A major new exhibition celebrating the life and work of pioneering artist and cartoonist David Shenton has just opened at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Kindly Ease The Tension brings together more than 150 works spanning five decades, offering a thought-provoking and funny look of LGBTQ+ life in Britain. Running from 18 July 2026 to 10 January 2027, the exhibition includes cartoons, paintings, textiles and installations, as well as objects connected to queer history, activism and community life.
At Queer Norfolk, we were especially excited to see a number of objects that are already featured in our archive. Many are cared for locally by Norfolk Museums Service or through collections held at The Millennium Library, and together they tell an important story about the county’s LGBTQ+ heritage.
Here are some of our favourites:
View on the Queer Norfolk Archive
This newspaper cutting from Gay News provides an amazingly detailed snapshot of LGBTQ+ life in Norwich during its time. It captures people, places, events and concerns in a way that helps bring the period vividly to life and is exactly the sort of object we treasure. It helps fill gaps in the historical record and demonstrates that LGBTQ+ people have always been part of Norfolk’s social and cultural fabric. The article is unusually comprehensive, making it an invaluable starting point for anyone wanting to understand what queer life in Norwich looked like at that moment in history.
View on the Queer Norfolk Archive
These preparatory materials connected to Norwich Pride’s 10th anniversary mural offer a fascinating insight into David Shenton’s creative process. They reveal sketches, ideas and images that eventually helped shape the finished artwork. We loved seeing the workings behind the final piece. It’s a chance to step inside David’s head and better understand the roots of his distinctive style. The artwork also captures an important milestone for Norwich Pride, an event which initially drew a few hundred and that now draws 15,000+.
View on the Queer Norfolk Archive
Justin Fashanu made history as the first professional footballer to come out as gay. He also suffered from the homophobia that was deeply embedded in the sport and society at large. This object represents both celebration and struggle, honouring a figure whose courage was admirable but also highlighting the ongoing homophobia that players continue to face. To this day, no other player has come out while playing at that level.
View on the Queer Norfolk Archive
Arguably centrepiece of the exhibition, The Duvet of Love is composed of hundreds of badges collected throughout David Shenton’s life. Created as a memorial to friends lost during the AIDS epidemic, it combines personal memory, political activism, and craft into a single work.
What makes the piece especially compelling within the exhibition is the way it changes as you approach it. From a distance, a clear image emerges. Move closer, however, and that image dissolves into a sea of individual badges, each carrying its own message.
The piece hangs against a backdrop that serves the opposite. From a distance, it looks like a grid of squares. Move closer, however, and you’ll see the faces of four drag queens (three real, one fictional) emerge. Each face was painted by a local queer person, including volunteers and supporters of Queer Norfolk!
Every badge on the Duvet of Love tells a small story, but together they create something much larger. It perfectly demonstrates how ordinary objects can become carriers of memory.
View on the Queer Norfolk Archive
At first glance, this appears to be two shirts, but upon closer inspection it is revealed to be one garment with three sleeves. The shirt forces its wearers to hold hands – a simple expression of affection that many would take for granted.
For many LGBTQ+ people, openly displaying affection in public has never been entirely risk-free. Holding hands can be an act of love, but it can also be an invitation for abuse. But it can also be a powerful act of defiance, with the shirt reminding us that the struggle for equality is often fought through everyday actions.
A Must-See Exhibition
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly visit, don’t forget the museum’s £2.50 Twilight Ticket, available during the final hour before closing.
We’ll also be running some events with the Castle Museum team to help uncover hidden queer histories in the Castle Museum as a whole, as well as other activities – stay tuned for further updates!
Whether you’re interested in art, activism, local history or LGBTQ+ heritage, this is an exhibition well worth visiting!
Queer Norfolk is a volunteer-led archiving project that hands ownership of queer collections back to communities, empowering people to access, discover, and contribute to local collections that reflect our shared histories.
