EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHTING GENDER DIVERSITY & INCLUSION WINS NATIONAL DESIGN AWARD
A multi-channel exhibition on space, gender and communication has received top honours at the Design Institute of Australia’s (DIA) Designers Australia 2021 Awards ‘Interact’ category.
Originally planned to open at a pre-pandemic Venice Architecture Biennale, HyperSext City was reimagined and launched at the Tin Shed Gallery, Sydney Australia in February 2021.
Its impactful design draws on the experiences of women, girls, and the LGBTQI+ communities and represents data and intersectional narratives of gender that affect how urban spaces are accessed and occupied.
HyperSext City Exhibition Stills Credit: Brett Brown
Ideated by Monash University XYX Lab co-directors Gene Bawden and Nicole Kalms, with film work produced and directed by Ella Mitchell and online digital development by Hayden Doward, the exhibition's interactive experience encompasses experiential design, short films, an online research depository, and printed collateral.
Bawden’s strong and distinctive event design fills floor-to-ceiling gallery space; words, numbers, and symbols combine to communicate the Lab's cutting-edge research; print work on plinths provides additional design thinking and thought-provoking keep-sakes.
In A Billion Views, one of two arresting short films, an on-screen Kalms presents a striking poetic argument for intervention against a backdrop of shot, historical and futuristic imagery.
In a second film Do You Feel Safe? 16-women speak to camera in English and other languages; reflecting on their sense of safety in urban environments, spotlighting key findings explored in the exhibition themes.
Exploring equity in public space, the exhibition invited the audience to contribute their own suggestions and solutions to overcome exclusion and lack of access. The exhibition employs data from Australia and across the world to spectacular effect. The HyperSext Repository interactively collates, documents and references data and research on gendered experiences of cities.
Quotes
“HyperSext City, presents a series of interaction platforms where the design transcends being merely a product, but rather becomes a research and a communication platform, which informs, raise awareness and continually involves its users/audience in the evolution of the displayed content. Both projects are a testament to the changing role and position of design, moving from the traditional concept of a tangible product through to orchestration of new interactions and experiences. " Tuba Kocaturk, Design Australia 2021 Awards juror, and professor of integral design.
“Securing this award highlights the value of the work MADA does in relation to equity and inclusion; and the important role creative practices play in generating a better, fairer world,” said Dr Gene Bawden.
“Through crowd-sourcing, co-creation and material making, HyperSext City amplifies the voices and experiences of a diverse range of people who are frequently rendered powerless. It invites us all to make a difference by sharing and understanding our urban experience,” said Dr Nicole Kalms
“Congratulations Monash University’s XYX Lab. It was a pleasure to collaborate with world-class design academics and to support XYX Lab’s ground-breaking research to make cities safer for women, girls and LGBTQI+ communities. Thanks to the women and girls and the talented crew I worked with to create the videos for this award-winning exhibition,” said Ella Mitchell, Producer/Director
"Co-creation is a core value of the work of XYX Lab and on this exhibition, we collaborated with Ella Mitchell to showcase our work through the moving image. She is a production magician with the ability to script and produce beautiful work, which communicates complex ideas and brings humanity and beauty to research activism. Her purposeful creativity and ability to direct diverse talent have supported our ambition to share our research with new audiences and in new territories," said Dr Nicole Kalms
HyperSext City Exhibition Credits
Monash University, XYX Lab
Gene Bawden: Creative Director
Nicole Kalms: Research Director
Isabella Webb: Exhibit. Design & Coordination
Jess Berry: Researcher & Publication Manager
Gill Matthewson: Researcher
Timothy Moore: Researcher
Georgia Johnson: Project Assistant
Video
Writer, Producer/Director: Ella Mitchell
DOP: Brett Brown
Camera Assistant: Samuel Vella
Hair and Makeup: Peta-Gai McLaughlin, Iridis
Editor and Post Design: Dane Scotcher
Music: Heather Shannon | Native Tongue
Website
Hayden Doward