Deborah Kelly - CREATION

Deborah Kelly GUAM install video fire

1 March – 21 May 2023

Deborah Kelly’s CREATION is a sprawling, evolving artwork in the form of a queer science fiction climate change religion.

Built through collaborations between artists and communities, CREATION offers ways to gather and commune – a counterpoint to the natural disasters, plagues and leadership failures of our era. Drawn from politics, evidence, mysticism and collectivity, CREATION is developed through a multi-venue series of cross-disciplinary projects, public brainstorms and participatory performances.

Central to CREATION is The Liturgy of the Saprophyte, a new text by artist SJ Norman, grounding the project in a gothic, First Nations sensibility. CREATION encourages collective creativity and cooperative decision-making, centring marginalised voices in all its aspects. Its sacramental workshops are accessible and enjoyable practices of communal commitment to shared labours and public pleasures.

Exclusively in Mornington, the project will explore the speculative, ceremonial possibilities of collective sustenance through a series of open brainstorms, theological cook-offs and ritualised feasting.

Available as part of the exhibition is ‘The Book of Creation’, published by Griffith University Art Museum, 2022.