Norman Mine
Details of the Evidence Wall, photographed by Ali Mehdi Zaidi.
The Evidence Wall, photographed by Ali Mehdi Zaidi.
Details of the Evidence Wall, photographed by Ali Mehdi Zaidi.
LIBERATING LOVE
A elebration of Pride Through Resilience and Activism
Liberating Love 2025 was a two-week exhibition, presented at the Urban Room in central Croydon from 11 to 23 February 2025. More than just an exhibition, it explored love as a radical and transformative force—a driving power behind LGBTQ+ activism, resilience, and social change.
Through art, community engagement, and public interventions, it invited visitors to reflect on love’s role in shaping movements, fostering solidarity, and challenging societal divisions.
At the heart of the exhibition stood the Evidence Wall, an interactive installation inspired by a detective board. This dynamic display traced the impact of love through case files, personal stories, and archival materials, highlighting the activism of Ray Harvey-Amer and Clare Truscott, alongside key moments in Pride history.
Visitors were encouraged to engage with these stories, considering how love has been a catalyst for both personal and collective transformation.
On 25 January 2025, an open-call photoshoot led by Croydon-based photographer Lukas Izdebski brought together over 40 local participants, capturing the diversity, strength, and unity of Croydon’s queer community. These portraits formed part of a growing archive, celebrating visibility, identity, and resilience.
A public program of workshops, talks, and creative activities ran alongside the exhibition, offering visitors opportunities to engage in a community quilt project, badge-making sessions, a trans rights discussion, and a drag photoshoot celebrating self-expression and visibility. Public art interventions across Croydon further amplified the exhibition’s message, using creative expression to provoke dialogue and inspire change.
The exhibition extended beyond the gallery into Croydon’s streets with banners designed by 31% Wool.
Displayed along busy pedestrian areas, these banners featured quotes from Ray Harvey-Amer, Clare Truscott, bell hooks, Sylvia Rivera, Audre Lorde, and Peter Tatchell.
As both artistic and activist statements, they transformed public space into a platform for dialogue, reflection, and solidarity, reinforcing the exhibition’s themes of self-love, resilience, and social change. More than an exhibition, Liberating Love 2025 was a call to action—an invitation to reflect on love’s role in shaping a more just and inclusive world.
Liberating Love 2025 was supported by
The Croydon Cultural Team and
The Urban Room.
The Love Portraits by Lukasz Izdebski, photograph by Ali Mehdi Zaidi
Quilt workshop, Lesbian Night by Stav B, picture by Rosa Meddy.
Drag Photography Workshop by Christa Holka, Bourgeoisie, picture
by Lukasz Izdebski.
Street Banner, Quote by Ray Harvey-Amer, Central Croydon, picture by Glenn Foster.
Street Banner, Quote by Sylvia Rivera, Central Croydon, picture by Glenn Foster.
Street Banner, Quote by Clare Truscott, Central Croydon, picture by Glenn Foster.