Queerfest Norwich 2026
Rachel Collier-Wilson (they/them)
Co-Director and Curator
Rachel is a fine artist/printmaker. They established Queerfest Norwich in 2023 to coincide with LGBT+ History Month. Their curating work grew from a keenness to support other Queer creatives in their practice and provide a professional platform to showcase and sell Queer-made work.
Leanne Collier-Wilson (she/they)
Co-director
Leanne has been supporting Rachel’s artistic life for 30+ years and was part of the Queerfest team in 2023. She has social work and therapy training and is passionate about the well-being of young Queer people.
Kate Hicks
(they/them)
Co-Director and Community and Youth
Kate is an experienced Youth Worker and freelance trainer. They are passionate about youth participation, supporting queer young people to find and use their voices to create the change they want to see in the world.
Arlo Lawton (they/he)
Co-founder and Photographer
Arlo is a freelance artist from the North West, now based in Norfolk, England. A graduate of Middlesex University with a Bachelor of Arts in Photography.
The basis of their photographic work often lies within LGBTQ+ awareness, environmental activism & events.
Their digital artwork predominantly revolves around nostalgia, transmasculine identities and life experiences.
Julian Fennell (he/him)
Social Media Manager
Julian is a drag king, artist, producer and social media manager. He has created work with Wysing Arts Centre and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and has performed across the UK and internationally. He is known for his bold, surreal and heartfelt performance work and hosts a variety of drag shows and events.
Sam Rooke (they/them)
Film Curator and Maker
Indie filmmaker, digital creator and founder of Psychic Visions, a budding independent production house and freelance media company. Sam is a non-binary, Filipino post-grad research student with a love for queer and horror media. Beyond directing and producing, they lead monthly tarot workshops at The Cat House and are an occasional performer in Norwich’s drag and burlesque scene.
Trish Fried Rice (they/them)
Curator and Artist
Trish (they/them) is a queer multi-disciplinary creative of mixed cultural heritage. Their socially-engaged practice is informed by their experiences and interactions with the world and people around them. Bold, playful and emotive, Trish’s work explores themes of identity, community, resistance and belonging. Alongside their visual art practice, you’ll see them at First Draft Bar hosting Task4Task and Dada Drag – two shows they co-produce.
Zana Baklava
(they/them)
Event producer
Zana Baklava (they/them) is a mixed-race (Kurdish and English), queer, neurodivergent and gender non-conforming, multi-disciplinary creative. Growing up in a conservative family and society in Kurdistan they were very isolated but found joy in creating works that allowed them to express in private what they had to mask in public. Now living out and proud in the UK, their work touches on queer identity, Kurdish culture, and the beauty of finding a chosen family to belong to.
Richard Sawdon Smith (he/him)
Artist and Advisor
Richard Sawdon Smith is Professor of Fine Art and Director of Fine Art and Photography at Norwich University of the Arts. Recognised as an internationally established Queer artist for his work with AIDS cultures, his photographic practice has been published, exhibited and screened extensively around the world. He a Patron of Norwich Film Festival, Trustee of Norwich Pride, Trustee of the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design, on the Editorial Advisory Panel of the Journal of Photography & Culture and Reviewer for Compendium Journals. He is a member of the Visual AIDS Archive Project in NYC for whom he has curated and been selected for a number of their ‘virtual’ exhibitions. A former founding Board Member of bookRoom Press, previously on the Editorial Advisory Board of Mustard TV, and a winner of the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Portrait Award. He is Co-author of Langford’s Basic Photography and The Book is Alive!
Elaine Humpleby
(she/her/them)
Artist and Curator Ceramics
After a full career as an Art Teacher Elaine now works full time as an Artist. She is a Founder member of the Network of East Anglian Art Teachers, working closely with Norwich University of the Arts to provide support to the community of Art Educators in the region. Elaine works with Pride and Queerfest. She is a member of the Anglian Potters and the London Potters communities