Visitors are heading to Peckham’s Copeland Gallery this October for Queeriosities, the UK’s largest queer art and makers fair. Its fifth edition brings more than 50 LGBTQIA+ artists, designers and independent makers together, offering shoppers, collectors and curious newcomers a lively way to discover original work while supporting queer creative businesses directly.

Essential Takeaways

  • Where and when: Queeriosities runs at Copeland Gallery, Peckham, from 2 to 4 October.
  • What’s on offer: Expect paintings, ceramics, jewellery, clothing, vintage publications and queer ephemera.
  • Why it matters: The fair gives LGBTQIA+ artists a direct route to audiences and sales.
  • Feature exhibition: Here We Go Again explores queer truth through painting, drawing, metalwork, lace and installation.
  • Entry details: Friday’s preview is ticketed, while Saturday and Sunday are free.

Peckham’s queer art fair is back

The strongest reason to visit Queeriosities is simple: it feels like a proper browse, not a polished shopping funnel. At Copeland Gallery, visitors can move between original paintings, hand-thrown ceramics, jewellery and printed matter, often meeting the people who made them along the way.

The fair returns for its fifth edition with more than 50 LGBTQIA+ artists, designers and independent makers. Scene Magazine has also highlighted its position as one of the UK’s leading queer art fairs, a useful reminder that this is both a cultural event and a serious marketplace.

Last year’s edition attracted almost 3,000 visitors and generated tens of thousands of pounds in direct revenue for artists. That makes the event’s friendly, informal atmosphere feel especially meaningful: a small purchase can become a very direct form of support.

What can visitors expect to find?

The line-up ranges from fine art to wearable pieces and vintage queer publications. There are new names to discover, including illustrator Bee, painter Adam Baker, ceramicist Fredde Lanka and artist RTiiiKA, alongside returning exhibitors such as Richard Kilroy, Lily Deason, happbellyman, Oli Raptor and The Common Press.

That mix is part of the appeal. You might arrive looking for a print and leave with a ceramic object, a piece of jewellery or an obscure publication you didn’t know you needed. The fair is designed for collectors, but it’s equally approachable if your budget is closer to a small print than a major canvas.

Queeriosities’ own programme information positions the event as a space for artists and audiences to connect directly. That directness matters in a creative economy where independent makers often carry the cost and risk of producing work themselves.

The exhibition asks what queer truth means now

The feature exhibition, Here We Go Again, brings together six artists: Winnona Hedgeland, Tom Hemingway, Sandy Kiralawella, Jingyi Li, Ailsa Ogden and Joey Terrill. Their work spans lace-making, metalwork, mixed media installation, drawing and painting, so the show promises plenty of material and visual variety.

Its central question concerns queer truth in a period of competing realities and political uncertainty. That could sound weighty on paper, but the range of practices should keep the exhibition tactile and immediate rather than purely theoretical.

A particularly significant inclusion is Joey Terrill’s multimedia Still-Life series, which receives its first UK presentation here. The work incorporates HIV medication from the AIDS crisis into the canvas, linking personal history, material culture and collective memory in a way that’s likely to stay with visitors after they leave.

Short films by the collective Tranz Tropez will be presented alongside the exhibition. According to the event listings, this adds a moving-image element to a programme already built around conversation between different queer practices.

Why direct buying matters

Founder and curator Davy Pittoors created Queeriosities to connect queer artists with queer audiences and develop new forms of financial support within the community. The fair’s fifth edition suggests that model has found a real audience, rather than remaining a well-intentioned experiment.

The wider market is also shifting towards events where people can meet makers, understand the story behind an object and buy with more confidence. A gallery stall has a different energy from an anonymous online checkout. You can ask about materials, process and inspiration, then decide whether the work belongs in your home.

Copeland Gallery’s setting in Peckham suits that atmosphere. The venue is well known as a flexible arts and events space, making it a natural home for a fair that sits somewhere between exhibition, market and community gathering.

Plan your visit before you go

The fair opens with a ticketed preview on Friday 2 October, from 6pm to 9pm. It’s aimed at collectors, press and cultural tastemakers, so it may suit visitors who want first access to the work and a more evening-focused atmosphere.

Saturday and Sunday offer free entry and are likely to feel more relaxed for casual visitors. If you’re searching for the best queer art fair in London for discovering affordable independent makers, arriving with a rough budget and a little time to browse is sensible. The most tempting pieces are rarely the ones you planned for.

Whether you’re buying a print, admiring ceramics or simply taking in the exhibition, the event offers something increasingly valuable: a chance to support artists face to face. It’s a good excuse to spend an afternoon in Peckham, and an even better one to leave with work that has a story behind it.

Explore the fair at your own pace, and leave room for an unexpected find.

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