Looking for Queer Possibility in the Museum

Learn to calibrate your gaydar and explore Norwich Castle Museum like never before! In this interactive treasure-hunting workshop, help us uncover queer stories in the museum and shape the future. 

Inspired by the new Kindly Ease the Tension exhibition, you'll be exploring the castle keep and rotunda galleries in pairs to make queer connections. You’ll learn to sharpen your senses, spot hidden signs, and tap into LGBTQ+ history as you become an expert in reading between the lines, following queer clues, and discovering the possibilities hidden in plain sight.

Together we'll explore symbols, language, emotions and untold stories, using the ‘Looking for Queer Possibility in the Museum’ zine from Margaret Middleton. Together, we’ll discover how queer history can be found when we learn to look differently.

You will have the chance to share what you spotted, and the Queer Norfolk team will be taking notes as part of a new publication for Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

"In Kindly Ease the Tension, David Shenton uses cartoons, textiles, personal memories, activism, humour and everyday objects to tell queer stories that might otherwise be overlooked. In these workshops, we're doing something similar. We aren't looking for objects that are officially labelled LGBTQ+; we're looking for clues, connections, feelings and possibilities that help us imagine queer possibilities in the museum." - Adam Baker, Queer Norfolk

Norwich Castle Museum is an accessible venue, with step-free access across all floors. The workshop is broken up into 4 sections:

1. Arrival and introduction (1pm - 1.30pm)
2. Exploring in pairs (1.30pm - 2.30pm)
3. Break and preparing to share (2.30pm -3pm)
4. Self-led tour, where we share back to the group in our pairs (3pm-4pm)