Hello Canada!

Lucy — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:13:40 GMT

"Jane" (a Liverpudlian steward) with other crew members onboard the Queen Mary, late 1950s

National Museums Liverpool’s touring exhibition Hello Sailor! Gay life on the ocean wave will make its international debut next week. The exhibition has already been seen by audiences around the UK and now visitors to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Nova Scotia, Canada have the chance to see this fascinating show too.

Hello Sailor! explores the hidden history of gay seafarers from the UK who were onboard passenger and merchant ships between the 1950s and 1980s. During this period, life at sea allowed gay men to be themselves, which stood in stark contrast to the homophobic attitudes back home. The exhibition looks at how the tolerant environment onboard ships encouraged an extraordinary gay culture to develop. The Canadian showing of the exhibition will also give an international, contemporary spin on the subject by exploring the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seafarers in Canada today.

The exhibition at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Canada is open from 19 May to 27 November 2011. You can still see the original exhibition on the first floor at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

National Museums Liverpool Blog - Hello Sailor

Hello Canada!