The UK’s largest LGBTQ+ art fair has celebrated its return to Peckham.
The Queeriosities Art and Makers Fair first ran in 2023 as a small collaboration with the Museum of the Home in Hoxton.
Since then it has grown to display the work of more than 50 artists to thousands of visitors across three days at the Copeland Gallery.
Last weekend marked the event’s fifth edition but its third in Peckham, where executive director Davy Pittoors, 37, said he was proud to have an all-LGBTQ+ team, from security to bar staff and volunteers.
He said: “That’s the most important thing. We’re fully community-led, and we’re not dependent on the outside world.”
The creation of the unique art space comes as, according to advocacy group ILGA-Europe, the UK has plummeted from the best-ranked country for LGBTQ+ rights in Europe to 22nd in a decade.
But Davy rejected the idea that Queeriosities should directly respond to this decline.
He said: “As trans and queer people, we’re sliding into something scarier every month.
“But we do the fair and we do it in an independent venue to create a refuge from that for a weekend, to provide a positive experience for everyone.”
João Delfim, 29, said that Queeriosities has created a space where he knows his art will be welcomed, and fellow artist Ailsa Ogden agreed that their community leaves more room to experiment.
Ogden said: “There’s a freedom in queer culture to exist on your own terms, and at a time when queer lives and culture are increasingly being questioned, that freedom feels important to hold onto.”
The main draw for artists and vendors was the promise of meeting their own community.
For Peter Collins, director of Polari Press and four-time Queeriosities participant, the crowd and engagement made the event a mainstay of his calendar.
He said: “I love it.
“I make my work throughout the year so I can be here.”
Alongside a market, the fair featured an exhibition on “queer truth”, which Davy defined as a fluid approach to the world’s norms and even materials.
A piece by Joey Terrill, best known for his 1980s works on identity in the USA, attracted the biggest buzz in the room.
But the strength of the collection came from the diversity of experiences shown, represented through paintings, metal work, lace, and video.
Exhibited artist Hyein Lee, 27, said this collective expression of varying experiences is what makes Queeriosities so important.
She said: “They say even when three people gather, people begin to turn their heads and listen, so participating in the UK’s largest queer art fair carries immense weight.
“What I hope to emerge from this is not merely visibility, but dialogues that prove that our narratives are an undeniable, vibrant reality.”
All images by Hannah Mildner.
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