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Out and proud: makers celebrate 50 years of Pride at the Crafts Council Gallery


ByEmily Collins

27 May 2022

Ahead of our Pride Month programme, we chatted to workshop leaders about craft, activism and family


Emily Collins

27 May 2022

  • Crafts Council Gallery
  • Social justice
  • Textiles
  • Quilting

To mark the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march in London this year, we invited queer craft historian Daniel Fountain to curate a series of workshops led by three LGBTQIA+ makers at the Crafts Council Gallery (from 2 to 4 June). We sat down with Fountain and the three creatives – Al Hill, Jacob V Joyce and Liaqat Rasul – to hear about the history of craft in the movement and what these workshops mean to them.


Detail of a collage work by Liaqat Rasul. Photo: courtesy the artist

What role do you think craft has played in the Pride movement over the past 50 years?

Daniel Fountain: Craft has played a really central part, but this is often unexplored and overlooked. For me, the role of craft in Pride is in the material cultures of activism and protest. If you think about the banners, the badges, the manifestos, the zines, the handmade T-shirts – all these objects are crafted. They are often created collaboratively when people meet up before a demonstration, so the act of crafting helps facilitate conversation alongside the radical action itself.

Al Hill: I agree, it’s vital – whether as a way to be recognised by other LGBTQIA+ people or to make a statement. That’s what I like about our workshops at the Crafts Council Gallery: the discussions around queerness that arise will be just as important as the making itself. What’s the aesthetic? What’s the movement’s aims?

Jacob V Joyce: In the UK, the movement is very DIY. Everything emanates from the creative energy of people challenging power. Lots of the London- based queer activism over the last two decades has been attempting to move away from Pride (or 'Pride in London' as it’s now officially called), because it is a corporate event with no connection to the The Gay Liberation Front who originally founded Pride. This year, many longstanding LGBTQIA+ charities have chosen to distance themselves from the event.

DF: Yes, we're now seeing much more commercial ‘rainbow washing’. People may be familiar with the statement clothing and banners, but less familiar with the queer histories behind them.

Liaqat Rasul: It’s interesting how the pendulum has swung: from the flag being used for social coding in the 70s and 80s, to becoming a symbol that brands appropriate just to seem gay-friendly. Before I came out, I was actually quite fearful of the rainbow. I can’t help but associate flags with football teams and machismo.

I don't think there has been enough gay or Pride-specific art in the last 50 years. My references today are still the likes of Gilbert & George and a film called My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) – that movie was the first time I saw a gay kiss. I’m Welsh Pakistani, and seeing another Pakistani guy fall in love with a white thug on screen was really powerful.


Big Girl’s Blouse by Daniel Fountain, 2021. Photo: courtesy the artist

What are you aiming to achieve through these workshops?

DF: More public awareness and engagement with these themes, and to create genuine change when working with LGBTQIA+ audiences. When the Crafts Council first approached me to curate a series of family workshops, my initial thought was ‘How are you defining families?’. The term ‘family’ is so contested and families take different shapes and forms for many members of our community. Some of us are estranged from our biological family, and we have what we call ‘chosen families’. So the workshops celebrate the diverse ways in which families are formed and communities are crafted together.

And, of course, we want to celebrate the makers practicing today who are engaging with themes of queer domesticity, handicraft and the legacies of crafted activism.

AH: Yeah, quilts are traditionally seen as home-made, so it’s a big deal to bring this work into the Crafts Council’s gallery environment; this isn’t a community centre or someone's bedroom. As a trans man who grew up learning a ‘women's craft’, I'm excited to question who gets to quilt, and why? I’m not the person who first comes to mind when you think of textiles...

For my Queer Quiltmaking Workshop I'm going to make a base quilt of little transfer-dyed squares that each feature a house. Every participant can decorate their house however they want, be that using embroidery, pinning or just sticking on materials. It’s deliberately accessible, as I find a lot of queer people don’t have the experience of parental teaching. Having a safe environment to share practical skills and to ask questions within is really important.


  • Detail of Transition Quilt, a collaborative textile piece by Al Hill, Eleanor Louise West, Joe Lawn and Colin Lievens. Photo: courtesy Al Hill

  • The front of Transition Quilt, a collaborative textile piece by Al Hill, Eleanor Louise West, Joe Lawn and Colin Lievens. Photo: courtesy Al Hill

LR: Anything to make people feel more confident taking up space, either as a family and as an individual. The term ‘LGBTQIA+’ is so broad and it can be quite confusing for anyone figuring out how they want to identify, so there’s no judgement here – just creative brilliance. When you craft you see your heart rate goes down: you relax, you connect. At my Collage Mobile Workshop, we’ll have a nice assortment of colourful papers and textures to pick from. We’ll collage our own piece, then combine artworks to make a mobile garland that honours each individual’s unique aesthetic. My wish is for people to leave the workshops with a sense of empowerment.

JVJ: My Queer World Building Workshop is an open invitation to outline your dreams, connect to your body and re-think your relationship to space. You can expect lots of collaboration and responsive art-making. I invite participants to play with an interactive fabric mural that’s been screen printed onto a huge modified parachute called the 'spaceship.' The spaceship will be activated through games, grounding rituals and embodied gestures of release.


A workshop led by artist Jacob V Joyce, featuring the 'spaceship'

Is there one iconic piece of LGBTQIA+ art or craft you would like to spotlight?

DF: The American artist Nick Cave’s Soundsuits are breathtaking works of textile sculpture. He creates beautiful, poignant wearable artworks that are activated through dance and movement. I admire his use of found objects and the way they reflect his identity as a queer Black person. They essentially manifest as suits of armour, while remaining really camp, vibrant and joyful.

JVJ: The DIY queer zine scene in the UK is amazing –and I would like to spotlight the self-published works of Rudy Loewe, Soof Andry and Jack Appleby, which I know are hard to find because zine culture is all about swapping and sharing things in physical spaces. I really hope we see a resurgence of zine fairs and DIY craft fairs which are not just about middle class white people selling art. I miss the urgency and the tongue-in-cheek tone.

LR: I love the painter and sculptor Wilfred Wood. I had my portrait made by Wilfred at the start of my art career and the experience had a profound effect on me. His demeanour was so relaxed and yet the work is pure caricature. He’s not afraid of colour and there’s a distinctly queer satirical lense on his subjects. Oh, and the fashion designer Ashish. His runway shows are so moving and never formulaic. An Ashish dress: that’s the kind of rainbow I want to wear.

Book now to enjoy craft workshops for LGBTQIA+ families at the Crafts Council Gallery from 2 to 4 June


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