Bishopsgate Institute

The women of the 1970s and ’80s porn world helped shape piercing history, and they rarely get the credit. Professional piercer Paul R. King tells their story. Contains sexually explicit stills and video clips. Tickets:https://bit.ly/47rbmp5

It's Banned Books Week, and we're celebrating the books that were too much for some people. A Clockwork Orange has been on and off shelves since 1962. Without it, who knows what would have become of Cockwork Orange? See this queer pulp parody, and plenty more contested books, in our collections.

One afternoon only: we're selling duplicate books, pamphlets and magazines from our Special Collections & Archives; London history, LGBTQIA+ history, and general history. Free to attend. Sunday 27 September, 14:30–17:30. Details: https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/activity/book-sale-2/

Bisexual Awareness Week runs 16 to 23 September, closing with Celebrate Bisexuality Day. A week to recognise bisexual identities and celebrate a community that's often overlooked in both straight and queer spaces. #BiWeek

We're not going to tell you everything that's hiding in our Special Collections & Archives. But we'd like to warn you in advance that it might just shift your perspective. Come in and explore anytime between 09:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday, with late opening on Wednesdays until 20:00.

We're hiring a full-time Duty Manager: a hands-on, physical role. Set-up, pack-down, heavy lifting, and building safety. No archives or programming work involved. £31,194 for 35 hours a week over 7 days. Apply by 09:00, Wed 16 Sept. Full job description here👇 https://bit.ly/4h4Ozom

Whips, chains, and the receipts to prove it. For one day only. UK Fetish Archive Open Day, Sun 13 September, 13:00–17:00. Free, 18+ only. Book ahead to help us plan for numbers. Contains material of an explicit nature. Tickets 👉 https://bit.ly/3RuPRPT

Jacky Logan BEM has spent 30+ years specialising in ballroom and Latin, and co-founded the Pink Jukebox dance night that regularly fills our floor. She's now an official Listed Londoner. Ballroom gets a mention, and plenty else besides. Listen to the full conversation here: https://bbc.in/4cka15Z

"Every archive is a reflection of its archivist." Stefan Dickers, our Special Collections and Archives Manager, has spent 20 years building the queer archives here at Bishopsgate Institute. British Journal of Photography went behind the scenes👇 https://bit.ly/4vRXeib @1854.photography

Bring two left feet. We'll supply the disco ball 🪩 Beginner classes, live music, and a pretty special dance floor open throughout the summer. Full line-up and tickets: https://bit.ly/3TYvniZ

Museums decide what gets remembered. The Museum of Transology exists to stop trans history being erased, misrepresented, or turned into spectacle. Now cared for in our LGBTQIA+ Archives at Bishopsgate Institute 🏳️‍⚧️ Explore👇 https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/collections/museum-of-transology/

Our Special Collections & Archives contributed to Queer as Comics, a first-of-its-kind exhibition tracing LGBTQIA+ voices in comics from the 1940s to now. Open at @qbcentre.bsky.social until 4 October. Tickets 👇 https://qbcentre.org.uk/exhibitions/queer-as-comics

A quick heads-up: Bishopsgate Institute building will be closed this week Weds 24 - Fri 26 due to the UK Government's Red Weather Warning. We'll be back open as usual on Monday 29th June. If you had a visit planned, we're sorry for the disruption and we look forward to welcoming you back soon.

Some people are famous. Others become icons ⭐ Two Library talks this Pride Month on queer celebrity and memory. Tickets here👉 https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/search/

Somewhere in our archives, there are wizard's robes. Also: lesbian pulp fiction, protest badges, and the answer to why John Gielgud was told to see a doctor. This Thursday, Stefan Dickers leads the first of our Summer LGBTQIA+ Collections tours. Book your place: https://bit.ly/4fb3e0S

What does it mean to be Cockney and Sikh? East London and South Asian? Suresh Singh has been asking those questions across the East End for decades. That archive now lives at Bishopsgate Institute, documenting a time when many burned their pictures. Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4fEGjLC

Behind a quiet door near Liverpool Street: Suffragette papers, a Vicar's naughty scrapbooks, revolutionary minute books, and a startlingly honest 1950s diary. Join Stef for a tour of our General Collections. Tue 9 Jun, 18:30–20:00. Book here👉 https://bit.ly/4dqPug2

The way to fight phobia and stigma is through knowledge 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ Today, on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, we stand against all forms of hate directed at self-expression.

