hub for lesbians, queers and trans people for over 10 years. Bumpy’s Drag King Collection, now housed at Australian Queer Archives documents the history of King Victoria. It has international historical, social and cultural importance as a unique record of the Melbourne drag king phenomenon. The collection consists of hundreds of photographs, videos, newspaper clippings and promotional material, in digital and hard copy formats.

Tracey Wall
Tracey Wall is an event producer and promoter with extensive experience creating events and parties for the Queer communities of Melbourne from the 1980s-2000s. In 1982, with four friends, Tracey created the Caviar Club – a women’s night at various venues throughout Melbourne with performance, live music with special fundraising efforts for groups like ACT-UP and Women’s groups. Tracey also brought the Ms Wicked competitions to Melbourne and was instrumental in bringing acts like Karen Finlay, Kathy Acker and Annie Sprinkle to Melbourne. During the 1990s Tracy was President of the Midsumma Festival and Producer of the infamous and popular ALSO Warehouse Dance Parties at Shed 14 on the Docks, including Red Raw and Winter Daze and engaged the likes of Nigel Triffet, Barry Kosky, Gill Minervini, Amanda Morris and Tony Di Dio as artistic directors.

NGV x AQuA: Pride Month

This program is part of NGV x AQuA: Pride Month, a series of talks, discussions and workshops in Community Hall every Sunday in June presented by NGV in collaboration with the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA). Shining a light on subjects ranging from the role of community archives within society to the potential for art to function as an archive, these programs will invite community members and Melbourne Now artists to reflect on the importance of documenting, sharing and interpreting marginalised histories and experiences. More information on the series can be found here.