Written by Ricardo Reverón Blanco
Archiving Your Life is a 6 month project enabling young people to research interpret and (re)present queer histories through a range of archives, taking particular consideration of the Tommie & Betty collection (currently on show at Brighton Art Galleries & Museum as part of Queer the Pier). The archive represents the perfect time capsule of a queer life and relationship. This is a partnership between Photoworks, a platform for contemporary photography, and Queer in Brighton, a heritage learning project celebrating and promoting LGBT cultural life in Brighton & Hove.

I’m thrilled to take this creative journey with such a great core group. We’ll be exploring queer identity through heritage, creative and curatorial (online) workshops. I’m excited for all the different curators, artists and queer historians who will be part of the programme and lead some of the workshops, such as E-J Scott (curator of the Museum of Transology) or Jamie Brett from Youth Club Archive. We also have the fantastic Eva Louisa Jonas joining us as a Photography Facilitator for 6 practical sessions. I know Eva’s vision will support the group into creatively responding to the T&B archive’s themes in interesting ways.

Our group – Queer History Now – meets every 2 weeks via Zoom to collectively think, discuss and creatively engage with all the issues surrounding the showcase and interpretation of queer archives. Throughout this journey each participant will be pursuing two research questions that relate to the themes found in the T&B archive; one taking a heritage and archival focus, whilst the second takes a more practical and creative approach.
All the work done by the participants will culminate in a curated exhibition that will be part of the Photoworks Festival 2020 in late September. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!
We will be documenting our journey on this blog, but follow us on instagram for updated content: @queerhistorynow @photoworks_uk #alternativenarrative @queerinbrighton
