Join artist James Nguyen and collaborator Budi Sudarto for a floor talk of Open Glossary. They will be discussing their sprawling installation fashioned from hundreds of donated white button-up shirts evokes a myriad of connotations, from business meetings and religious ceremonies, to queer protest tactics, the visual vocabulary of the Neo-Concrete Movement, and the artist’s own family textiles factory. This symbolically charged assemblage forms the backdrop to a collective multi-lingual translation project of queer terms and experiences for, and by, non-English speaking LGBTQIA+ community members.
Biographies
James Nguyen was born in Bảo Lộc, Việt Nam in 1982. He currently lives and works in Naarm, Melbourne. Nguyen’s work engages with decolonial practice and minoritarian language-brokering. This is explored in how ethnic poetry, performance, cinema, sculpture, and cinematography can trouble settler-colonialism, the diasporic absurd, and of course, gambling.
Nguyen has presented work throughout Australia and abroad since 2013, regularly doing performances for local and international exhibitions, festivals, and community events. Notable presentations include Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, 2014; Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney, 2014; the Australian War Memorial and the Australian Government at Sàn Art, Hồ Chí Minh City, 2018; alongside collaborative projects including Sentient: Murray River with Abigail Moncrief at the Murry Art Museum Albury, 2018; CONNECT with Victoria Pham, curated by Tamsen Hopkinson at Footscray Community Arts Centre, 2021; Re-Tuning in collaboration with Victoria Pham, curated by Michael Do at the Sydney Opera House, 2022.
Budi Sudarto (they/them) is a community advocate, experienced trainer, and consultant focusing on intersectionality, equity, and justice. Sudarto came to Australia as an international student in 1998 and was introduced to queer theory during their study at Monash University, and completed an Honours degree in Arts (Sociology) with a focus on queer theory and identity. In 2004, Sudarto submitted a Master’s thesis in Sociology that explored the experiences of gay Asian men in Melbourne. During their study, Sudarto was a volunteer peer facilitator at the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre as well as an active member of the Monash University Queer Collective.
Sudarto made a commitment to advocate for systemic change after experiencing systemic injustice and racism at a mainstream LGBTIQA+ health organisation as well as homophobia and gender-based discrimination in ethnic and faith communities. As a gay, non-binary, Muslim individual, Sudarto’s intersections mean that they must continuously navigate their intersecting marginalised identities in various spaces and settings. Sudarto continues to use their academic knowledge, lived and living experiences to advocate for inclusion, equity and justice for individuals and communities with intersecting marginalities.
