Flower Pavillion to provide a contemplative space for Yarra's LGBTIQA+ Community

A memorial that will create a sanctuary for friends and family of loved ones who have died of suicide and were members of Yarra’s LGBTIQA+ community will be established at the Collingwood Town Hall Park. 

Local artist, Andrew Atchison, has been commissioned to create his proposed design – Flower Pavillion. 

A space for contemplation and remembrance

Yarra City Council Mayor, Cr Stephen Jolly, said the memorial will be a welcoming, contemplative place to remember those lost to suicide. 

“Lots of kids, especially from regional Victoria, came into our city, often because they were rejected or faced issues in their community,” said Cr Jolly.  

“They came into this area for solace, because of the scene. But sometimes it was much harder than they thought it was going to be, and we sadly had a spate of suicides. And often the community they find here is their family – and they wanted a memorial so we can honour them.” 

About the design: Flower Pavilion

Flower Pavillion is a sculptural shelter, shaped like a bouquet and designed to provide both beauty and refuge. The memorial will comprise a seating beneath a canopy of vibrant, transparent acrylic flowers, whose stems will be bound together at the centre by a strong bronze ring.  

The flowers, which hold deep significance in rituals of remembrance and mourning, have been chosen for their layered symbolism. In the LGBTIQA+ community, they have long served as coded emblems of identity, self-expression and queer affection.  

A memorial for a diverse community

The memorial acknowledges the diversity of identity and ethnicity within Yarra’s LGBTIQA+ community, including Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, Chinese, Greek, Vietnamese, Japanese, English, Irish, and Scottish demographics.  

“As a whole, the ‘bouquet’ becomes a shared symbol of this multifaceted, interconnected community, each segment of which has been affected by suicide,” says artist Andrew Atchison.  

“To transcend language barriers, the memorial communicates entirely through visual form. It harnesses the evocative power of coloured light to shape mood and memory, drawing inspiration equally from nightclub lighting and stained-glass windows... it will bathe visitors in shifting coloured light – sometimes a soft wash, other times rich and vivid—depending on the sun’s position in the sky.” 

To balance the weightlessness of light, the bronze ring acts as a tie and grounding anchor, a reliable touch point that the artist hopes, in time, will be polished by many hands.  

Cr Jolly said that ultimately, Council wanted to create a space that honoured the memory of those we have lost. 

 “We hope that family and friends of those who died of suicide will find some comfort here.”