A "huge amount of resilience in people’s experience" is evident from entries in a new art competition, the winners of which have just been announced. "Reborn" The Expression competition is a multi-media arts competition for young people aged 13-19 run by InsideOUT, a national organisation which “works to make Aotearoa a safer place for all young people of minority sexualities, sexes and genders to live and be in.” “Part of our work is to bring more visibility to issues relating to people of minority sexualities, sexes and genders,” says Tabby Besley, National Coordinator of InsideOUT. “We were aware that in some schools young people are discouraged to create artwork with rainbow themes and that often when they do, it isn’t understood or recognised appropriately... Expression intends to bring more visibility to artworks with rainbow themes that contain positive representations, challenge norms and confront LGBTQIA+ issues, and reward the young people who are creating this content.” Clay Morrigan, an eighteen year-old from Auckland, has taken out first prize for their comic called Transition is Freedom. Top prize in the film category went to Anthea Visage from Waikato with Reborn which “showcases the importance of unity, and the idea that we should support, accept and love one another no matter what.” In the writing category, which attracted the most entries, first place went to Jennifer Alderton-Moss from Wellington, for her first-person prose, Jenny, which sees a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality and overcoming internalised biphobia. More detail on the winning entries is available here.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 17th December 2016 - 4:58pm