🗂️ [[Thinking in Public]] # Nationhood as Creative Practice 📰 **An idea I think through in [[Queer(y)ing the Australian Way of Life]].** 🕵🏻‍♂️ *Creative Nationalism* ✍🏻 [[Jeremy Neideck]] ![[Nationhood as Creative Practice.svg]] ## Queer Approaches Here is how I concluded a late draft of *[[Queer(y)ing the Australian Way of Life]]* (2023): > *Patterns of potential for the future of life in Australia are encoded in the work of queer performing artists and through them, the diverse hopes, and dreams of their communities.* > > [[People/Justin Shoulder|Justin Shoulder]] shows us that it is possible to thrive while resisting assimilation into the social and symbolic orders of the cis-straight nation fantasy of Australia by embracing negativity, irony, and disruption. His creative work is vital and important, as are the stories he tells about the way that he, his family, and their communities cultivate hope and create possibility. > > [[People/Sarah Stafford|Sarah Stafford]] shows us that it is possible to work with the kinds of perverse and pervasive national myths that have animated the practices of artists like Barry Humphries, Chris Lilley, Gina Riley, and Jane Turner in ways that are personal, deeply subversive and embrace complexity, rather than collapse back into gaudy facsimiles of the cis-straight nation fantasy of Australia. > > [[People/Joel Bray|Joel Bray]] shows us how deeply scarred this country is by the cis-straight fantasy of Australia, and reminds us of the queer capacity to exist, and to make sense of the confusing and traumatic spaces left behind by successive waves of penal-coloniser-settler industry. > > I think that we might have a chance of breaking the cycle of cruel optimism that binds us to the myths that shackle us by paying keen attention to those living and working in Australia, those who are devoting their lives to the project of nationhood as creative practice – and in particular, the queers and their collaborators whose practices and processes are aligned through their powerful ability to destabilise the cis-straight nation fantasy of Australia. ## Indigenous Approaches Examples of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural workers who have touched my life include [[Alethea Beatson]] and her work with [[Digi Youth Arts]]; [[Clint Bracknell]] and [[Kylie Bracknell]] and [[Kyle Morrison]] undertaking [[Nyoongar]] cultural and linguistic stewardship and remoulding of some of the Western canon's foundational texts; [[Merindah Donnelly]] leads [[BlakDance]] and Joel Bray who wrestles with colonisation and religious fundamentalism, and the histories of sexual identities that both emerge out of and have been imposed on this country. %% ## 📝 Notes ## ⛏️Resources --- # Body ## Section ### Sub Section ## ⛲ Sources # ⛵️Log - [[2022-12-29]] - [[2023-03-12]] - [[2024-05-04]] %% # **Template**: [[Atomic Note Template]] **Created**: [[2022-12-29|Thursday 29 December 2022]] **Published**: [[2024-05-04|Saturday 04 May 2024]] **Updated**: 13:17 [[2024-05-05|Sunday 05 May 2024]] %% # Excalidraw Data ## Text Elements ## Drawing ```compressed-json N4KAkARALgngDgUwgLgAQQQDwMYEMA2AlgCYBOuA7hADTgQBuCpAzoQPYB2KqATLZMzYBXUtiRoIACyhQ4zZAHoFAc0JRJQgEYA6bGwC2CgF7N6hbEcK4OCtptbErHALRY8RMpWdx8Q1TdIEfARcZgRmBShcZQUebTiAFho6IIR9BA4oZm4AbQBdfghcODgAZSiocVRQMEh1NKqIImVpZNqGQgQKACFcbABrZVJhDmIAYTZ8NlJuCABiADMl5bbI bBFAzIBJSv1y4f6ECamZiTmARgRLy9WIddJNqB203oGhkfHJ6dmocg5mOC4R63e6PZ76ABihHw+HKMGCs0EHhBGwyT12+zYhwA6iR1Nw+OA1qjthjfliEHCERIkSQUQ80eCAErCFoccLZNDnfjEhmktIAeUB2DUMG45wADBKeXcSei0hDOFAIbh9NCxVyZaDGbtFZlSoQjFUeNKibK+fL9AAVLBQACCzS4EmCCyg9LBZKB9oebAokhCxG4HCEMK1 cvBAFFRnafX6A7MgcMqDLmNhhjCABrcBIADhz2gAbEWAJwF84l4s8c7FlNpyb4ACa2YA7M3tDnq7mcwBWHjdgDMxYlBZlRjYBm4NXa9AIQiq5yJAF8wxbmR92cxOehhkJRrchiQDUagyH8DKD58TpOiZBupNA2cxsWn0+IRDVpAmQhlCGgbM5hGAAiQFAW+EBLiujyYocQpQOw/wnqGZpwIEZjCMwADipCHoaVTBkh7QLOQ6RfqMTCEBwyjXrUkA ZLgmjBA+qC/HOPJrEQcDcCxCBsRAHCqlU3G8cIUBEOyXGkHOEFmnYABWCDYFkpT8XAACybDEAgUb0Yx3ALAQYTgMudALNC4STouICLkAA=== ``` %%