The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

Artists The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 112 Nexus Central Installation (installation view, Pataka, Wellington, 2018) / Courtesy: The artist (opposite) Symphony (installation views, Britomart, Auckland, 2011) / Courtesy: The artist Shannon Novak is well-versed in the challenges and mental health issues allied to the marginalised LGBTQI+ community. 2 The APT10 installation, 81 Percent (Australia): Someone you know (from 'Make Visible: Queensland') 2021, reflects Novak’s ongoing investigation into the wellbeing of Brisbane locals who identify as LGBTQI+: the work transforms GOMA’s River Room window to create a rainbow view of Brisbane city. The project is informed by his extensive engagement with organisations and individuals across greater Brisbane since 2019. 81 Percent (Australia): Someone you know is also a hub — just one part of wide-reaching dialogues and activities initiated by the artist at multiple sites over the preceding three years, many of which influenced the form of the work at QAGOMA and will also continue beyond the duration of APT10. We are losing people in the LGBTQI+ community every day to anxiety, depression and suicide — and at highly disproportionate rates. My work explores why this is happening, and ultimately what we can do to change this and save lives. Shannon Novak 1 Novak’s dialogic approach — through engagement with physical and online organisations — to create safe spaces for LGBTQI+ communities worldwide has developed through his personal experience and springs from a wish to support people and institutions to grow together in understanding these communities’ current issues. Although Queensland has been a leader for LGBTQI+ rights in some areas — for instance, banning conversion therapy in 2020 — in other areas, the state has lagged behind others. Novak found areas still in need of improvement, ranging across physical and mental health, discrimination and stigma. This was evidenced following dialogues with local LGBTQI+ individuals and organisations, such as Rainbow Families Queensland, the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health, Brisbane Pride, the Stonewall Medical Centre, LGBTQI+ supportive churches and the University of Southern Queensland. The artist's installation — encompassing GOMA’s ground-floor River Room window — signals, from his perspective, a view to a positive future for the local LGBTQI+ community in and beyond the city visible across the river. The large, colourful patchwork of designs is paired with an installation of coloured flowers on the wall opposite, which acknowledges those individuals who are unable to openly be who they are. As the light changes during the day, 81 Percent (Australia): Someone you know offers a sensory immersion: a continuously changing atmosphere of diffuse colours. At a certain time of day, the coloured shadow of the window intersects with the wall work, metaphorically uniting the two views in the hope for future healing. Other evident challenges for the local LGBTQI+ community are the focus of Novak’s offsite engagement with local professional organisations, and include the challenges associated with chemsex (the use of recreational substances within the context of sexual activity) as documented by researchers at the University of Southern Queensland; the relationship between Christianity and the LGBTQI+ community at a local LGBTQI+ supportive church; acknowledgment, in a council-managed space, of those in the LGBTQI+ community who served in military campaigns; and the existence of non-binaries in the natural world, at the Queensland Museum. Novak invites QAGOMA to engage LGBTQI+ networks and community to ensure they find a recognisably safe space to be within the gallery walls. Zara Stanhope Endnotes 1 Shannon Novak, email to the author, 7 January 2020. 2 An initialism that stands for ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex’ — and with the plus sign representing other identities not listed. Shannon Novak Born 1979, Ngāmotu, Aotearoa New Zealand Lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand