The Garden of Grief and pride
Building Pride in LGBTIQ+ communities is a critical aspect of healthy ageing; it enables LGBTIQ+ community members to develop a strong sense of self that can withstand the corrosive impacts of LGBTIQ+phobia and build mental wellbeing.
We believe an important step in the journey towards Pride, is acknowledgement of grief - or recognition of what and whom we have lost because we are LGBTIQ+. The ‘what’ can include the loss of liberty, bodily integrity, rights, family, friends, etc. The ‘who’ can include LGBTIQ+ people who were murdered, suicided, those who died of AIDS and our older community leaders. We wanted to create a space for this grief to be acknowledged, to help build Pride.
The Garden of Grief and Pride is an intergenerational project inspired by the launch of the Pride Centre in Melbourne. We wanted to help build Pride by exploring what Pride means - and how grief is one part of it. We asked LGBTIQ+ community members to share their stories of grief and pride and help us design a garden to reflect their stories. Then we partnered with design students at RMIT on a project called That's KAMP.
We believe an important step in the journey towards Pride, is acknowledgement of grief - or recognition of what and whom we have lost because we are LGBTIQ+. The ‘what’ can include the loss of liberty, bodily integrity, rights, family, friends, etc. The ‘who’ can include LGBTIQ+ people who were murdered, suicided, those who died of AIDS and our older community leaders. We wanted to create a space for this grief to be acknowledged, to help build Pride.
The Garden of Grief and Pride is an intergenerational project inspired by the launch of the Pride Centre in Melbourne. We wanted to help build Pride by exploring what Pride means - and how grief is one part of it. We asked LGBTIQ+ community members to share their stories of grief and pride and help us design a garden to reflect their stories. Then we partnered with design students at RMIT on a project called That's KAMP.
That's kamp
The Garden of Grief and Pride concept was developed by Anastasia Le and Dr Catherine Barrett - who teamed up with Brent Greene from RMIT. The project became a collaboration with RMIT – Landscape Architecture on a Design Research Studio called That’s KAMP, which engages Landscape Architecture students in producing a comprehensive study into St Kilda’s / Melbourne’s LGBTIQ+ community (past and present) that will guide the development of an (anti)memorial and masterplan for Fitzroy St – including the Jackson St Car Park Grief Garden.
We interviewed older LGBTIQ+ community members and then shared their stories with younger students in an RMIT Lower Pool Design studio. That’s KAMP, was led by Lecturer Brent Greene and examined the agency of landscape architecture practice in balancing urban renewal with the memorialisation of marginalised communities, such as LGBTIQ+ groups, in St Kilda.
That’s KAMP offered novel design visions for St Kilda's the Jackson St car park (a site adjacent to the new Victorian Pride Centre) that acknowledge the suburb’s ongoing gentrification while revealing and celebrating the (oft forgotten) historical narratives of its rainbow community.
Significantly, students interpreted the concept of LGBTIQ+ PRIDE through landscape and memorialisation practice, giving the VPC and the community a space(s) for queer people to reflect on past trauma and celebrate their futures. The studio had the broader aim of giving LGBTIQ+ people permission to acknowledge grief and loss; to connect them to spiritual aspects of grief; and to promote PRIDE by acknowledging what/whom has been lost. In collaboration with the project team, the students considered themes such as the loss of liberty, bodily integrity, rights, family and friends through ecological and spatial design outcomes.
The following section presents stories from LGBTIQ+ community members and student designs responding to each story.
We interviewed older LGBTIQ+ community members and then shared their stories with younger students in an RMIT Lower Pool Design studio. That’s KAMP, was led by Lecturer Brent Greene and examined the agency of landscape architecture practice in balancing urban renewal with the memorialisation of marginalised communities, such as LGBTIQ+ groups, in St Kilda.
That’s KAMP offered novel design visions for St Kilda's the Jackson St car park (a site adjacent to the new Victorian Pride Centre) that acknowledge the suburb’s ongoing gentrification while revealing and celebrating the (oft forgotten) historical narratives of its rainbow community.
Significantly, students interpreted the concept of LGBTIQ+ PRIDE through landscape and memorialisation practice, giving the VPC and the community a space(s) for queer people to reflect on past trauma and celebrate their futures. The studio had the broader aim of giving LGBTIQ+ people permission to acknowledge grief and loss; to connect them to spiritual aspects of grief; and to promote PRIDE by acknowledging what/whom has been lost. In collaboration with the project team, the students considered themes such as the loss of liberty, bodily integrity, rights, family and friends through ecological and spatial design outcomes.
The following section presents stories from LGBTIQ+ community members and student designs responding to each story.
ANASTASIA LE
Thanks to Sylvie Yuxin Zhang (The Shifting Paradise) and for the response to Anastasia Le's story below.
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Anastasia's story
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The Shifting Paradise by Sylvie Yuxin Zhang
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Max Primmer
Thankyou to students Cecilia Yao (Past Letters) and Tong Wu (Memorial to Australia's AIDS Victims) for their responses to Max Primmer's story; and to Melissa Luppi for her interpretation of St Kilda's queer heritage in the Queer Hotel project.
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Max Primmer's story
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Cecilia Yao, Past Letters
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Tong Wu, Exploring a transgender narrative through creative practice
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Melissa, exploring LGBTIQ+ experience through model making and drawing (see also banner)
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Catherine
Thankyou to Azul Wanpei Zhang for her design titled In Between, a memorial to Melbourne's LGBTIQ+ youths and older people.
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Catherine's story
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Azul Wanpei Zhang
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More information
- Dr Catherine Barrett, Director Celebrate Ageing: director@celebrateageing.org
- Brent Greene, RMIT: brent.greene@rmit.edu.au
