Image: Bhenji Ra. Photo credit: Jack Mannix
Although same sex couples in Australia now have cause for celebration, the fight for equality is one that will continue to be represented by queer artists, who are constantly exploring themes that traverse, gender, race, sex and cultural identity.
Next year commemorates the 40th year since the inaugural Mardi Gras march in Sydney and the queer landscape has changed dramatically over the course of time.
The festival’s Creative Director Greg Clarke says he hopes its theme – Evolution – will encourage participants and the wider community to reflect upon the last four decades of history since the inaugural march.
‘The more we thought about the theme, the more we thought, “things have evolved so much over 40 years and it’s a very different world than it was in 1978 with all the different social structures that are around now,’” he says.