Friday Late is FREE and drop in
Last Friday in every month (except December & September)
18.30-22.00

All events are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Out for Revolution – Friday 27th January

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. But how far have we come in the fight for equality? Perfect your Polari in a lesson of language resistance, hear activists at the V&A’s speakers corner, revel in bold performance, and challenge traditional gender definitions by stepping into a 21st century Kinsey Scale to find out just how queer you are.

#FridayLate
www.vam.ac.uk/info/lgbtq

Alexander Geist: DJ set
Grand Entrance
18.30 – 21.00
Hailing from Berlin, the very heart of the international demimonde, Alexander Geist spins an intoxicating mix of Morose disco-soul; wryly cinematic music for the dancefloor and the boudoir.
alexandergeist.com

The LipSinkers
Grand Entrance
21.00 – 21.20
At the heart of London’s alternative cabaret scene since 2006, this five-strong alternative drag troupe take you on a weird and wild journey. Watch as they rummage round in their travel trunk, lip-synching to a jukebox of songs to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Expect fast-paced choreography and even quicker costume changes.
thelipsinkers.com | @thelipsinkers

Alexander Geist: Performance
Grand Entrance
21.25 – 21.45
Stepping into the high-heeled boots vacated by gender subversive pop stars of the late 20th century, Alexander Geist combines classic-synth pop references with fan adulation. Inhabiting the dry wit of Morrissey alongside the soundscape of Moroder and the sensibilities of Manet to create a beguiling multimedia performance.
alexandergeist.com

Speakers Corner
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 50b, The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery
18.30 – 21.00
Rolling programme of 15 minutes talks.
How far have we come in the fight for equality and what are the issues facing the global LGBTQ community now? Hear how activists continue to challenge contemporary laws and how you can get involved. Hosted by Dan Glass, speakers include; All Out, Open Doors, African Rainbow Family, Queer Strike, TransMedia Watch, Amnesty International, Andre Lumden and Stuart Feather. Accompanied by placards displaying past and present LGBTQ activist artwork and slogans by Uandnonu.

@DanGlassUK

How Queer is Now?
The Raphael Cartoons, Room 48a
19.00, 20.00, 21.00
Join The Amy Grimehouse and step into a 21st century Kinsey Scale. Are you androphilic or more ambiphilic or have you no idea what you are or what they mean? Are you a boy, girl, or something in between? With host Scottee, assume your variable position on our How Queer is Now? chart and help us to capture tonight’s demographic. You’re also invited to tweet, instagram, share your definitions of gender and sexy orientation #HQIN #FridayLate
@amygrimehouse

Bona to Vada Your Dolly Old Eek!
Paintings, Room 82, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries
18.45, 19.45, 20.45
Join artist Jez Dolan for a fantabulosa troll through the lost language of gay men. Simultaneously disguise and identifier, Polari was a form of resistance, a way of queering space (and time), and the expression of a shared culture and identity. Composed of back slang, circus slang, and broken Yiddish and Italian it was crucially, camp, and funny. Troll round heartface!
jezdolan.com | @jezdolan

Devils in Human Shape
Tapestries, Room 94
19.30 – 19.50, 20.30 – 20.50
Set within the shadows, three veiled gossips whisper. They are the malignant voice of society: intolerant and judgmental. Using court cases, newspaper reports and letters dating back to 1732, this immersive performance brings to life the final cases of sodomy. The piece is devised and performed by Tom Marshman.
tommarshman.com | @TommyMarshman

Fox Fisher & Owl Stefania
Learning Centre, Reception
19.45 – 21.00
In this workshop, Fox Fisher and Owl will explore how we gender objects and people through masculine and feminine symbols. During the workshop, Fox will screenprint onto their partner Owl and they will also create a live art piece as they tell your their stories and experience as non binary people in a world that constantly genders everything.
foxfisher.com | @theFoxFisher

