The bloke in the peaked police cap seems the sort you would expect to see atop a Mardi Gras float, stroking his moustache and flashing his smooth chest. Look closer and you notice the soft lips beneath his moustache and the strange, rounded shape of his pectorals. This figure of buff masculinity is, in fact, a woman. A portrait of the drag king Rocco D'Amore, it is one of several images created by the artist Scott Elk to illustrate the theme of this year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: the history of the world.
Elk's images combine drawing and photography to represent historical figures. The portrait of D'Amore represents the iconic homoerotic images of the artist Tom of Finland. There are also images of Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I and Marlene Dietrich, as well as mythological figures such as King Neptune.
''We wanted to recognise … people who have made significant historical contributions,'' Elk says. ''Those who may have played with gender identity, people in the arts.''
The festival's executive producer, Danielle Harvey, says the theme ''allows us to play with a plethora of fun ideas, from the frivolous to the serious''.
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras draws a broad audience. Last year, it attracted 21,000 visitors from interstate and overseas, providing a $30 million boost to the state's economy.
''It's become a bit of a mecca for gay and lesbian people around the world,'' Harvey says. ''It's something you have to do at least once.'' The festival is one of Sydney's signature events and expresses the city's identity and showcases its assets. The two-week program includes several outdoor events in prominent locations. The dance event Harbour '10 will attract thousands of party-goers to the Royal Botanic Gardens, watching the sun go down over the Harbour Bridge. The American artist Spencer Tunick will photograph a sea of naked bodies under the sails of the Opera House. Taronga Zoo will host a three-course dinner with talks about some of the distinctly queer habits of the animal kingdom. At Bondi Beach, drag queens will race across the sand in heels.
''The event really has tapped into that Australian sense of self,'' Harvey says. ''We are fun-loving and we can stand up for the things we believe in with humour, satire and debate.''
On parade night, gay figures from ancient to modern times will parade down Oxford Street. One group has planned a float inspired by Ancient Greece, while another will pay tribute to the decadent court of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. The Asian Marching Boys will create a float based on the life of Britney Spears; the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have titled their float Bad Habits Through The Ages.
An exhibition at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum tells the story of Eugenia Falleni, a Sydney woman who lived her life as a man, married two women, then allegedly murdered one of them after she discovered the fraud. The crimes of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, who in 1924 murdered for the thrill, gain homoerotic overtones in the musical Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story.
Ideas about discrimination and civil rights will also feature. At the Belvoir Street Theatre, Pete Nettell will direct Bent, a play about the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany.
At CarriageWorks, performance artist William Yang will tell the story of Sydney's bohemian and queer social scenes in the '70s and '80s.
''It's our aim to look back on key events and honour figures from our history,'' Harvey says. ''We have to look back on where we have come from so we don't make the same mistakes.'' |
