Chichester Pride and The Novium Museum's 'Out and Proud' Exhibition

In September 2023 The Novium Museum approached us with the idea of creating a new exhibition in their lovely community space focussing on the history of Chichester Pride.  Our committee loved this idea and made an immediate commitment to try to make this happen.  However, we wanted to wait until a big milestone had taken place; the first Chichester Pride Parade through the city centre.  It was thought essential that a record of this event be included as a significant moment in our development as an organisation within the city. 

Fast forward ten months and work began in earnest to create “Out and Proud in Chichester”.  The initial idea was to focus solely on our history, but we wanted the opportunity to broaden the concept by including educational elements and some personal items and stories from the local LGBTQ+ community.   

As The Novium would say themselves, this exhibition was about telling our story and, although they collaborated brilliantly with us to make the exhibition happen, we drove the narrative from the outset.  We trawled through our archives to find photographs, press clippings and videos and started sending them to The Novium’s exhibition designer.  The committee shared the writing of textual items between them including a history of the main LGBTQ+ flag from its Rainbow origins in the 1970s to its current incarnation, the Intersex Pride Progress Flag.  We also looked at a timeline of Prides since their inception in New York City in the late 1960s and why Prides remain essential. 

The design went through lots of stages, and we all provided input as to what we thought would work best and we are delighted with the final result which is bright and colourful and very impactful.  As well as the exhibition itself there is a huge poster outside the museum all helping to increase the visibility of the local LGBTQ+ community.  This was all made possible, of course, with the support of our sponsors who generously contributed to the cost of the exhibition.  Our thanks go to David Wilson Barrett Homes and Chichester City Council. 

One of the most emotional elements of the exhibition is the inclusion of personal items following a social media shout out.  Lots of local people came forward with a wide range of items which are important to them in their journey as a queer person.  A local gay couple donated a handprint of their adopted son decorated in rainbow colours, a transgender woman donated some of her hormone treatment items and an original copy of the book which started the whole Section 28 debacle “Jenny Lives With Eric and Martin” was also included.  There are around twelve items each with a very personal story attached. 

As well as the exhibition itself there are a number of talks and activities planned throughout the year including a talk from a member of the Chichester Festival Theatre staff as they explore the often-overlooked history of LGBTQ+ productions there. 

The exhibition is free of charge to all and there are feedback cards for people’s responses which we look forward to reading. 

This has been such an amazing and uplifting project for us all here and another example of the incredible local support we’ve had since we started Chichester Pride in 2018.  Learn more here: https://www.thenovium.org.uk/article/39508/Out-Proud-in-Chichester