Christian Sirois

About the work

This year Christian is curating a Queer Pavilion, which will be home to the exhibition Cruel Optimism, as well as a program of workshops and symposiums by and for the Queer community and allies.

Cruel Optimism features Tony Albert, Nathan Beard, Rat Bedlington, Gemma Brown, Jenna (Mayilema) Lee, Hamish Wiseman, Isaac Kairouz, Shamen Suku.

Cruel Optimism delves into the liminality of Queer realities, exploring themes of world-building, community construction, cryptic geographies, and the documentation of individual and collective histories. Drawing on Lauren Berlant’s concept of Cruel Optimism (2011), this exhibition investigates what knowledge can be produced through Queer-to-Queer dialogue and relational exchanges. It questions whether acceptance is a sufficient response to oppression or if more profound actions are needed to address systemic inequalities.

About the artist

Christian Sirois is a curator, academic, and arts worker whose research investigates hybrid and liminal identities, and multisensory methodologies, with a focus on innovative conservation and documentation practices. His work is centred around the collaboration between scientific and creative approaches. Sirois has previously worked across the creative and cultural sectors both locally and internationally, and is currently conducting a PhD in Cultural Geography at the University of New South Wales.