Exhibitions

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Listed below are details of notable exhibitions, festivals, interventions and appearances that reveal the work of Paul Harfleet, including The Pansy Project, Birds Can Fly and Apartment – An artist-led space Harfleet ran from 2005-2009 with fellow artist Hilary Jack.

Permanent Collections:

• Queer Britain – Cock of the Rock, drawing and gentle reference, winner of the second prize of Madame F Queer Britain Art Award
• City of Ottawa Art Collection – Pansies planted at sites of homophobia in Ottawa, Canada, donated to the collection by Bill Staubi

2025

• Featured Artist – Unearthed, The Power of Gardening, British Library, London

2024

Above stills, from Rebel Garden, Musea Brugge, Belgium. Part of the Triënnale Brugge 2024.

The above was written after visiting the Pansy Dress made by Liquorice Black that was inspired by The Pansy Project, that appeared on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK in 2022, currently on show at Manchester Art Gallery.

An installation view with embedded video, a video tour is available here of Paul Harfleet’s Solo Exhibition at M2 Gallery for information about the show can be seen here.

Some stills from ‘Being Bird – A Queer History of Ornithology’, M2 Gallery, London

• Solo Exhibition – Being Bird – A Queer History of Ornithology, M2 Gallery, London
• Featured artist – Alton Arts Festival, Alton
• Featured Artist – Rebel Garden, Musea Brugge, Belgium

Queer Nature at Kew Gardens, read more about the exhibition here

2023

Above, ‘Exhibition in my Pocket’, featuring the Nuttall’s Woodpecker illustration and gentle reference commissioned by Heart of Glass – more here.

• Featured Artist – Sense of Green, Heart of Glass, Merseyside, UK
• Featured Artist – Queer Nature, Kew Gardens, UK
• Visiting Artist Talk Leeds School of Art

2022

•  Group Exhibition: ‘They/Them/Their: Naturally Not Binary’ (Above) IMT Gallery, London, UK

2021

Installation view of Paul Harfleet’s second prize winning entry to the 2021 Madame F Queer Britain Art Award. Shown here alongside Sadie Lee’s portrait of David Hoyle. More information here.

Installation view of ‘Earthly Observatory’, Group Exhibition, SAIC galleries, Chicago, USA

• Madame F Queer Britain Art Award Winner – Exhibition, London, UK
• Vanguard: Bristol Street Art, M-Shed Bristol, UK
• Artist Workshop, National Gallery of Scotland, UK
• Earthly Observatory, Group Exhibition, SAIC galleries, Chicago, USA
• Author Event, Red Lion Bookshop, Colchester, UK
• Talk on The Pansy Project, PizzaExpress, UK
• ‘Silent Spring’ Group Exhibition, We Are The Minories, Colchester, UK
• Talk on The Pansy Project, Kingston University, UK
• Pansy Boy Workshop, Kirklees Libraries, UK
• ‘Artists Respond’ Group Exhibition, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA

2020

• Featured Artist, Antwerp Queer Arts Festival, Belgium
• Featured Artist, Nuart Festival Aberdeen, UK 
• Birds Can Fly Launched

2019

Installation view of “Jævla Homo!” Kvitsøygata, part of the Nuart Festival, Stavanger, Norway

‘Hanged’ School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa, Canada

• Launch of Artist Seed Pack for Hudson Valley Seed Company , New York, USA
• Solo Exhibition at Chester Lane Library, St Helens, UK
• Author Talk at St Helen’s Libraries, UK
• Contributor to Queer Creative Podcast
• Contributor to Radio Juxtapoz   
• Featured Artist talk at Nuart Plus , Stavanger, Norway
• Featured artist at Nuart Festival , Stavanger, Norway
• Pansy Brooches featured in ‘Misshapes – The Making of Tatty Devine’ – Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
• Art in Ad Places , featured artist – New York, USA
• ‘Hanged’ School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa, Canada
• Various events part of Qu’ART Queer Art Collective Festival, Ottawa, Canada
• Workshops with St Helen’s Libraries, UK

Installation view of Art in Ad Places, featured artist, New York, USA

2018

“Beaten.” Jayhawk Motel, 1004 N 3rd St, Lawrence, Kansas. The planting above is part of satellite activity made with the support of Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas, USA. Part of their Big Botany exhibition in 2018 – included in a film by Paul Harfleet here.

