Part of the first ever Poole Pride, a collaborative exhibition on a LGBT+ activist will be on display throughout the event. 

The exhibition, named 'We Didn’t Know If It Was a Revolution or a Party’ is a collaborative exhibition to recognise the life and work of campaigner and activist John Chesterman. 

Set to open on May 24, it will be displayed at Poole's Lighthouse in association with Bournemouth University and Lush Cosmetics.

Head of programming at Lighthouse, Tim Colegate said: "We feel it is equally important to remember how and why Pride began and why championing LGBTQ+ inclusivity is just as vital today.

"As an arts centre, presenting this exhibition is the perfect way to give people the opportunity to pay tribute to John and his work, before revelling in the legacy he left.”

John was closely involved in the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970 and listed the organisation's original list of demands.

On the written demands, the GLF said: "The Gay Liberation Front demands that gay people be as legally free to contact other gay people, through newspaper ads, on the streets, and by other means they want, as are heterosexuals.

"Gay is good! All power to the oppressed people."

As well as being involved with the establishment of the Gay International News, which became Gay News, the GLF were instrumental in the organisation of the UK's first pride event in 1972. 

The exhibition is set to be a collaborative exhibition of words and images that focuses on John and the often overlooked history of LGBT+ activism. 

Part of its collaboration with Bournemouth University and Arts University of Bournemouth, students have been tasked to utilise John's life and associated historic archives to create printed posters, comics, and sequences. 

Tim said: “There will definitely be a celebratory mood and plenty of party vibes surrounding the first-ever Poole Pride festival at Lighthouse, we know that for sure." 

Poole Pride will begin on June 8 and will be headlined by Sophie Ellis-Bextor followed by a late-night after party.

For information and tickets for Poole Pride, visit the Lighthouse website.