In 2021, the Collaboratory conducted the Pussy Palace Oral History Project (PPOHP), preserving 36 interviews with patrons, organizers, and allies of the Pussy Palace — an exclusive sex party and bathhouse event for queer women and trans people in Toronto. Interviews address not only the infamous, September 2000 police raid, but also radical sex/gender cultures in turn of the 21st century Toronto. 

A desire to connect broader publics with this rich archive of oral testimony prompted us to develop an immersive, digital exhibit. Created with the support of the UX Design for DH Accelerator Program — jointly supported by the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (University of Toronto) and Collaborative Digital Research Space (University of Toronto Mississauga) — this capstone project invites users to learn about the evolution of the Palace events, the raid, and the early histories that informed this moment of radical sexual culture.

The exhibit’s focal point invites users to visit 9 digitally illustrated rooms within the Palace where clickable objects spark digital sketches of narrators and relevant interview soundbites, allowing users to engage with first-person accounts of the joys and tensions present on any given night at the bathhouse. Once complete, the exhibit will live online, as a publicly accessible website.

Coming soon to a web browser near you!

Special thanks to all the community narrators who participated in the PPOHP. Without the generosity, vulnerability, and richness of their shared memories, this exhibit would not be possible. Shout out to Geena R., Co-Owner of Oasis Aqualounge, for her collaboration on this project. Oasis, which now occupies 231 Mutual St. (pictured above), was the former site of Club Toronto, the gay men’s bathhouse where many installations of the Pussy Palace were held. To help us generate reference imagery for the exhibit, Geena generously provided us with building floor plans, guided us on a comprehensive, in-person tour of the building’s interior, and allowed us to photograph every crevice of the space.