Lambeth’s LGBTQ+ community shares their Pride for Archives exhibition

Lambeth hosted 12 Pride Marches (including EuroPride & Black Pride) in the 1980s and 1990s. Prides that reflect the community’s need to come together in celebration and activism in the face of the AIDS crisis, of Clause 28, and of Hate Crime.

Donations and loans

Europride 1992 Brockwell Park

Curator and artist Dan de la Motte says: “Our events in May to collect donations and loans were busy all day. We’re so grateful for people’s generosity. Some of what they brought in are included in the exhibition, some will be taken into Lambeth’s Archives to strengthen their permanent LGBTQ+ collection. The audio recordings of the memories of Prides from the 1980s and 1990s could also become part of the collection.

“We collected badges, magazines, t-shirts and more, but so many people brought  photographs that photographs HAD to become

Jimmy Somerville onstage at Pride in Lambeth

the heart of the exhibition, they set the tone for it. We’ll be showing around 50 photographs on the walls, but also playing about 200 more on a smart screen. The vibe is very DIY, very punk, and hopefully very much in the spirit of those pioneering 1980s Prides.”

More than memories

“People should come and see Share Your Pride because it goes far beyond 1980s and ’90s nostalgia or simple celebration. This exhibition captures the anger, resilience, and ongoing fight of the LGBTQ+ community. It features powerful moments like Night Pride,  a collective response to the 2023 stabbings at the Two Brewers. In a time when hate crimes still occur, we cannot take for granted the hard-won rights secured through decades of activism. Share Your Pride is a timely reminder that the struggle is not over.”

Activists Julian Hows & Lisa Power at a Lambeth Pride event