The Boomalli Mardi Gras Exhibition for 2022, Deadly/Solid/Staunch, runs from Thursday 24 February 2022 and runs until 9th April 2022. Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative is a key First Nations arts and cultural institution that was established in 1987 and has run an annual Mardi Gras Exhibition since 1994. This exhibition has become a key event for the First Nations LGBTQIA+ community.

Deadly/Solid/Staunch is a celebration of First Nation LGBTQIA+ Elders, Leaders, community advocacy, activism and our survival, resilience, strength and our important and rightful place in the LGBTQIA+ communityand broader Australian society.

Curated by Wamba Wamba queer man, Steven Lindsay Ross, the exhibition includes new artworks including commissioned pieces by Dennis Golding- Bowman, Jasmine Sarin and Jai Walker, as well as emerging artists and established senior artists such as Uncle Jeffrey Samuels.

Also included are images from previous Boomalli Mardi Gras exhibitions and a celebration of some of our community leaders, such as Dharug woman Aunty Chris Burke who was a 78er and Malcolm Cole who led the first Aboriginal Mardi Gras float in 1988 dressed in the now iconic Captain Cook outfit.

There are opportunities for contemplation including a memory wall where the community have shared their images from their own collections. This provides a catalyst for memory and conversation.

Likewise, the screening of “Double Trouble”, a recently re-discovered documentary made in 1991 by renowned filmmaker Tony Ayres, is a moment for reflection. The documentary features First Nations LGBTQIA+ community members and their experiences of survival, resilience and love in the Sydney queer community, as they head out to the Mardi Gras parade.