Lemons, Laws & Secret Doors opened on April 25, at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and will run until August 30, 2026.
Developed by the Hastings Queer History Collective in collaboration with Home Live Art and the museum, the exhibition explores queer life in the South East through fashion, sound, multimedia art and archived stories.
A spokesperson for Home Live Art said: “This exhibition feels long overdue and deeply joyful.
“Working with the Queer History Collective has been central to this as it is their knowledge, research and lived experience that shapes it.
“Together we are bringing Hastings’ queer voices and stories into view, because we need them now more than ever.”
Spanning from the 1800s to the present day, the exhibition includes a 1980s LGBTQIA+ community disco night in the caves under Hastings and more recent stories such as a queer Dungeons and Dragons group in Hastings & St Leonards.
Central to the exhibition is a new commission by artist Emma Frankland, inspired by sign writing and the power of protest placards.
Ms Frankland said: “I wanted to honour the energy and clarity that comes with the protest sign in this work and give something that is usually ephemeral a more permanent place as an artwork.
“At a time when LGBTQIA+ rights are, once again, under direct threat, the creation of this artwork brings together a powerful history of queer resistance.
“Emphasising in physical form the reality that ‘we have ALWAYS been here.'”
The exhibition is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
They said: “We are LGBTQIA+ people living in this town today. What appears in this exhibition is shaped by our identities and perspectives.
“We are not separate from the queer heritage we foreground. We are part of it.
“There is no single way to be queer. There is no singular queer Hastings.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events, including panels, performances and social gatherings.