Edinburgh hosts gay showcase
A social history exhibition that celebrates Edinburgh’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities has been launched at the City Art Centre.
Rainbow City is a joint project between the Living Memory Association and The City of Edinburgh Council, bringing together over two years of work within the LGBT communities by the Remember When project to document the history of these communities in the Scottish capital.
The exhibition runs until July 9 2006 and includes artefacts, audio recordings, photographs, and interactive elements.
Remember When project coordinator, Ellen Galford, said: “There has been an explosion of interest in LGBT heritage nationwide and Edinburgh has a particularly rich, and previously documented, LGBT history.
“The Scottish capital, once a byword for a particularly narrow and hard-hearted Puritanism–has undergone an incredible transformation into a vibrant, diverse and cosmopolitan city.
“Edinburgh’s LGBT communities have played a significant part in making this happen. This project is a unique historic record of our lives, our political struggles, and our cultural contributions not just to the city, but to society as a whole.”
Remember When… is a Living Memory Association project and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian Gay Lesbian Switchboard.
To accompany the main exhibition the project is launching a corollary exhibition dealing with mental health issues that relate to the LGBT communities. It is entitled ‘An Exhibition of Works Highlighting LGBT Emotional Well-being: Stories from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Edinburgh’. It will incorporate art, photography and writing.
This associated exhibition covers LGBT people’s experiences of emotional well-being in its widest sense.
