Join us investigating feminist and queer creative practices at RMIT School of Art for the Femmes and Thems Symposium to be held Wednesday 6 October 2021. The program features students, artists and academics investigating themes and methodologies relevant to feminist and/or queer creative practice discussing their work-in-progress and resolved artwork. The aim of the symposium is to make ourselves visible to each other, to build community and discourse.

The symposium will feature a keynote presentation by the brilliant artist, filmmaker, and writer Zach Blas, Assistant Professor of Visual Studies in the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto. “Blas’ work exemplifies the rigorous integration of material practice with theoretical investigation. His fierce engagement with the conceptual implications of creative practice is inspiring” says Dr Alison Bennett, theme leader of the CAST Queer(y)ing Creative Practice research project. “We are delighted that he has agreed to join us for this symposium.

Special guest Dr Margaret Mayhew (aka Mayhem) will introduce us to the fabulous work of ‘Queers Draw This’, a drawing group that emerged out of the 2020 Melbourne lockdowns. Queers Draw This “believe that drawing is fundamentally about connection: it is a space where we can pause and play with our sensations and experiences of being in a world that is often very hostile to queers. Drawing provides a safe space for queer bodies, and allows a space for secrets to be held or shared.” The group has grown to represent a fabulous and innovative response to the loss of community connection wrought by the pandemic.

RMIT University School of Art fosters a community of practice around feminist and queer creative practices, formally expressed through the FQCP Higher Degree Research project, and projects sponsored by Contemporary Art and Social Transformation, a research group based in the School of Art.