Dates: 17 February – 5 March 2023 (for Sydney WorldPride)

Curators: Jacqui North (Head Curator, December 2022 – March 2023) and Dr Liz Bradshaw (Head Curator, December 2022 – March 2024)

The Bandstand exhibition at Green Park marked the public beginning of Qtopia Sydney, opening alongside the launch of Sydney WorldPride 2023. Situated between Oxford Street and Kings Cross, the historic bandstand became Qtopia’s first physical site and a symbolic introduction to Sydney’s first dedicated queer museum.

Curated by Jacqui North and Dr Liz Bradshaw, the exhibition offered a contemporary snapshot of queer life and history in this pivotal geographic corridor. The upper level traced LGBTQIA+ activism and struggles for rights since the 1970s, while the lower level became an immersive re-creation of a gay nightclub, evoking the energy, risk, and exuberance of Oxford Street and Kings Cross nightlife.

As Qtopia’s inaugural exhibition, it established the museum as a place of memory, celebration, education, and community gathering, laying the foundation for its future growth.