Through a series of Ballot Box discussions presented in partnership with the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA)  we will explore how art making can intersect with archival work.

Hosted in Community Hall and in keeping with the spirit of Australian community halls, these discussions will be informed by your voices. Prior to each discussion, a question will be posed via a virtual ballot box inviting responses from members of the community.

Responses will inform the structure and content of the discussions, hosted by NGV curators.

Part One features Melbourne Now artist Raf McDonald in conversation with Coral Guan, Project Assistant, International Exhibition Projects, NGV. More information on Part One can be found below.

The first Ballot Box discussion will respond to the provocation: ‘What does a queer archive look like to you? How should it choose what it collects?’

Submit your response here.

Moderator

Coral Guan is Project Assistant, International Exhibition Projects at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Exhibitions she has worked on include the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® exhibitions The Picasso Century and the forthcoming Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi. Coral is currently completing a Master of Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne, with curatorial interests in cultural histories that exist on the periphery. Recently, she co-curated Labour Lexica at Linden Projects Space, exploring labour, futility and language.

Speaker

Raf McDonald enacts queer approaches to painting by attending to colours, textures, improvisations and hand-made materials. These processes lead the artist to imagine and propose different ways of relating; to each other; our environments and non-human beings. McDonald has held solo exhibitions at Chapter House Lane Gallery (2018), TCB Art Inc. (2017) and Fort Delta (2015), and has appeared in collaborative and group shows at Footscray Arts Centre (2021), Blindside Gallery (2021, 2012) and West Space (2020, 2017) among others. Their murals have been commissioned by Arts House (2022), Moonee Valley City Council (2021), Melbourne Metro Authority (2017), the City of Stonnington (2016) and Shepparton Art Museum (2015). McDonald has undertaken residencies at Little House Gallery (Los Angeles) and won the 2017 Midsumma Arts Prize. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Victorian College of the Arts (2015) and a Bachelor of Creative Arts from the University of Melbourne (2009).

Part Two will take place on Sunday 25 June and will feature conversations with Melbourne Now artists Hannah Gartside and Drew Pettifer. More information on Part Two can be found here.

NGV x AQuA: Pride Month

This program is part of NGV x AQuA: Pride Month, a series of talks, discussions and workshops in Community Hall every Sunday in June presented by NGV in collaboration with the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA). Shining a light on subjects ranging from the role of community archives within society to the potential for art to function as an archive, these programs will invite community members and Melbourne Now artists to reflect on the importance of documenting, sharing and interpreting marginalised histories and experiences. More information on the series can be found here.