The PROUD West End Art Exhibition Comes to London
LGBTQ+ locals or visitors looking for a cost-free way to celebrate Pride in London may want to consider checking out PROUD West End, a new art exhibition running from June 28 to July 16, 2023. The ground-breaking audio-visual art exhibition champions and amplifies the voices and stories of the West End’s LGBTQIA+ community.
An exhibition curated by Heard Storytelling in partnership with Oxford Street, PROUD West End forms part of the city’s celebrations in the lead-up to London Pride on July 1, 2023. The exhibition of ‘Living Portraits’ will allow visitors to immerse themselves in the lived experiences of fifteen individuals who are sharing their true spoken, candid, and personal stories of being part of the West End’s LGTBQIA+ community and exploring what ‘proud’ means to them.
“Heard Storytelling exists to make people feel heard. We hope that the sharing of these true stories in this creative and meaningful way will send an important message of solidarity, hope, and pride,” said Colette Burroughs-Rose, Director of Heard Storytelling. “There is real power in spoken storytelling and its ability to develop understanding and connection. Listen in and you’ll experience this too!”
The free, on-street exhibition will comprise installations of beautiful, large-scale portraits of PROUD West End’s storytellers and their stories will be accessed via scanning a QR code on listeners’ mobile phones located next to the portrait.
Visitors will hear an eclectic array of inspiring, moving, and vulnerable stories from the likes of iconic drag queen Divina de Campo (they/she/he), a Ru Paul’s Drag Race finalist and part of the Society of London Theatre, who shares their story of never giving up the dream of one day being on the West End.
Willem (he/him), the Global Flagship Talent Lead at Superdry on Oxford Street, opens up about his difficult childhood in America, where he grew up in a Christian family and endured bullying at school, which prompted him to move schools where he met a drama teacher who changed his life. This led him to finally find his people and feel truly seen for the first time. Now, living in London he is an advocate for equality in his own workplace.
Graysen (he/they) from the Mosaic Trust, shares his incredibly vulnerable and candid story about his mental health journey and the importance of feeling held and accepted by his community.
Jason (he/him) from Swingers on Oxford Street, delves into living as a twin brother and a pivotal moment that set him on a mission to live his truth and to live ‘proud’.
Lily (she/her), the founder of London-based Queer Brewing Project talks about her inspiring journey to becoming a business owner of a queer and trans-owned brewery.
As mentioned before, the exhibition will end on July 16, and it will be brought to life on Old Quebec Street in Marylebone, also home to the City of Quebec, one of the oldest gay pubs in London.
“We are very excited to be bringing this beautiful, vulnerable, incredibly personal, and important audio-visual exhibition to London, working closely with Heard Storytelling to ensure the amplification of voices and experiences from the West End’s LGBTQIA+ community,” said Danny Sullivan, Campaigns & Events Manager at New West End Company. “PROUD West End will enable visitors heading to the area to hear first-hand accounts of what it’s like living, working, and navigating life in the West End as an LGBTQIA+ individual. We are honored to be able to help deliver this incredible exhibition.”
As part of PROUD West End, Oxford Street’s shops, restaurants and brands will support the exhibit and Pride celebrations with special offers and experiences.
More information regarding Oxford Street’s PROUD West End exhibition will be released soon. Stay up to date at @oxfordstreetw1 or visit www.oxfordstreet.co.uk.