What will you discover on London’s friendliest dance floor? 🪩🕺 At Bishopsgate Institute, our ballroom opens its doors to everyone. Beginners, regulars, and those simply curious about social dancing. Step onto London’s friendliest dance floor 👉 https://bit.ly/3Ihr9xs

Movement can be a way of listening to the body, to the moment you’re in 🧘‍♀️ Esther Anaya-Boig has brought mindfulness to her teaching for over 10 years, creating space to build strength and a steadier sense of balance. Find a class that fits your week via our website: https://bit.ly/3Ihr9xs

These small, tactile sounds define the archive experience 📂 Even in the centre of London, our archives hold a kind of quiet you don’t come across often. A space to focus, to research, to follow a thread of thought without interruption. This is what discovery sounds like 🔍

LGBTQ+ archive tours return this summer. Stories of identity, protest, community, and change. Held in our collections and shared in the space they belong. Join us to explore the materials, voices, and histories that continue to shape the present. Book your place: https://bit.ly/41WjDhN

For one Saturday in April, Bishopsgate Institute will shift gear. Expect exhibitions, live presentations, vintage magazines and posters, and open conversations through ‘W.T.F’ (We’re Talking Fetish). Step inside and explore: https://bit.ly/4cbNBTZ

Today is Trans Day of Visibility. A moment to celebrate trans lives, creativity, and community 🏳️‍⚧️ In our archives you'll find the Transfabulous Archive, documenting a vibrant UK festival of trans art, performance, and activism (2006–2012). Here’s to the dolls, the artists, and the trailblazers.

On World Doctor’s Day, we’re reminded of the work that happens behind closed doors. These intimate images from our archives offer a rare glimpse inside hospital wards. Moments of focus, care, and responsibility. A perspective we seldom see, capturing the quiet, daily reality of medicine.

Queer stories have always shaped theatre. Now you can explore them in depth 🎭 Join Dr Emily Garside for a series of online courses that trace the history, politics, and performance of queer theatre. Explore the courses and book your place: https://bit.ly/4svLlxx

History after dark. There’s still time to book your spot for One Night in the Archive, featuring discussion, performance, and stories from our collections that don’t sit quietly on the shelf. Thu 19 March | 19:00 Book your spot 👉 https://bit.ly/4bdTG1y

“Who had made us hate ourselves so much?” New writing on queer history is turning to archives, like Bishopsgate Institute, to answer that question uncovering lives shaped by silence and resistance. Read the full article in The Observer: https://bit.ly/4usmhsS

The 1970s didn’t quieten the noise of the decade before. It gave it direction. From punk’s raw edge to Rock Against Racism’s stages. From street protests to the rise of the Anti-Nazi League. The helter-skelter didn’t stop. It organised. Explore 1970s Britain in our Special Collections & Archives.

Our archive office holds the unexpected. The personal. The curious. The outright bizarre. Objects that make you pause. That make you ask, “Why?” That make you ask, “How did this end up here?” This is where stories wait to be opened. Step inside and see what you might uncover.

New to Bishopsgate Institute? We’d love to welcome you through our doors. Using our archives is straightforward. Register, settle into the Rear Library, and our team will guide you to the material you want to see. Curious? Plan your visit and start exploring.

March marks the kick-off of Let’s Dance, a nationwide call to the floor. From 6–8 March, Bishopsgate Institute hosts beginners’ classes open to all. No experience. No pressure. Just music and movement in a welcoming room. If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it. Link 👉 https://bit.ly/3OWs1dP

Clause 27. Clause 28. Section 28. Section 2A. Confused? The 1988 law banned councils from “promoting homosexuality”, fuelling fear in schools and libraries. Unions and LGBTQ+ activists fought back. Explore the story in our Archives. #LGBTHistoryMonth

A thank you to Aldgate Connect, supporters of Saturday’s Pink Jukebox Trophy. As our local Business Improvement District, they support the businesses and cultural spaces that make Aldgate thrive. We’re proud to work together to keep community and creativity moving. See you on the dance floor.

