At the opening of Potpourri, an exhibition by PulseArt at Depot Artspace, 6 – 24 October 2018
Lesbian art collective PulseArt was formed in 1999 and while only one of the original artists remain in the group, their objective remains;
“We wanted to have a way of expressing our identity without constantly arguing for it. This wasn’t an intentional political act although we are very aware that ‘the personal is political’, nor was it a deliberate act of separatism, but rather a desire to exhibit together in a comfortable and safe space. We wanted greater lesbian visibility.
Our reason for being a lesbian group remains the same; identity is important to us. Some labels are more acceptable than others. Identity politics is now seen as anachronistic. Our desire to maintain it in our current climate of equality has often been seen as unnecessary when we’ve achieved so much. We feel strongly that without asserting our identity we will disappear.
Labels exist. As lesbians we exist. Our art is an important vehicle for claiming who we are – for labelling ourselves ‘lesbian’. It speaks out for us”. PulseArt 2018
