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When Queensland Museum curator Chris Salter envisioned Make a Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the 90s, it was more than an exhibition 鈥� it was a chance to formally welcome queer history into an institution that, until now, had never largely told it.

鈥淚 was very aware in working on the project that it was the first ever LGBTQ+ social history exhibition ever presented by Queensland Museum in its 165-year history,鈥� Salter tells Star Observer.聽

Rather than attempting an impossible 鈥榳hole of history鈥� narrative, Make a Scene focuses tightly on a transformative five-year period between 1989 and 1994. It was the era immediately following the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Queensland, now marking its 35th anniversary and a time when queer youth culture, fashion, music and nightlife collided.

鈥淚t meant that the project had to be a history and a moment,鈥� Salter explains. As a fashion curator rather than a political historian, Salter was interested in how identity became visible. 鈥淭he exhibition was always about looking at how all those different political, social, cultural, and economic forces were shaping the way that young queer people were dressing and expressing themselves within this window of time.鈥�

The exhibition is also deeply personal, with Salter coming of age in Brisbane鈥檚 queer scene during the early 1990s. A discovery inside the museum鈥檚 collection resonated with Salter’s lived experience: the archive of teenage designer Mark Wilson, founder of cult Brisbane label Hairy Dog. 鈥淗e started that label at 16 years old. And tragically, he passed away at only age 19 in December of 1993,鈥� Salter says. 鈥淚 was a wearer of Hairy Dog, and I really remember the ripple that went through the scene at his passing.鈥�

Wilson鈥檚 work now sits at the heart of Make a Scene, representing a distinctly local expression of the global club kid movement. 鈥淏risbane was still a very, very conservative place,鈥� Salter notes. 鈥淪o the fact that there was this thriving underground counterculture of queerness and creativity was also a story I really wanted to tell.鈥�

Although Salter conceived the exhibition, it was far from a solo effort. 鈥淚 also spoke to, worked with and collaborated with close to 175 people in the development of the show,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hile it started with the journey of one, it really was made manifest and made possible by all of those other people who contributed.鈥�

鈥淚t was quite amazing having people sharing, entrusting their stories and their histories and their lived experiences with me,鈥� Salter says.

Walking into Make a Scene, visitors step straight onto a 90s dancefloor. Alongside clubwear and archival objects are pop culture touchstones, costumes from Kylie Minogue to Priscilla, grounding local history in a broader queer cultural landscape.

Crucially, the exhibition also looks forward. 鈥淭he show also gives a bit of a nod to where we are in 2025,鈥� Salter says. Contemporary fashion, commissioned works by local designers, and pieces like Darren Hayes鈥� outfit from his Mardi Gras performance draw a line between past and present for the audience.聽

For Salter, Make a Scene is not an endpoint. 鈥淨ueer history is Queensland history,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 hope that this is just the beginning.鈥澛�

He also hopes the exhibition signals something bigger: that Queensland Museum can become a home for queer culture, memory and meaning 鈥� well into the future.聽

Make a Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the 90s is .