During the height of Melbourne's lockdowns, the Queen Victoria Women's Centre and its inaugural feminist in residence, Kate Robinson, launched an intrepid art project. And now that project has reached fruition as an online, interactive exhibition.
Make A Fuss showcases works from more than 150 women and non-binary people that home in on something they no longer want to be silent about – something that they may have been told to "not make a fuss about". When we spoke to Robinson back in July, she said that the exhibition was partly inspired by the times she could not speak out. "There are so many times as a woman, and as a biracial woman operating in an intensely white male, patriarchal environment like the court system, I have to choose when I’m going to bite my tongue, and I have to choose when to speak up and be seen to be making a fuss,” says Robinson (read the full interview here).
Created during a time when we couldn't go meet up, let alone go to art galleries, Make A Fuss sourced works through an online call-out, with art submitted online and by post. A diverse range of art and artists make up the exhibition, which is housed within a virtual version of the QVWC in Melbourne's CBD.
Comprising of everything from paintings and photographs to written works and some pretty impressive cross stitches, Make A Fuss is a snapshot not only of Melbourne in lockdown but of women and non-binary representation. While the works can currently be viewed as an interactive virtual exhibition, a PDF of audio and visual elements is currently in the pipeline.
