The book is edited by noted curator and activist, Robin Metcalfe and includes essays by Metcalfe and several other well-known activists.  The publication will reproduce the original catalogue from the 1997 MSVU exhibition Queer Looking, Queer Acting: Lesbian and Gay Vernacular, including a main essay that constitutes the most complete social history, to date, of the emergence and first quarter century of Queer activism in Halifax.  Jane Kansas reflects on coming out as lesbian in rural Nova Scotia, and James MacSwain contributes a film- and videography of local Queer cinematic production up until 1997.  For this second edition, contemporary activist Rebecca Rose traces a personal account of Queer activism in Halifax in the second decade of the 21st century, emphasising the growing visibility of transgender or trans* activism within the Queer movement and NSCAD Queer Collective’s Beck Gilmer-Osborne and Genevieve Flavelle share an account of their experience with the Collective and the Turret Resurrection. The book is at once a celebration of the past, an important social and historical documentation, and a passing of the proverbial baton.

 

The book constitutes part of a larger project by the same name that celebrates the early history of Queer activism in Halifax and its evolution since the 1970s.  The project is organised in collaboration with the NSCAD Queer Collective and supported by NSRAP and brings together the elders of the movement with the younger Queer generation.

 

The exhibition of ephemera, originally scheduled to open on January 31 was postponed when HRM shut down the Church of England Institute Building that housed the Khyber Centre for the Arts (Khyber) due to the presence of asbestos traces.  However, the Khyber has decided to proceed with the project in different locations around the city.

 

The project is made possible through a grant by the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Community, Culture and Heritage, donations from Venus Envy, Drala Books & Gifts, and McInnes Cooper, as well as private donors.

 

The Khyber, established in 1995, is a non-profit, artist-run centre. It presents contemporary art exhibitions, artist lectures, panel discussions and performances, and offers art classes to youth.