FERN Collective's aim is to create a space of vulnerability particularly for Queer, Trans, First Nations and people of colour, as we survive a world of violent and oppressive colonialist institutions and structures, a world that renders vulnerability as obsolete. FERN is structured upon abolitionist values, invested in the pursuit of collective healing and collective care. FERN hopes to hold event spaces centring joy and pleasure, publishing works and pieces of creativity, acknowledging the fierce resistance and intergenerational resistance of First Nations and people of colour communities.

FERN is both a space sharing and collectivising stories and storytelling. FERN is focused on reclaiming our narratives, narratives that were stripped, erased, neglected or murdered by colonialism, capitalism, imperialism and supremacy. We believe through sharing story, particularly stories of vulnerability and resistance, it enables us to reclaim our truths, to lift colonialist gaslighting and to embark on a process of collective healing.

FERN draws inspiration and values from the disability justice movement, the transformative justice movement and radical Bla(c)k and brown feminists and abolitionists.

FERN was founded on unceded Yuggera and Turrbul country. Many of the spaces take place across so-called Australia, where sovereignty has never been ceded. We acknowledge First Nations people as the original storytellers and collective healers. By investing in the pursuit of abolition, we invest in anti-colonial solidarity and commit to being in solidarity with First Nations resistance and community.

This land was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.

Front Illustration done by Coffin Birth

Logo Illustration done by Daniel Vincent