Keeping up with Cj Fraser-Bell - Our 2018 Creative in Residence

Over the past two months the Northern Territory Library has enjoyed a regular presence of the 2018 Creative in Resident, multi-disciplinary artist Cj Fraser Bell.

The residency program provides a unique and supportive environment, enabling Cj to explore, transform, repurpose and respond imaginatively to published and original sources from our collections. Sources include manuscripts, maps, music, art, newspapers, videos and other rare printed materials. 

As part of the residency, Cj has offered four zine-making workshops, each with a different theme to highlight different areas of the Library’s collection.

“My hope is that this zine-making component of the residency will bring aspects of the Library’s collections into a new life, as well as generate materials that can be added to the collections in their own right” said Ms Fraser-Bell.

Cj’s primary interests include the Library’s Queer and Arts collections, specifically investigating the Territory’s LGBTQI+ history and pop culture. One of the noticeable outcomes from the residency thus far is Cj’s art installation located on the main level of the Library displaying zines dating back to 2004. 

For now, Cj will take a break but returns to the Library in the New Year with the next instalment of her residency: a collaborative performance with local artists Ciella Williams and Kelly Beneforti to explore the Library as a physical space.
“This work will showcase some of the content I have explored, as well as help audience and Library patrons to see the Library in a new way,

“Northern Territory Library is a really distinctive and visually arresting space, with multiple floors all very different from each other. It has dramatic stairways, huge ceilings, and intimate corners.

“We will be exploring this space and reflecting on its use as a library,” said Ms Fraser-Bell.

Towards the end of her residency program Cj will launch her own zine collection. 

“The content is still taking shape, which is the great thing about zines, they don't need to be the most polished - they can be experiments, the beginnings of things,” said Ms Fraser-Bell

Part of the NT Arts Grant Program, the Creative in Residence program aligns with Northern Territory Library’s strategic plan to collect, grow and energise Library collections. 

Events run at the Library as part of the Creative in Residence program will be available on our What's On page.