Culture And Memory

Protest!

Initiative Arts Projects believes that members of LGBTQ+ communities gain confidence and agency when they understand their heritage and history and share this with wider society. In three previous heritage projects we have collected, archived, and interpreted relevant oral history and communicated these stories through plays, exhibitions, lectures, and symposia. A recurring theme has been the importance of protest in advocating for equality and securing/maintaining rights for LGBTQ+ people. This is the focus of this new project. The starting point will be reminiscence of Section 28 protests in Manchester (1988). We will collect new stories that will be permanently preserved in the public archive in Manchester Libraries, simultaneously exploring themes of protest in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery (MAG). Both areas of work will be accessible to the public in an exhibition at MAG in early 2026 and will be the subject of newly commissioned visual art and film.