Audio from the Queer Objects event, held during Wellington's Pride Festival on 29 February 2020 at Te Papa. The recording features historians Will Hansen and Chris Brickell in discussion about Chris' new book Queer Objects. Parts of the recording have been edited. A special thank you to the organisers and participants for allowing this event to be recorded and shared.
Summary
The "Queer Objects" event took place at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa during Wellington's Pride Festival on February 29, 2020. The event featured discussions conducted by historians Will Hansen and Chris Brickell on Brickell's newly released book "Queer Objects," co-edited with Judith Collard. The book explores over 60 global objects related to queer history, intertwining narratives of humor, sorrow, power, and history itself, and covers diverse items from dildos to dogs.
Chris Brickell opened the discussion by defining what might constitute a queer object and explained that objects can vary in queer apparentness based on circumstances and individual perceptions. Brickell prompted the audience to reconsider everyday objects' potential queerness, suggesting a new perspective on material culture. For instance, photographs from the pride parade, boasting pieces like rainbow banners, exemplify items with obvious queer associations within the right context. Similarly, badges and buttons could represent symbols of lesbian and gay activism, mainly sourced from various countries to address the global dimension of queerness.
A powerful example included in the book details Marcus Bunyan's leather jacket that started as a mundane item but turned into a personal statement piece elucidating their identity. Other objects like domestic items can have intimate queer significance, evidenced by the example of Charity and Sylvia's silhouettes surrounded by woven hair, memorializing their relationship.
The dialogue delved into public objects turned into evidence of queerness, used unfairly against individuals in courts, demonstrating how material culture can wield both positive and negative powers in queer lives. One such object was the powder puff used in Melbourne's queer scene, later snatched by the police as courtroom evidence in trials against gay men.
The discussion also touched upon less obvious queer connections within historical items. For example, the story of Saint Eugenia, who transgressed gender norms during their time, highlighted the fluidity of gender and queerness in past societies.
The event ended with a look at contemporary queer artifacts, such as drag queen Frankie's extravagant headdress, which was constructed out of simple materials but symbolized the resilience and creativity of the queer community in intricate ways. Other items included placards from the homosexual law reform debates, capturing the struggle and activism of the queer community.
The talk also incorporated memories of queer spaces, like the Evergreen Coffee House, emphasizing the importance of community spaces for queer folks throughout history. This intertwining of past and present queer experiences underscored the ongoing relevance and power of queer objects in telling a visual and tangible history of LGBTQIA+ communities that might otherwise have been marginalized or suppressed in conventional historical narratives.
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