Manchester Queer Art Market (MQAM) is a grass-roots organisation, founded in 2022 by Ben Saunders (he/him) and Ben Hodge (he/him). Having experienced negativity from the public at markets around the country in response to his openly queer and trans artwork they both understood the importance of this type of queer-specific event. However, at the time these markets existed mostly in London and Brighton and weren’t always accessible to Northern queer artists, particularly those from working class backgrounds. This was why they set out to create a space that provided Northern queer artists with a safe, inclusive and accessible space to sell their work.
MQAM runs monthly queer art markets at a range of venues around Manchester, offering a sliding scale of table fees, including Pay What You Can places, to make it as accessible as possible. They also hire local queer photographers for their events, to provide even more opportunities for creatives, whilst also providing stallholders with gorgeous photos of their work and practice!
The markets are often in the evenings, at venues such as Feel Good Club and The Proud Place, also providing a space for queer people to meet up that doesn’t centre on drinking and club culture. This is an element that’s really important to MQAM, as they strive to create truly inclusive events that cater for queer people in Manchester.
If you would like to see when their next event is, take a look at their Instagram where you can also find how to apply and how to sign up as a volunteer.
