VELEBIT

Velebit is a hypothetical organisation created by artist, curator, and activist Shannon Novak. It is an ongoing project that was launched in August 2022. It is named after the largest mountain range in Croatia.

Aim

To grow safety in relationships between queer communities and emerging technologies.

Key oBJECTIVES

This project will seek to:

Critically analyse emerging technologies and their relationships with queer communities.

Identify, communicate, and seek to meet challenges emerging technologies pose to queer communities.
Identify, develop, and evaluate opportunities for queer supportive emerging technologies.
Reduce rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide in queer communities.
Create positive, meaningful, and sustained change for queer communities.
Make space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) queer voices.
Increase awareness and knowledge of queer communities.

The logo

The project logo was developed by Novak based on the lavender flower. These flowers grow on Velebit in Croatia and are a symbol of identity for many Croatian communities. In addition, the colour lavender is a known symbol of queer resistance.

Origins

In 2018, Stanford University published a study that found AI could detect sexual orientation based on facial images. The report examined ethical implications, stating:

“companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people’s intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women”.

Following further research, Novak formed this project given safety for queer communities is a key priority in Novak’s practice.