Queering the Collection through pride and prejudice

A new audio series produced by Arts Centre Melbourne features queer artistic icons alongside archival items significant to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Ben Graetz as Miss Ellaneous. Photo: Mia Mala McDonald for Queering the Collection. A big drag personality with pink curly hair, bold makeup, long black gloves and a collar made out of pearls.

Queer stories are uncovered in a new Arts Centre Melbourne audio series that shines the spotlight on nine LGBTQIA+ Australian artists and performers.

Australia’s first male First Nations ballet dancer Noel Tovey AM and stage icon Robyn Archer AO are among those in the Queering the Collection series sharing their lived experiences. The initiative aims to not only signpost the significant contributions of queer artists to Australia’s performing arts history, but also critically examine past and current archival practices around visibility and inclusiveness.

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Celina Lei is the Diversity and Inclusion Editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Most recently, Celina was one of three Australian participants in DFAT’s the Future of Leadership program. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_