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Artist Richard Fung takes in last year's 'Video Art is Queer' reel at Trinity Square Video on Tuesday, June 16, 2009. (CP24/Saira Peesker)

Video Art is Queer curator Sharon Switzer says she's looking forward to seeing the exhibit on the massive LED screen at Pride's South Stage.

Video Art is Queer -- and it's leaving the confines of the gallery for the bright lights of Pride's South Stage.

The reel of seven pieces commissioned for Pride's third annual video art exhibit will be shown on a massive LED screen in the middle of the action. They will be played on a loop during the day and night of Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28.

The idea is to expose more people to art that would otherwise just be shown in a gallery, says curator Sharon Switzer.

"My hope is by doing that kind of work that people will have more of an understanding and appreciation of video art," says Switzer, herself an acclaimed artist whose work has been catalogued by the McMaster Museum of Art.

"It's exciting to be able to show art on that scale... What a great chance encounter for the Pride audience."

Five of seven of the pieces -- those that make sense without sound -- will also be shown on the video screens on TTC platforms throughout Pride Festival week.

All seven pieces offer the unique perspectives of some of Canada's most accomplished video artists.

That includes Winnipeg's Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan -- who offer a comedic take on lesbian wildlife -- and Toronto's Richard Fung, whose piece outlines queer issues around the world as told through a webcam.

"What I told them to do was send a greeting to people at Pride but also tell a little about what is going on in their situation," says Fung, speaking with CP24.com from Trinity Square Video, the exhibit's home for the duration of Pride week.

Part art project, part research study, Fung said his endeavor solidified the idea that queer people around the world still face discrimination, despite the progress that has been made in recent decades.

"Even in Canada, we know people still struggle with homophobia," he says. "In places like South Africa, which was the first country in the world which had rights for queer folks, they are still struggling with homophobia."

But regardless of the struggles, many of the stories Fung collected also celebrate things people are doing to promote acceptance and diversity.

"There are places where the laws are really bad but people are still organizing and creating a life."

The video pieces will be shown at the Video Art is Queer launch party at the Gladstone Hotel on Sunday at 4 p.m. The reel is also being screened all week at Trinity Square Video, located at 401 Richmond St. W.