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Festival 2026
Offline Memories: Hong Kong LGBTQ+ Archive of Printed Matter from the Pre-Internet Era


By
Joseph Chen, Anson Mak

The Hong Kong LGBTQ+ Archive of Printed Matter from the Pre-Internet Era (hklgbtqarchive.com) is a comprehensive online resource preserving the vibrant history of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ+ communities before the internet. With around 1,000 items—including group newsletters, indie zines, handwritten letters, AIDS education leaflets, government consultation papers, event promotions, and more — the archive offers a rare glimpse into activism and daily life from the early 1990s to the 2000s. Archives are fascinating. They capture the past, yet shape the future. Their true potential lies in how people use them, continually expanding their meaning and relevance.

Drawing inspiration from the archive’s materials, this programme features four events, including screenings, talks, and a lecture-performance, offering responses from intergenerational artists and writers to this significant piece of queer history.


Tickets


9 May 2026, 1:00 PM
Past Event
Museum of the Home 
9 May 2026, 3:00 PM
Past Event
Museum of the Home 
17 May 2026, 4:30 PM
Past Event
London LGBTQ+ Community Centre 
17 May 2026, 6:15 PM
Past Event
London LGBTQ+ Community Centre 

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Hong Kong Early Queer Video Art + Artist Talk
This screening features pioneering Hong Kong video artists Ellen Pau and Anson Mak. In the 1980s and 90s, they used video to explore queer worlds, lesbian and bisexual desire, and identities rendered invisible when homosexuality was still taboo. Working across music video, performance, and documentary, they recontex...

Off the Grid, On the Page: Archiving Hong Kong’s Pre-Internet Queer History
Join Anson Mak, researcher and project consultant of the archive Hong Kong LGBTQ+ Printed Matter in the Pre-Internet Era, for an illuminating talk that delves into the stories and significance of this unique collection. Anson will highlight pivotal materials, including those documenting the decriminalisation of homosex...

Literary Works in Queer Hong Kong Indie Zines
Writing by anonymous contributors fill the pages of queer indie zines from 1990s Hong Kong, spanning fiction, interviews, and submissions from readers. In response to these works, poet Eric Yip will present a reading of his new poetry, followed by a conversation with writer Yin Lo on his creative process and the archiv...

Sticky Images, Fluid Scums: A Lecture Performance
Artist
Dorothy Cheung
Drawing on her research on queer women’s communities in 1990s Hong Kong, Dorothy Cheung created a visual fiction pixel art computer game, Into An Unmemorable Night, We Drift. The game brings to life venues, activities, and stories reconstructed from archival publications. In this lecture-performance, the artist will ...

Additional info



This series is curated by Joseph Chen, with programme consultant Anson Mak, and is presented in collaboration with Eaton HK and supported by WMA.