Don’t Forget to Remember
30th Anniversary of Don’t Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS
David McDiarmid, Don't forget to remember, 1994, computer-generated Canon laser print laminated onto craftwood, 36.6 h cm, 27.5 w cm, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1995
Tickets
Standard: $10
National Gallery Member: $9
Concession/Student: $9
Doors open and bar service: 5.30pm
Program begins: 6.30pm
Duration: 90 minutes
This event is for audiences aged 18+
Join us for a night of laughter and tears to mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark exhibition, Don’t Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS.
Opening at the National Gallery in November 1994, Don’t Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS was the first exhibition about HIV/AIDS to be held at a national gallery anywhere in the world. Timely and brave, the exhibition has defined boldness for the National Gallery to this day.
Exhibition curator, Ted Gott, now Senior Curator, International Art, National Gallery of Victoria, and Australian artist William Yang will reflect on the exhibition in conversation and consider what curatorial bravery means today.
William will share a slideshow of his photographs from the exhibition opening and perform a brief monologue reprising the character of Allan from his stage performance Sadness, which explores grief at the loss of so many friends who died of AIDS related illness.
'When I re-read my diaries from the early 90s, I saw that I had been to more wakes than I had been to parties. I felt compelled to tell these stories of my friends, to unburden myself of the things that I have seen.
— William Yang
Don’t Forget to Remember in this intimate evening of conversation and performance in the James Fairfax Theatre.
speakers
Ted Gott, Senior Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. Image courtesy of Ted Gott. Photograph: Daniel Emma, National Gallery of Victoria.
Ted Gott
Ted Gott is Senior Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. His cultural interests are very broad, with a speciality in nineteenth century French art. In 2011 he co-authored a cultural history of the gorilla in Western art, literature, science, cinema and popular culture. He has curated and co-curated more than 30 exhibitions, including Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire in 2009 and Napoleon: Revolution to Empire in 2012, and Queer: Stories from the National Gallery of Victoria's Collections, 2022. In 1994 he curated Don't Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
Image courtesy of William Yang
William Yang
William Yang is a renowned Australian photographer known for a body of work that tells stories of cultural and sexual identity. From the 1970s onwards, his photographs documented the lives of Sydney’s LGBTQI+ community, sharing intimate and personal insights into the experiences of the community and his friends, including the impact of HIV/AIDS. William’s practice, spanning more than 5 decades, combines photography, performance and writing. His work is represented in national and state gallery collections across the country. William’s work was the subject of a major retrospective, ‘Wiliam Yang: Seeing and being seen’, presented at QAGoMA, Meanjin/Brisbane, Queensland, in 2021.
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Qwire, 2023, 30th anniversary performance, Llewellyn Hall. Image supplied by Qwire. Photographer: Peter Hislop.
Canberra Qwire
Canberra Qwire is a proudly LBGTQIA+ organisation with over 120 singing members that brings together people from diverse sections of the queer family to challenge stereotypes and build a bridge between Canberra’s queer and non-queer community. Qwire is highly regarded not only for its vocal strength and performances, but also for its relaxed and social atmosphere. In November 2023 Qwire celebrated its 30th anniversary at a highly acclaimed concert in Llewellyn Hall. Having performed at the original Art in the Age of AIDS exhibition, Qwire is proud to be part of this anniversary event.
