Exhibition Dates: February 2026 to present

Curator: Holly Riding (Curatorial Director, December 2025 to present), Jeremy Smith (Curator from September 2023; Curatorial Assistant Coordinator September 2023 – April 2024; Assistant Curator from December 2025)

Installation Manager: Brett Lyons

The Making of Mardi Gras celebrates the creativity, labour, and community spirit behind one of the world’s most iconic queer cultural events. Since the first protest march in 1978, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has grown into a globally recognised celebration of visibility, resistance, and pride.

This exhibition brings together original Mardi Gras posters, archival footage from legendary afterparties, and a selection of notable parade costumes, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how the spectacle is made. Central to this history is the Mardi Gras Workshop, established in 1982, which provided a vital space for artists, volunteers, and community groups to design and build floats and costumes.

From the visionary aesthetics of Peter Tully to the sharp satire of David McDiarmid and Ignatius Jones, Mardi Gras has continually evolved as both artistic expression and political platform. This exhibition offers a preview of a major project planned for the 50th anniversary in 2028.