TAKING UP SPACE

TAKING UP SPACE: A BOLD AND UNAPOLOGETIC UPRISING OF BLACK & BROWN QUEER POWER August 1st – 31st 2026 This summer, TAKING UP SPACE arrives with unapologetic power and presence, in this ground-breaking photography exhibition centring Black and Brown Queer voices, stories, and lived realities. Hosted at Chats Palace for a month-long residency throughout August, the exhibition is presented in collaboration with East London Pride, amplifying a shared commitment to visibility, community, and radical joy. For this exhibition, R.A.G.E LP has partnered with a distinguished group of Black and Brown Queer creatives and collaborators, ensuring that the dialogues explored are grounded in truth, authenticity, and meaningful impact (These creatives being Aleena, Chane, Coco, Moses, Trisha, Sophia). At its core, TAKING UP SPACE is both a declaration and an invitation: a declaration that Black and Brown Queer lives are expansive, complex, and deserving of visibility and an invitation for audiences to witness, reflect, learn and engage. Through striking photographic works, the exhibition explores identity, intimacy, resistance, and self-expression, challenging dominant narratives while carving out new spaces for representation. The residency will transform Chats Palace into a living, breathing cultural hub. Alongside the exhibition, visitors can expect a dynamic programme of events including workshops, community gatherings and shows all designed to deepen dialogue and foster connection. In collaboration with East London Pride, a series of events will take place throughout August in direct dialogue with the exhibition, creating a wider cultural moment within Chats Palace that celebrates and uplifts Black and Brown Queer communities. These activations will extend the reach of TAKING UP SPACE throughout the venue, fostering visibility, solidarity, and collective celebration. The exhibition will also feature collaborative works and contributions from Positive East, alongside a range of additional artists and community partners, further enriching the exhibition’s narrative and ensuring a multiplicity of voices and lived experiences are represented. “TAKING UP SPACE is about more than visibility, it’s about ownership,” says Creative Director of East London Pride. “It’s about claiming physical, emotional, and creative space in a world that often tries to minimise or erase. This exhibition is a celebration, but it’s also a necessary act of resistance.” Whether you come to be moved, challenged, inspired, or simply to witness, TAKING UP SPACE promises an experience that resonates long after you leave the exhibition.