Dr Cassandra Byrnes: I, myself, in the Borderlands

On Wear it Purple Day, Dr Cassandra Byrnes (she/her), UQ Lecturer on histories of gender and sexuality, will lead an afternoon talk on gender and queer subjectivities told through artworks in the UQ Art Collection. Drawing from Wear it Purple Day’s theme of “Your Passion, Your Pride,” and the Collection Study Room’s current hang “I, Myself, In-Between,” this talk will examine recent queer histories in Australia through artworks by Luke Roberts and TextaQueen. The notion of the ‘in-between’ is particularly significant for understanding how gendered and sexual identities often come to occupy a space of tension and careful balance in our personal lives, our communities, and our nations. In thinking through the journeys that these artists have taken, intersections of identity will be foregrounded to speak to historical and current narratives that influence our everyday lived experiences.   

This is a free event held in the Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room. Please see staff at front desk for directions and cloaking beforehand. All attendees must register and show tickets to UQ Art Museum Staff upon entry.  

Please inform us of any accessibility requirements through the registration page. Visit our website for our accessibility information. 

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Dr Cassandra Byrnes (she/her) is a History Lecturer at the University of Queensland, Australia, and researches histories of gender and sexuality focusing on reproductive rights and control. She is working on a history of reproductive coercion in Australia’s recent past, and how that directly influences our current understandings of laws and social practices. Her past research has examined reproduction regulation in Queensland in the mid-to-late twentieth century, illustrating how political, moral, and social control over contracepting bodies influenced broader attitudes regarding agency and autonomy. She was a National Library of Australia Summer Scholar and a Global Change Scholar at UQ, collaborating with peers in interdisciplinary networks, and has recently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship on the interdisciplinary project The Limits of Consent.