Exhibiting artists: Gulnoza Akhmedova, Jennifer Lind, Rin Charlton, Stella Haycock, Yu-An Murray, Shannon O'Hara, Jennifer Frost, Chante Ranclaud, Robert Andrews.
The exhibition Crisis? What crisis?, features works by nine Meanjin/ Brisbane-based artists, most of whom have connections to the Queensland College of Art and Design as current or former students. Connections are also shared through employment at QAGOMA.
The exhibition theme challenged participants to respond to one or more crises in contemporary life - these include shortages of affordable housing and rising costs of living and the ensuing effects on health, well-being and behaviour; the widening gap between rich and poor, political and economic uncertainty, conflict and civil unrest, voluntary or forced movement of people across borders, and global warming and its associated extreme weather events and environmental catastrophes.
These crises require attention and positive action, but can also create "crisis overload', causing us to "switch off' when it all seems too much to deal with or care about. The resulting artworks are imbued with either satire, subtle humour, empathy, or quiet consolation, and a desire for positive change.