In 2017, queer Canberra was charged, as the right to legalise our love was put to a vote. These portraits capture the fragile space between private and public, between hope and the unknown. None of us knew the outcome of the Marriage Equality postal survey, yet we knew that being seen and being together mattered.

Since then, all of us have changed, and have been changed. So has Canberra. The city that once braced itself for the result of a national vote for equality became the city that made ‘Yes’ possible. Revisiting these images reveals the tenderness of that time and the ongoing work of love in our everyday acts of building, grieving, and belonging in the capital.

Jane Duong and Victoria Firth-Smith, photographer and producer respectively of the book Queerberra (2017) and co-curators of A Loving Exhibition: Queerberra Revisited.

CMAG’s exhibition Queerberra Revisited showcases 99 of the original 100 portraits from the Queerberra book and invites audiences to consider what has changed since 2017.

Some of the participants of the book have generously shared their recollections of the past eight years with us:

I was honoured to be a part of [Queerberra], I am proud to be in it, to be acknowledged for the work I did and do in the community. It has photos and memories of all my friends and community family.

It was around the time of the Yes vote; it made the community be seen.

On the night of the launch, I went around and got a copy signed by everyone, for Jane and Victoria.

I think, of what has changed in the in-between time, I am still involved in the community, and art space, still single since then (hahaha).

This opened doorways to have the confidence to do other things like be a part of Meridian's Cervical Screening video and panel, Sexual Health campaigns, I do Life drawing modelling at the Tuggeranong Art gallery and Extra work.

I have always wanted to be immortalised and hung in the art gallery. 😂 

The launch just came up in my Facebook page and it is a great memory, and the revisit shows how far we have come. It also is a sad memory of people we have lost. Chanelle Fyve (Reid)

Did you participate in Queerberra? Please reach out if you'd like to share your story.

Queerberra Revisited