Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance marks Pride Month, celebrating "Change" for 2021 Arcus Pride Art event

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance is marking 2021 Pride Month with a series of virtual events, created through its LGBT+ and Allies network, Arcus. This year marks the 15th consecutive year of Arcus Pride Art -- the largest corporate supported exhibition of art works by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT+) and supporter artists.

The firm will deliver an immersive virtual gallery focused on the theme of "Change", allowing visitors to explore Pride Art exhibits from Amsterdam, the Americas, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Singapore, Tokyo and the United Kingdom. The firm's global (virtual) choir ensemble has recorded a performance of 1920s New York writer and singer Cole Porter's Let's do it. This song represents the first time in mainstream culture where a writer deliberately missed out “he” and “she” and replaced them with “me” and “you”, and "them" and "us".

Clients and colleagues will be able to attend Pride Art LIVE (click to register), a virtual event where artists and curators from Australia, New York, and the United Kingdom will take the audience through their works, accompanied by a live illustrator who will interpret their thinking.

Global Head of Inclusion Tiernan Brady offers "The change we seek is equality for LGBT+ people at work and across society. This change is not inevitable; it only happens when we campaign for it. These galleries are part of our commitment to both celebrate and champion LGBT+ people and their equality. Through our galleries we aim to raise awareness, empower and inspire people to become advocates and supporters of LGBT+ equality. The journey towards LGBT+ equality is still only in its early days. Whilst progress has been made in some countries, the vast majority of LGBT+ people live in societies where they are denied equality, marginalized and persecuted. Pride month is an opportunity for us to highlight the need to stand up for our colleagues and communities and reaffirm our commitment to change."

For our LGBT+ and Allies communities, major celebrations of inclusion like Pride marches, community events, and our very own Arcus Pride Art events were postponed or cancelled in 2020. We are delighted to continue our highly successful virtual events from last year, and welcome the opportunity for our contributing artists to reflect on the changes the pandemic have brought to our communities."

The firm is also hosting a series of inclusion events for its people and clients, and running an internal art competition where employees and their families are encouraged to submit works under the theme of "Change" with entrants being promoted on social network channels and via the firm's website.

To view the 2021 Arcus Pride Art Galleries and explore works from across the globe, click HERE.