Every story is unique, Every story should be heard. As we celebrate Pride Month, we have collaborated with talented European artists with a connection to the Pride community. We asked them to share their Pride story, bringing each piece together in this inclusive exhibition. Every story is unique, and every story is part of Pride.
Activist and part of the community, Bas Koster creates drawings, paintings, textile art and more from his studio in Amsterdam. He creates colourful worlds inhabited by endearing figures that reflect his social engagement. Through his art, Bas explores personal and societal themes, approaching difficult emotions in a light way with subtle and occasionally wry humour.
Martix Navrot and Jagoda Wójtowicz are the artistic duo behind Eternal Engine, a new media studio. Through their art, Eternal Engine use speculation and queer methodologies to investigate the future, or futures, of technology and quantum reality. They use a multitude of mediums in their work such as 3D, video, VJ sets, AV, VR, AI, as well as real objects or performative lectures.
Born in Prague, Ester Janečková is an Actress and TV presenter. In 2014, Ester and her family faced loss and heartbreak when her nephew, Filip, died by suicide. He wrote in his final letter that he did not want to live in an intolerant society, and asked Ester to speak publicly about homosexual issues. Ester is a patroness of the sbarvouven.cz project and supporter of the Prague Pride association.
Pablo Little was born in Córdoba and started drawing in a self-taught way to better understand the world. In his work and collaborations, he creates his own universe for people to see into that encompasses themes of fragility, unconditional love, and self-improvement.
Suzan Habib is a Muslim queer artist, illustrator, and designer. Born and raised in Afghanistan, at the age of 16 she moved to Sweden. Her expressive colourful and vibrant artwork reflects her personal experiences of society and people, questioning norms and stereotypes, sometimes with a comical twist. Suzan’s illustrations are influenced by street art and made with a combination of acrylic, oil, graffiti, and ink.
Fam Irvoll is best known for her creative work as a women’s fashion designer, illustrator, and graphic designer. Collections from her clothing brand have been shown during Fashion Weeks in Oslo, Riga, and London. When it comes to digital work, Fam has illustrated several books and runs a creative graphic agency called Fun By Fam.
Miss Paprika based her design around one of the most important moments in Pride history: the Stonewall Riots in New York City. She explains: “One of the most vibrant leading figures was drag queen and black trans woman Marsha P. Johnson. She became a symbol for the movement and for all the loud and proud queer and femme people who fought for the privileges we have today. In my design a modern drag king and queen stand behind her, symbolising the drag artists who followed her footsteps.”
Born in Penafiel, Portugal, Joana Estrela is an award-winning illustrator and author who has created several books, graphic novels, and zines. Her identity as a queer artist also plays a part in her projects, alongside the themes of gender and prejudice that are often intertwined in her work.
Strify, the Berlin-based Content Creator and Singer, connects with their fans around the world on diversity, the LGBTQIA+ community, pop culture, fashion, and beauty. The former lead vocalist of glam rock band Cinema Bizarre, Strify’s solo music celebrates love and individuality.
With the puzzle pieces created by nine local artists connected to the LGBTQIA+ community. These creatives have shared stories and explored themes that are close to them on a personal level.
“Flags are about power, flags say something – they’re not just symbols.” - Gilbert Baker"
That’s the thing that connects us – connects art through all the diversity, from generation to generation – is that moment that we all share when all of a sudden we realise who we are.” - Gilbert Baker
“Everything exploded in 1978, this was an amazing moment of empowerment.” - Gilbert Baker
“I knew right away that the rainbow would be the perfect fit for us because it expressed our diversity in terms of our gender, our race, our ages, all the ways that were different and yet connected.” - Gilbert Baker
“We needed something that worked beyond words, and the rainbow fits perfectly.” - Gilbert Baker
“I can try and express it in words, but it will never have the power of the actual flag flying and what the meaning of that is to the person that put it up and the people seeing it.” - Gilbert Baker
Representing the experiences of people of colour, which was also seen in the 2017 Philadelphia Pride flag. The black stripe has additional meaning, as it represents the individuals living with HIV/AIDS, those have passed from the virus, and the overall stigma surrounding this topic.
Representing the transgender community, these three colours are seen in the Transgender Pride flag that was created in 2000. The light blue and pink represents ‘traditional’ colours for boys and girls, while white represents those who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming (GNC), or have an undefined gender.
This element matches the Intersex flag, which was designed in 2013.These two colours were chosen as neither are associated with the social constructs of the gender binary. The perfect circle represents the wholeness of intersex people and the way they are perfect exactly as they are or have chosen to be.