QUEER ASSEMBLY Connor Mills

In April I disclosed a dream project I had, life happened, and I put the idea back on the shelf, I felt for this kind of project I wasn’t as intelligent as needed and that it would take self-belief to front and a willingness to ask for help, and this circle of frustration stopped me for a long time. For anyone who has read my previous columns you can tell it’s been a weird phase of life for me. So, when I went to my partner on October 22nd and blurted out the plan and how I couldn’t not at least try anymore, we got to work.

Queer Assembly is a catalogued printed expression of queer Northern Irish artists. A hardback book filled with amazing works from talented artists expressing themselves and their queerness. No rules just a blank canvas in which to represent themselves completely.

First, the difficult bit for me, asking artists if they’d want to submit. I’ve been lucky to connect with so many artists from different mediums but the idea of asking someone to be a part of something I’m part fronting was terrifying, usually much happier in the background, yet the uptake was incredible, even with the tight deadline of a week. (Yes, at this point the aim was to have the book produced and sent before Christmas, this is the end of October, the book isn’t started yet).

While me and my partner were starting to become actual admin wizards, more so him being amazing and me trying to keep up (did you know that Hotmail has folders?!) I settled into a designing the look of the book, building a brand identity, and creating the Kickstarter.

The project progressing and artists submitting their work, I was speechless, it fully cemented why this project is important. Northern Ireland is so lucky to have such a rich tapestry of skilled and accomplished artists. You see it from our city murals to sculptures, from our body art to the feeling captured forever in a picture.

Monday October 30th, we launched Queer Assembly. For the project (100 books to be produced and sent) it would cost approx. £1600-1700 with Kickstarter fees of £300, our first goal was £2000, and as I’m typing this, a week later, were currently not only funded but already raised £2130. We were shocked, we obviously believed in the project and the artist’s work, but we had no idea how many people would connect with the project. People saying how much the project meant to them due to anxiety of in person events, how something spanning the width of the whole of Northern Ireland was needed, tattoo artists expression of their own queerness allowing them to reach out and feel comfortable in being tattooed by these artists, how people didn’t realise how many people belonged to the queer arts community and they’ve already made connections they cherish just some of the reasons.

Yet this doesn’t mean we now rest; our biggest goal is to create a yearly publication where we continue to highlight and support all queer artists across Northern Ireland. We plan on using additional Kickstarter funding to create in-person launch events in 2024 where we exhibit the artist’s work, using these events to reimburse the artists financially while creating spaces for the artists themselves to sell their works.

We’re also donating 25% of profits made in the first year to The Rainbow Project, as I’ve talked about before it was counselling I had received from The Rainbow Project that helped me process sexual violence I had experienced in my teens, they helped me get out of a hole I felt I couldn’t myself, and gave me a lifeline last year when I really needed it and the idea I can use this platform to give a little back to what I can never repay means a lot.

I don’t know what Queer Assembly looks like when this issue is released, to be honest were following our morals, the support of the community, the want to do our best to make a new and exciting opportunities for the queer Northern Irish arts community and I guess if I were to give a Christmas style message for those reading to take into the new year it would be this.

Take a dream, doesn’t matter what it is, don’t let life beat it out of you, rely on your strengths and those around you and go achieve something that you can be proud of.