Macon Reed: Eulogy for the Dyke Bar

3 February

18 March

2023

PROGRAM

Macon Reed: Eulogy for the Dyke Bar

17 February – 4 March 2023

NAS Cafe
Monday to Saturday
Installation open: 9am–5pm Monday – Friday
Bar open: 5–10pm Tuesday – Friday
Free admission

Image: UNSW Galleries/the artist.

The National Art School, UNSW Galleries and Sydney WorldPride present Eulogy for the Dyke Bar, an installation by American artist Macon Reed with accompanying programs and events.

The installation is a sculptural environment in the style of bygone lesbian bars, a functioning bar and a community space for performances, conversations, and socialising. It is created using ephemeral materials and features archival material of now-defunct lesbian nights, parties and bars in Sydney and America. It reclaims the term ‘dyke’ in its most expansive sense and recognises that gender and identities are complex and fluid. The ‘bar’ is open to anyone who has identified with the term or an experience of feminine-spectrum queerness in the past or present (or perhaps future) and/or feels an affiliation or ally-ship with dyke culture.

Macon Reed’s Eulogy for the Dyke Bar is presented by the National Art School with UNSW Galleries in association with Sydney WorldPride.

“Eulogy for the Dyke Bar was made to honour these places and draw attention to the fact that many are now gone. It also makes us think more about what kinds of alternative community spaces might be available and what makes them vibrant. It’s about thinking of our community beyond the dance floor and the progressive work we want to do beyond our intimate relationships. Creating spaces for collective coming together, organising politically, sharing experiences, jumping into histories, and meeting our elders seems like the necessary work that’s going to get us somewhere else, somewhere better.” Macon Reed, 2021

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