Building 2, UTS

UTS is lighting up UTS Central (Building 2) on Broadway to celebrate Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Sydney WorldPride 2023. The interdisciplinary collaboration CLOAK will also be on display in the foyer of UTS Central from 16 February to 5 March. CLOAK brings together LGBTQI+ folk working in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine with emerging fashion designers to reinvent the lab coat as a symbol of queer pride.

In a field in which recent research reveals many professionals remain closeted, we asked a dozen LGBTQI+ scientists to share their stories with UTS fashion designers. The designers then transformed discarded lab coats into new garments capturing the scientists’ queer histories.

This cross-disciplinary project spotlights diversity in science through fashion, photography and video performance. A new video work directed by award-winning artist Cherine Fahd captures the results of this sustainable co-design experiment against the backdrops of the UTS Fashion Lab and the University of Sydney’s School of Chemistry. The CLOAK film can be seen on the Broadway Screen at UTS, and photographic portraits of the scientists and designers will be shown in the UTS foyer Building 1.

Join Alice Motion (Eureka Science Communicator of the Year) and other queer scientists and fashionistas for the launch of CLOAK on 16 February. CLOAK runs from 16 February to 5 March.

CLOAK: Queer Science, Fashion & Photography is presented in partnership with Sydney Social Sciences and Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), and the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney and the Intersectional Design Research Cluster, School of Design, UTS. CLOAK is presented as part of Sydney WorldPride Pride Amplified.