• Screening of PANSIES at Fact Liverpool, UK.
• Constructing Pansy Boy, Solo Exhibition – Le Phare, Geneva, Switzerland
• Boring Talk – Speaker – British Library, London, UK
• Art on the Streets – Speaker – Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
• Pop-Up Festival , Creative Workshops in schools, UK
• The Pansy Project at the Spencer Museum of Art , Lawrence, Kansas, USA
• Pansy Boy Reading at Busboys & Poets, Washington DC USA
• Paper presented, “The Pansy Project – LGBT History Month, Vestry House Museum, London, UK
• Paper presented, “The Pansy Project – an artist’s response to Homophobia”, LUSH Summit, London, UK 
• Paper presented, “The Pansy Project – an artist’s response to Homophobia” for LGBT History Month, Museum of Liverpool, UK

2017

City wide poster campaign, including installation and event, Geneva, Switzerland – Discover more about this project here

• Guest on The Verb, BBC Radio 3, Manchester, UK 
• Featured at Polari Literary Salon, Southbank Center, London, UK 
• Featured at BBC Contains Strong Language Festival, Hull, UK
• Showing of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ with Q&A, Home, Manchester, UK
• Reading of Pansy Boy, People’s History Museum, Manchester, UK 
• Pansy Boy, published by Barbican Press, Worldwide
• Presentation at M&S ​​HQ for Pride London 2017. Part of the ‘Inspiring speakers’ series, London 
• City wide poster campaign, including installation and event, Geneva, Switzerland – Commissioned by The City of Geneva
• ‘Never Going Underground, People’s History Museum, Manchester, UK

2016

• Featured artist and presentation of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ at Geneva International Queer Film Festival, Geneva, Switzerland
• ‘Les Pensées de Paul ~’ Winner of Best International Documentray Feature at the International Film Festival Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
• ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ ~  Winner of Best International Documentary Feature at the Mumbai International Film Festival. Mumbai, India 
• Showing of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’, Merville, France
• Showing of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’, Gognac, France
• Showing of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’, Marseille, France
• Showing of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’, Strasbourg, France
• Featured artist and presentation of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ at Stockholm Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
• Featured artist and presentation of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ Avignon, France 

Installation view of The Pansy Project at Jerk Off Festival, Paris, part of the launch of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’

2015

‘Les Pensées de Paul’ ~ Documentary produced by Bangumi for CANAL +, Broadcast on national French TV – More information here.

• Presentation of ‘Les Pensées de Paul’, Cheries Cheris Film Festival, Paris, France
• ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ ~ Documentary produced by Bangumi for CANAL +, Broadcast on national French TV
• Solo Exhibition, Jerk Off Festival, Paris.
• ‘Une Pensee Pour Tous’ – A Happening, Jardin Du Trocadero, Paris
• Friday Late, Presentation at the V&A Museum, London

Filming ‘Les Pensées de Paul’ in Paris

2014

Images from ‘byte’ a performance that was part of Manchester Pride Fringe Festival at Sackville Gardens in 2014, where Harfleet handed out apples pasted with a poison sign in exchange for telling the story of Alan Turing’s life and death at his memorial in Sackville Gardens

• Talk at ‘Dig the City’, Manchester
• ‘byte’ event, Manchester Pride. Fringe Festival, Manchester
• Solo Exhibition DoubleTree by Hilton, Manchester Pride Fringe Festival,
• ‘We’re Here … “Group Exhibition, Winter Gardens, Blackpool
• Brussels Pride / Featured Artist
• The Pansy Project partners with Lush Cosmetics Limited

Talk on The Pansy Project at ‘Dig The City’, Manchester 2014, Part of Manchester Pride Fringe Festival

2013

Installation shot of Digital Capabilities, the Gold Medal winning garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2013, a collaboration with his brother Tom Harfleet, more information here.

