Salon Sequins exhibition at the Michaelis Galleries

Please note: Due to severe weather warnings, the Salon Sequins opening event has been postponed and will take place on Thursday, 18 July, 6-8pm. We look forward to seeing you then.

The exhibition will be open for viewing weekdays (excluding public holidays) from 12 July-23 August, 10:00-15:00.

Salon Sequins represents a collaboration between Salon Kewpie and Sequins, Self, and Struggle.

Salon Kewpie is a collective whose work centres on the Kewpie Collection: an important archival resource documenting life under apartheid for the gays and girls of District Six, held at the GALA Queer Archive. The Sequins, Self, and Struggle archive, held at UCT’s Centre for Curating the Archive, researches, documents, and disseminates archives of the Spring Queen and Miss Gay Western Cape pageants performed by disparate coloured communities in greater Cape Town. This exhibition draws on materials from the Miss Gay Western Cape collection in particular, connected across time to the Kewpie Collection by the resilient spirit of gay, queer and trans self expression.

Both projects are joined by a deep investment in archiving local local LGBTQIA+ histories. Salon Kewpie is galvanised by Kewpie’s actions as a visionary archivist of herself and her community and by the ever-growing public excitement about the incredible archive that she has left us with. With the aim of contributing to the continued circulation and expansion of this historically significant archive, Salon Kewpie has, since 2021, documented their public and educational programming that aims to celebrate Kewpie’s vital legacy and make it more accessible to a wider audience.

Salon Sequins will publicly exhibit Salon Kewpie’s ever-expanding archive for the first time, alongside materials from the Kewpie Collection itself as well as the Miss Gay Western Cape collection in the Sequins, Self, and Struggle archive, putting these resources in conversation in search of common ground — the theme of this year’s Heat Winter Arts Festival.

On 11 July, the exhibition opening event will run from 6–8pm, and will thereafter be on show every week day from 10am–3pm until 23 August 2024.