TUS is a FLINTA* collective of staff and students at Central Saint Martins, exploring how we create and hold space together in a city where queer spaces have largely vanished. While queer practices and queer theory are gaining visibility and interest within art and design, London has seen the closure of 60% of its queer venues since the 2000s. Spaces that specifically cater to queer femininities and gender-diverse communities have been disproportionately affected, leaving our community without a consistent physical presence in the city.

Investigating new approaches to dialogue in public, the TAKE UP SPACE exhibition in the Lethaby Window Gallery at Central Saint Martins emerged through community-driven and crowdsourced contributions during February and March 2024.

TAKE UP SPACE began with the crowdsourcing of terms that the FLINTA community uses to describe themselves and the spaces they occupy or aspire to create. These terms formed the backdrop for a series of interventions that transformed the window gallery, including Perfect Flower, Lesbian Launderette, and In Bed with Pleurotus. The seven-week exhibition concluded with Continuous Cruising, when the narrow gallery was reimagined as a dyke speakeasy for one night only.

(*FLINTA: Women, Lesbian, Intersex, Non-Binary, Trans, Agender)