Salon Outré
The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
20.15 – 20.45, 21.00 – 21.30
Salon Outré presents a programme of dance performances. Join The Place and the London Contemporary Dance School, for a unique opportunity to see work-in-progress performances James Dream and Welcome created in collaboration with design students from Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London. Central School of Ballet and Ballet Central perform a male pas de deux Dracula. Please note no filming or photography permitted is permitted during the performances.
salonoutre.com | @DanNouveau

James Dream by London Contemporary Dance School
How do you know the dream isn’t real? James walks. Walking the line between his mind and reality, slowly exposing his sexuality through music and movements. This is an adaptation of a piece created and performed for Design Collaborations at London Contemporary Dance School in collaboration with design students from Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London.

Welcome by London Contemporary Dance School
Based on the dystopian vision of Kurt Vonnegut, from his short stories Welcome to the Monkey House. With costumes inspired by the emotional ferocity of Alexander McQueen, Welcome embodies the constraints and restrictions of society on the individual, and their fight, both internal and external, to free themselves. This is an adaptation of a piece created and performed for Design Collaborations at London Contemporary Dance School in collaboration with design students from Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London.

Dracula
A male pas de deux from Christopher Marney’s ‘Dracula’ featuring the first encounter between Dracula and Harker.

Delhi: Communities of Belonging
Leighton Corridor
Watch this short film and a selection of images by photographers Sunil Gupta and Charan Singhoffers, which offer an unprecedented portrait of LGBTQ people’s lives in India today. Focusing on the city of Delhi, Gupta and Singh chronicle the halting emergence of networks of men and women living in a country where anti-sodomy laws date back to the British Empire and homosexuality is still criminalised.
sunilgupta.net | charansingh.net

Non-Binary Portraits
Leighton Corridor
Jennifer Jackson’s ongoing photographic project documents non-binary people in their local community. Jackson’s intimate portraits seek to offer visibility and challenge the perceptions of how non-binary people look.
@nonbinaryportraits

Just Me and Allah: A Queer Muslim Photo Project
Leighton Corridor
Toronto-based photographer Samra Habib is a queer Muslim and founder of Just Me and Allah: A Queer Muslim Photo Project, an ongoing photography series that explores the relationship between religion and sexuality. Documenting stories, of both personhood and faith, these photographs highlight the struggles and often complicated experiences of queer Muslims around the world.
queermuslimproject.tumblr.com | @therealsamsam

Satan was a Lesbian
Lunchroom, Learning Centre
Join Late Night Library Club to create your own queer pulp fiction cover. Mine your deepest fantasies, imagine a title and realise your cover art to craft a new type of library! Draw inspiration from classic titles such as Satan was a Lesbian, Am I Ready for Chest Hair and We Three Queens. If you can come up with anything more outrageous, we’ll eat our quills.
@Latenightlibraryclub

Rainbow Flag
V&A Roof
Tonight we fly the rainbow flag above the V&A. The rainbow flag was popularised as a symbol of LGBT pride and diversity by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colours symbolise diversity in the gay community but also symbolised life (red), healing (orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), harmony (blue), and spirit (purple/violet).

Tonight the toilets in the following locations are non-gendered: café, the stairs off of the Raphael Cartoon and Lecture Theatre. Illustrations at these locations by Becca Human.

Programme cover design

Becca Human | @becca.human

Visiting Friday Late

All visitors to Friday Late should use the main entrance on Cromwell Road. If you are a V&A Member, Corporate Member or hold a ticket to an exhibition please use the Exhibition Road entrance.

Please note, if the Museum reaches capacity we will allow access on a one-in, one-out basis.

Exhibition tickets are available from the Exhibition ticket desks. Tickets are subject to availability, and no booking fee applies. Please note tills close at 20.30.

Drinks are available in the Grand Entrance throughout the evening and in the John Madejski Garden. Food and drinks will be served in the Café until 21.00.

Filming and photography will take place at this event.