Join us for the official launch of Southend’s Twilight Worlds, a new exhibition uncovering the complex history of marginalised identities in Southend-on-Sea.

Drinks will be provided and you'll get an exclusive chance to see the exhibition and pick up a limited edition copy of the book.

The exhibition showcases Southend’s queer and alternative histories through new and existing artworks, previously unseen archival clippings, and objects from Southend Museums.

Southend’s Twilight Worlds is inspired by an article published in the Southend Evening Echo following the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967. The article’s author, Louis Blake, writes an investigation into the borough’s twilight world and the three to four-thousand “men in fear who haunt it”. He interviewed many of these so-called “twilight men” of Southend, often highlighting the violence and apprehension most experienced due to their sexuality, despite the introduction of “well-meaning” laws. Even noting how some of these men discriminated against queers of colour.

An accompanying events series includes artist workshops, public tours and reading groups, and a fortnightly youth club for young people aged 16 to 25.

Featured artists include The Agency of Visible Womxn, Sunil Gupta, Ruth Hazel, Josephine Melville (SEACA), George Morl, Amy Pennington, Scottee and Lu Williams.

Southend’s Twilight Worlds is curated by Elliot Gibbons and produced in partnership with TOMA (The Other MA), The Old Waterworks, Grrrl Zine Fair, Southend Pride, Metal Southend, Focal Point Gallery, Southend Museums and Essex Cultural Diversity Project, and is made possible with funding from Arts Council England and Essex Heritage Trust