Dominic Bilton is a PhD researcher in the school of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies (FAHACS) at the University of Leeds. His PhD research, in close collaboration with The Whitworth in Manchester and in dialogue with the innovative ‘constituent museum’ approach to museum practice, is investigating what queer theory’s non-normative approach to gender, sexuality and identity offers to current debates in participatory museology.
At the Whitworth, Dominic is the Student and Young Persons Producer helping young people connect art, ideas, and communities together to enact social change using the gallery’s art collection. Dominic also manages the project, Queering the Whitworth, which interrogates the gallery’s collection from a non-normative perspective. His current project, (Un)Defining Queer is a constituent-led form of participatory practice that will shape the development of a queer glossary to better embed LGBTQIA+ representation both within the gallery, and within the gallery’s collection.
Further research interests of his include LGBTQIA+ representation within Jewish museology, the representation of queer memory and trauma within art, and more broadly queer working-class culture.