Object of the Week: The Pansy Project

I first learnt about the Pansy Project when I was exploring the queer symbolism of different flowers, such as lavender, green carnations and pansies. Formerly a slur used against gay men dating back to the 1920s and 1930s, Paul Farfleet has reclaimed ‘pansies’ and since 2005 has been planting the flowers at different sites of homophobic and transphobic abuse.

When I visited the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, I did not know the project was on display. At first, I was greeted by a wall full of what seemed like beautiful, but rather normal photos of flowers. When I got closer, I started to read the caption under each flower, titled after the words of abuse received by a queer person. I realised what this project was.

Pansies are planted, photographed and recorded as part of the project online, serving as a silent, yet incredibly loud, response to the abuse still faced by LGBTQ+ people today.

Across countries and languages, there were so many stories. I read each and every one of these captions and I cried.

There was everything from off-hand microagressive comments to homicides and for every name I didn’t recognise, I looked up their story. I thought about their lives and who they could have been. I thought about my own life and my story.

Museums and galleries have the power to advocate, to move, to memorialise and to be part of quiet resistance. The Pansy Project reminded me just how personal and important of a task that can be, whether loud or soft.

To check out the project and learn more, you can visit their website.

Katy Lawrence is currently a student on the MA Museum Studies program at the University of Leicester.