From May 2019 to June 2021, LGBTI+ Elders Social Dance Clubs, part of The Coming Back Out Ball have been presented all around the country for the whole rainbow community, creating a welcoming space for this community to come together, share stories and meet new people.

Tiu Makkonen is the photographer in residence with The Coming Back Out Ball project. They along with filmmakers Graeme Roger and Ania Urbanowska have created, in collaboration with members of the dance club, a multimedia exhibition Portraits of an LGBTI+ Generation.

Social Dance Club members were invited to have their photo taken and be interviewed in a place that means something to them, and their experience as an LGBTI+ person.

This series of up to 10 portraits of Scottish LGBTI + Elders, reflecting their own personal experiences, will give us a sense of the varied, rich and remarkable lives of the many LGBTI+ elders living across Scotland.

The exhibition is free and runs from 20th Dec 23 - Summer 24 in Western General Hospital.

The exhibition has previously been shared online with a selection of these portraits exhibited at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow in 2021, as part of Highland Pride at Eden Court in February 2020 and as part of Party Pride in July 2023.

A National Theatre of Scotland and All The Queens Men co-production, in partnership with Eden Court and Luminate, and in association with Glasgow City Council.

Presented at Western General Hospital, Edinburgh with Tonic Arts

Part of The Coming Back Out Ball - find out more about the project here.