Originally presented at Somerset House as part of the UTOPIA 2016 season, the UK Gay Bar Directory is a moving image archive of gay bars in the UK. Shot over a period of nine months, the film documents over 100 gay bars across 14 cities. This is the latest in our PAUSE series, a mid-week moment to take in an artist’s work in full.
Filmed using a discreet Go-Pro camera, the 4h30m film records the bars when they are empty, capturing each venue’s interior character and personality. Made in response to the rapid closures of LGBTQ venues the directory is intended both as an art work and a public resource, a blueprint of what queer space looks like and what it is lacking.
Gay bars serve as sites of visibility, safety and community; as they disappear, gay life retreats out of public space, with often disastrous consequences. The Directory captures a moment of change in queer history but also examines the broader consequences of more than a decade of austerity: the loss of public space and the dismantling of the state infrastructure.
Audio: Jan Piaseki
Supported by Art Council England
