Qtopia Sydney has announced the appointment of Jeremy Smith as its first-ever artist ambassador, cementing a long-standing creative and community partnership with one of the country’s most distinctive Queer voices.
The announcement was made at a public event held 10 July, which also saw the unveiling of two major new works by Smith: Gaybourhood Bubbles of Sydney and Counter-map of Global LGBTQIA+ Rights. Both pieces expand Qtopia Sydney’s exhibition We’re Here, We’re Queer, a growing body of works by Smith that trace Queer history, space and language through detailed, hand-drawn maps.
As an artist, researcher and curator, Smith has been an important part of Qtopia Sydney’s programming since the exhibition’s opening. His appointment as ambassador formally recognises his contribution and affirms his ongoing role in shaping the centre’s artistic, educational and cultural direction.
“Jeremy brings a powerful mix of creativity, truth and lived experience to everything he does,” said Greg Fisher, CEO of Qtopia Sydney. “He understands the role that memory and storytelling play in Queer survival. His works make visible what so many have tried to erase, and they do with clarity and care. That’s exactly the kind of leadership we want this role to embody.”
A survivor of conversion therapy practices, Smith has become a prominent voice in the national movement to end them. His public testimony and ongoing advocacy were instrumental in the campaign to ban conversion practices in New South Wales, which led to the passing of the state’s landmark legislation in 2024.
Through media appearances, education programs and campaigns with Equality Australia, Smith has worked to expose the ongoing forms these practices can take and the lasting harm they cause. His work with Qtopia Sydney has deepened this impact, using art and storytelling to shift public understanding and create safer, more informed spaces for LGBTQIA+ people across the country.
“Qtopia Sydney is a vital ‘third place’ for our community: not a home, not a bar, but a space for storytelling, memory and belonging,” said Smith. “I wish it had existed when I was a lonely gay kid growing up in a conservative religious home; it would have changed everything. My art and research shares Qtopia’s mission: our stories, told our way.”
The newly launched Gaybourhood Bubbles of Sydney is a large-scale floor installation contrasting Sydney’s historic inner-East and the emerging Queer cultural centre of Newtown. Drawn in pen and digitally enlarged, the work uses demographic data and community insight to map the shifting shape of Queer identity across the city.
Counter-map of Global LGBTQIA+ Rights documents the legal status of Queer rights in every country as of 2025. The work provides a striking visual overview of criminalisation, protections, activism and ongoing violence worldwide, forming both a political statement and a living record.
Together with Queer Sydney: A History and Queer Elements, the two new pieces complete a four-part series of works now on public display at Qtopia Sydney as part of We’re Here, We’re Queer.
Jeremy Smith is currently completing a PhD in Fine Arts at UNSW. His work is held in collections including the State Library of NSW and the University of Sydney. As Qtopia Sydney’s first artist ambassador, he will continue to collaborate on exhibitions, education programs and public engagement initiatives.
We’re Here, We’re Queer is open to the public at Qtopia Sydney, 301 Forbes Street, Darlinghurst.
Source: Media release