• Paul Harfleet wins Gold Medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, a collaboration with Tom Harfleet
• The Pansy Project – Tshwane, South Africa
• Pride Festival, Brussels Belgium
• ‘Cultural Hijack’, Architectural Association, London

2012

• ‘Truth is Concrete’ part of Steirischer Herbst, 2012, Graz, Austria
• Contributer to ‘Wide Open School’ with Fritz Haeg, Hayward Gallery
• Collaboration with Homotopia & Merseyside Probation Service, Installation, Liverpool

2011

Above stills from ‘From Queer to Eternity’ a two person exhibition with David Hoyle, Manchester, UK – photos courtesy of Lee Baxter. The work included in this show was an exploration of the nature of hanging and it’s use as a punishment of queer identity.

• Collaboration with Tatty Devine Jewellery company
• Exhibition of photographs, Tatty Devine, Brick Lane, London
• ‘From Queer to Eternity’ Two – Person Exhibition with David Hoyle, Manchester, UK

2010

The Pansy Project Garden, Wins Gold Medal and Best Conceptual Garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

• International program Homotopia Festival, Planting and event at the British Embassy, ​​Istanbul, Turkey
• Featured artist at Outburst Arts Festival, Belfast
• ‘The Pansy Project Garden’, (Above) RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, Conceptual Garden, Gold Medal winner, Best Conceptual Garden

2009

• Shout Festival Birmingham, ‘The Pansy Project’ Hurst Street, Birmingham
• ‘A Thin Pink Line’ Liverpool, Commission by Merseyside Police

2008

‘Please Take One’ a study for an unrealised project part of ‘Ruinous Recollections’ at Upper Space Gallery, Manchester. read more about this work here

• Participating Artist at ‘Black Market’ Hannah Hurtzig, Bluecoat, Liverpool
• ‘The Best of Manchester’ Award exhibition (Shortlisted in art category for The Pansy Project)
• Ruinous Recollections, Upper Space Gallery, Manchester
• ‘Hanged’ Slaughterhouse, part of ‘Journey’ curated by Bjorn Roth, Egilsstaðir- Iceland, for the Reykjavik Arts Festival 2008
• Solo Show, The Pansy Project – Tornado-am-Ostkreuz, Berlin

2007

• ‘Memorial to the Unnamed’, (Above) St John’s Gardens, Homotopia Festival, Liverpool
• ‘Meeting Point’-Axel Lapp Projects, Berlin
• Solo Exhibition – Tooks Chambers, London
• ‘Pansy Give Away’ – as part of LLGFF, London
• Sexuality and the Ownership of Space’ South Bank Centre, 100 ideas series, ‘In Conversation’ event part of LLGFF, London
• ‘For David Morley’, Southbank, Queen’s Walk, part of LLGFF, London
• The Pansy Project, BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival – Festival Image collaboration with Nadege Meriau, London

‘Unrequited’, made during ‘Meeting Point’ at Axel Lapp Projects, Berlin, more information here.

2006

• The Pansy Project, Crate, Project Space, Margate
• The Pansy Project, Transition Gallery, London
• Article featured on http://www.glowlab.com, New York
• The Pansy Project, Conflux Festival, New York
• Article featured in ‘Critical Friend’, London
• ‘We Belong Everywhere’ for Anachron-Gen. Sheffield
• The Pansy Project, postcard installation – queerupnorth, Manchester Art Gallery
• Visitor Assistance; Social Work, Cornerhouse, Manchester
• The Pansy Project, queerupnorth, Manchester
• Travel-Agents-Projects, In-Flight Magazine, Belfast

2005

‘Pansy!’ Manchester Art Gallery, part of Queer Up North

• On the Shelf, Compartment, Rogue open studios, Manchester
• Cyclists Dismount, Apartment, Manchester
• ‘The Pansy Project’, a series of events and installations- commissioned by queerupnorth international arts festival, Manchester
• “Pansy!” Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
• ‘The Good Life’, Apartment, Manchester

‘Cyclists Dismount’ Apartment, Manchester

2004

Hell Arrow

Part of a work included in an exhibition at Floating ip in Manchester in 2004. The above was an image of the ‘Hell Arrow’ on Grosvenor Street in Manchester, the letter shown above was sent to the local Manchester City Council.

• Featured Artist – Queer Nature, Kew Gardens, UK
• Visiting Artist Talk Leeds School of Art