Gareth Pugh launches Pride activations

Gareth Pugh and artist Carson McColl have launched a series of activations to celebrate Pride Month.

The art projects document the 1969 Queer liberation movement and showcase today’s trailblazers to explore the definition of what Pride means to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Posing the question, ‘fifty years on from Stonewall, what lies at the soul of our movement?’, ‘Soul of a Movement: Four Days in June’ is a documentary film capturing the journey of Pugh as he embarked on a four-day tour of the UK to meet with activists, artists and allies.

Part cultural document, part call to action, the film sees members of the community discuss how they define the movement as it stands in 2020 and the issues facing LGBTQIA+ people today.

“We wanted it to feel raw and radical and not only focused on headline issues such as trans rights and inclusive education, but also subjects that aren't being so widely covered such as queer homelessness, queer nationalism and xenophobia, and the erasure of queer and trans people of colour at the hands of white Gay culture,” said Carson McColl.

The film was released online on Friday 26 June, coinciding with the launch of a new digital platform — ‘Soul of a Movement: Queer Nation.’

Created in partnership with top web developers including digital artist Jon Emmony, the platform has been designed to feature video submissions from the public, responding to the question: “What does Pride mean to you?”.

Leading LGBTQIA+ figures have contributed to the project, such as Munroe Bergdorf, Ib Kamara, Graham Norton and veteran activist Peter Tatchell. Representatives from grassroots organisations across the UK, including Hidayah, the Time for Inclusive Education Campaign, Voices4LDN and The 343 Belfast have also lent their support in engaging with the campaign.

“Pride 2020 provided us with a unique challenge: how can we help to instil a sense of community and togetherness at a time where being together isn't possible? With that in mind, we decided to try and leverage our networks to create what will hopefully become a living record of Queer Culture in the UK and Ireland in 2020. At heart it's about reaffirming that while we may all be on our own right now, as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, you are never alone,” Pugh said.

The platform is available to explore on both smartphones and desktop and features a simple, user-friendly submission process.

Gareth Pugh launches Pride activations

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