SCENE ARCHIVE
In the 1970s, 80s and 90s a vibrant drag scene thrived in the HU3/Docklands area of Hull. Performers, musicians, pub and club owners created unforgettable nights. Behind the scenes, photographers and audiences quietly captured it all.
Photographs were discovered by artist Kate Genever in her work for Three Ways East’s EofUs project and now, along with oral histories gathered by Kate and the team, they form a vital record of the local drag and LGBTQIA+ heritage of the area. This website showcases them. It is a work in progress as we upload what has been revealed.
We’d love to hear more! Do you know the people in these images or have photos you’d like to share?
Email us: hello@eofus.co.uk
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Scene But Not Heard is interested in responses to the archive and is collaborating with individuals and groups from Hull’s LGBTQIA+ community to achieve this. Our specially created Advisory Group is working with us to help shape what comes next.
Watch this space.
“PEOPLE USED TO SAY TO ME
aren’t you frightened of getting up on stage dressed like that in front of all the fishermen and such….
BUT THAT NEVER BOTHERED ME. NEVER BOTHERED ME AT ALL. IF ANYTHING I HAD A GOOD LAUGH WITH THEM.”
Bobby Mandrell / Kandy Lee Barry / Ray Millington
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Perhaps there was something in the working-class docklands water of HU3, in the 80’s and 90’s, that made it the perfect place for a rich and vibrant drag performance scene to emerge.
Home grown and visiting performers, like Kandy Lee Barry/Bobby Mandrell, Dreamgirls and The GiGi Girls, took their duty to entertain very seriously. They were supported by a cast of costume makers, musicians and pub and club landladies and lords, who created big nights out for thirsty audiences looking for a laugh and a good time.
It turns out, there was another type of artist involved in the scene, but they were not centre stage… and much more comfortable behind the camera. Unbeknownst to each other, several commercial, student, amateur and professional photographers took an interest in the scene. They have since gone on to various careers, while their drag photographs sat, largely unseen, in their private vaults.
That is until some were spotted, during the development of an EofUs newspaper by artist Kate Genever. Individually there are some incredible photographs, but collectively this is a nationally important body of work, documenting the social and artistic history of the drag and LGBTQ+ scene in West Hull during the 1970/80s/90s. This is a body of work that we feel should be accessible to the public.
This site is the shop window of the Scene But Not Heard project, which aims to bring together the photographs and the captured stories of those who were there and those who remember. It will build and develop over time, as we unearth more, so please keep popping in.
Scene But Not Heard is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to discover and showcase this important archive.
Scene But not Heard is funded by Historic England as part of Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme. The programme celebrates working class histories and seeks to explore untold stories and celebrate the people and places at the heart of our history.
Investment from the Humber Museums Partnership helped kickstart this project. The ongoing support of Three Ways East and the Encyclopedia of Us project, from the Brignall Family Trust, underpins it all.
Every effort has been taken to correctly credit the creators of the images. Please get in touch if you know more.
