OTP 2021 Hub Programme - Derby
Plans for our OUTing the Past event are coming together beautifully and it has been really exciting talking to all the presenters and the team involved over the last couple of months. Despite the significant challenges we’re all facing at the moment, people’s generosity of time, knowledge and energy has been astonishing. A huge thank you to everyone involved.
Our event is wide ranging with lots of different presentations, but I think a common theme is a connection to Derby and Derbyshire. This seems fitting for an event that we hope will build a strong base for future activity researching, recording and celebrating LGBTQ+ experience.
Dan Webber is involved with at least two of the projects that we’ll be highlighting in our event and the following quote gives a sense of the richness of local creative, community support and campaigning activity that exists:
“When I saw the OUTing The Past Festival announced by Derby Museums I knew it was something I would love to get involved with, and it’s great to have projects included as part of the event. Every year events like Derby Pride and more recently Pride in Belper, offer opportunities for our communities to come together to commemorate, celebrate and create, along with events and projects organised by She Speaks UK, 1623 Theatre Company, In Good Company, Milk Presents and many more! I’ve been lucky enough to work on a number of LGBTQ+ led projects through my work with Derbyshire LGBT+ and Furthest From The Sea Music, Comedy and Arts CIC, including producing LGB-Qwerty and the Looking Back, Looking Forward project, which will be featured as part of OUTing The Past Festival. We have a wealth of LGBTQ+ artists and stories in Derby and Derbyshire and I look forward to learning more about them in February.” Dan Webber.
Our planning is already forming ideas for future activity. For example, the She Speaks UK spoken word project, that will be presented at the event in February, is likely to also form part of a Women History Makers exhibition at Derby Museum and Art Gallery in Spring 2022. It feels good to be looking forward to a time when we will be able to meet in museum spaces such as ours!
I’m glad to say our digital programmes are still making it possible to connect to our collections and this event is no exception. This incredible oil painting will be the focus of a presentation with queer artist Ben Spiller, artistic director of Derby’s 1623 theatre company. In the talk, entitled Such Sweet Sorrow, we will reflect on the queerness of Shakespeare’s play in his time and ours.
Joseph Wright of Derby’s painting of Romeo and Juliet, c.1790.
Further details about the event , and how to book, can be found on our website and Facebook pages.
Event schedule subject to change - check back before the event!
Book your place here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outing-the-past-festival-tickets-132077197453
13.00-13.10
Welcome and house-keeping - Laura Phillips, Head of Interpretation and Display, Derby Museums
13.10-13.30
Tales of Derby Women Past - spoken word pieces written and performed by She Speaks UK Poets. The project was commissioned as part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Great Place Scheme funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, produced by Beam.
13.30-14.50
Looking Back, Looking Forward, a series of poems commemorating 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK. Looking at LGBTQ+ life 50 years ago, life now and what life may be like 50 years in the future. First commissioned in 2017, and presented by LGB-Qwerty, in association with Derbyshire LGBT+.
14.50-14.10
Q&A and break
14.10-14.30
Sharing highlights from the National Heritage Lottery Funded, Derbyshire LGBT+ project Other Stories, which documents LGBT+ stories from across Derbyshire:
https://otherstorieslgbt.wordpress.com
14.30-14.50
Dr Freya Gowrley from the University of Derby explores the exchange of gifts between Lady Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831), known popularly as the Ladies of Llangollen. Their belongings included chocolate drinking cups, now held at the British Museum, made at the Derby Porcelain Factory on Nottingham Road. Freya's new book, Domestic Space in Britain, 1750-1840: Materiality, Sociability and Emotion will be available in Spring 2021.
14.50-15.05
Q&A
15.05-15.30
Such Sweet Sorrow. Inspired by Joseph Wright of Derby’s painting of Romeo and Juliet, this presentation reflects on the queerness of Shakespeare’s play in his time and ours. With queer artist Ben Spiller, artistic director of Derby’s 1623 theatre company.
Derby Museums is for the thinker and maker in all of us. Together we make museums for the head, heart and hands. We do this by being independent, fostering a spirit of experimentation, pursuing mutual relationships, creating the conditions for well-being (helping people connect with others, keep learning, take notice of the world and give back to the community) and proving that we are doing it.
We are responsible for three sites in the centre of Derby: the Museum and Art Gallery opened in 1879, Pickford’s House, an Architect’s home built in 1770, and the soon to open Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill. The Museum of Making is near completion following a £17million renovation and marks the gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. We are an Accredited Museum, an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation with a Designated Collection of the works of Joseph Wright.
For more information see https://www.derbymuseums.org