Did you know Paul McCartney once visited Bishopsgate Institute? The walls and dressing rooms may have changed, but the curiosity? It's still here, there, and everywhere.

Roses are red. Violets are blue. Our archives are kinky. Who knew?💘 Join us for Kink in the Archive III, an after-hours delve into fetish history and collective curiosity. 📍 Saturday 14 February at Bishopsgate Institute. 🎟️ Tickets available here 👇 https://bit.ly/49WYo35

Still at the cottage? I know I am. I had a lot of thoughts (still do) about Heated Rivarly as a Queer hockey fan. How does it sit with queer hockey fans? is it a force for activism? Join me @bishopsgateinst.bsky.social to talk queer hockey! www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/act...

Are you still at the Cottage? Join me and @bishopsgateinst.bsky.social for an exploration of Heated Rivalry, Hockey Romance and what that can tell us about queer media, and it's activist side... www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/act...

Some slogans belong to the past. Others feel like they never left. A glimpse into the protest posters of Eddie Adams, visual echoes of resistance, solidarity and dissent. Now held in our Special Collections, they speak across decades. Sometimes as relics, sometimes as reminders.

🎆 New Year’s Day? We’ve been interrupting it since 1895. Bishopsgate Institute turns 131 today. Same date, every year. Because why not launch a cultural institution on the most disruptive day of the year? Here’s to another year of learning, dancing, questioning, and keeping London curious.

Our team's growing... Bishopsgate Institute is where history lives, learning thrives and people come together. Right now, we’re hiring for three key roles: 🟡 Visitor Experience Team Lead 🟡 Deputy Operations Manager 🟡 Infrastructure & Facilities Manager Curious? Find out more: bit.ly/3KEoy1X

We’ve never been big on uniforms... But these T-shirt’s might just change that. Pictured: the Bishopsgate Institute team, proudly modelling our limited-edition UK Fetish Archive tees. Made to celebrate history, these shirts are nearly gone. 🖤 Link: https://everpress.com/profile/uk-fetish-archive

We’re not saying dancing is time travel… but if swing, tango or ballroom in our gorgeous Great Hall doesn’t transport you, nothing will. Come solo or bring a partner; the only requirement is a willingness to move. Book via our website. https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/search/ 🪩

In this online session for World AIDS Day, we’ll explore how artists responded to fear, loss, and injustice and how their work shaped public memory and protest. From Keith Haring to Gay Sweatshop, these are stories of expression, resistance, and care. @emilygarside.bsky.social 📆 Wed 3 December👇

To mark World AIDS Day, we’re hosting a lunchtime session on the history of AIDS activism - from ACT UP to the Terrence Higgins Trust, and voices like Larry Kramer & Lisa Power. 📅 1 Dec, 12:30 📷 Gordon Rainsford @emilygarside.bsky.social

This is how I feel when I post on Close Friends on insta

"Dear Friends, too busy to write a letter, so I am sending a postcard to a few of my friends to let them know they are not forgotten. W R Bradlaugh unites in Christian love to all." W.R. Bradlaugh knew: connection doesn’t need to be complicated. When the group chat’s too much, go Bradlaugh style.

Not just a pretty building. Inside, you notice the details: soft light, worn steps, carved railings. It wasn’t built to impress, it was built to welcome. This place has held leaflets, love letters, manifestos and more. It looks historic because it is. Come in. What’s your favourite corner?

Not your nan’s Christmas jumper. No jingle, no sparkle - just leather, latex, and full archival fantasy. 🖤 ◼️ ⚫ From the UK Fetish Archive. 3 days left to order. A gift for yourself, or someone who’ll get it. https://everpress.com/profile/uk-fetish-archive

Spotted @davidolusoga.bsky.social somewhere unexpected lately? Now he’s back to the real story. Empire - his new @BBC series on Britain’s imperial legacy, filmed partly at Bishopsgate Institute. 📺 Empire with David Olusoga - watch on BBC iPlayer.