for the circular movement of knowledge

This episode is recorded in Spanish.

For English captions, please see the video version at utp.org.au

Jenny Trinh (Wytchings) and Mollika Prak

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In this episode, artists Shervin Mirzeinali and Raghav Handa discuss how heritage shows up in their work, and they play a game of chance where they will choose between speaking on love, sex, or religion.

Shervin Mirzeinali

Shervin Mirzeinali is a Sydney-based music composer and director. His music is inspired by Spectral and Dastgah (Iranian modal system) traditions. His works have been performed internationally in countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Finland, Austria, Italy, and Australia, as well as at festivals such as Gyumri Renaissance, Sibafest, MuTeFest, Impuls, and soundSCAPE.

A key feature of his work is “decorative timbre”, a personal language characterised by three specific qualities - concentrative perspective, contemplative listening, and the state of presence. Decorative timbre seeks to reach a new palate of sound colour by narrating different cultural aesthetics and philosophies through timbre. It creates a connection between melody and timbre, modernity and tradition, and forgotten rituals and new technologies. Throughout his musical journey, he had the opportunity to learn from renowned composers such as Damien Ricketson, Liza Lim, Puumala Veli-Matti, Johan Talgren, Eka Chabashvili, Ashot Zohrabian, and Ashot Ghazarian.

Raghav Handa

Trained in contemporary dance, Raghav Handa draws on the principles of Indian kathak to create multifaceted, engaging explorations of modern Australian identity. His works challenge cultural and contemporary norms by navigating the “preciousness” & complexities that surround traditional hierarchies and by utilising his Indian heritage to create spaces that foster robust discussion & risk taking – he encourages his audience to come to their own conclusions rather than imposing his own. His creations are novel, engaging and often playful, but he also likes to play with fire!!

He has worked with some of Australia’s most renowned choreographers and companies including Vicki Van Hout, Marylin Miller, Martin Del Amo, Sue Healey, Sydney Dance Company, Force Majeure, The National Theatre of Parramatta, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) and Griffin Theatre Company. His works have been presented across Australia and internationally including at Performance Spaces’ Liveworks Festival, Darwin Festival, Keir Choreographic Awards, Adelaide OzAsia; The Sydney Opera House season of Unwrapped, Sydney Festival season and national tour of Double Delicious with CAAP, Asia TOPA, Dancehouse, Rich Mix London, Attakkalari Dance Company (India) and Dunedin Festival (New Zealand).

In this episode, artists Celine Cheung and Natasha Matila-Smith exchange ideas on social awkwardness, feelings of inadequacy, racial dynamics, and how travel has influenced their practice.

Celine Cheung

Celine Cheung is an interdisciplinary artist, designer and community facilitator based on unceded Wallumedegal and Darug land. Her practice spans across drawing, installation, performance, jewellery-making, education and event curating. Drawing from Gothic tales, Eastern spirituality and speculative fiction, she is interested in re-tellings of familial history, interpersonal intimacy and queer coming-of-age experiences in her art practice.

Since completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts/Arts from UNSW Art and Design in 2020, she has worked with Parramatta Artists’ Studios, Utp and Diversity Arts Australia to present various projects and commissions. Her works have been exhibited at Pari, Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios and AirSpace Projects etc. In 2021, she founded a sustainable accessory label focused on creating jewellery with natural and up-cycled materials. NuTalisman’s ethereal designs celebrated fantasy, cosmology and cinema with Sydney’s creative community and beyond.

Natasha Matila-Smith

Natasha Matila-Smith is a creative based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Her speciality is“sad girl confessional” art and finding humour in moments of awkwardness. She writes, edits and curates sometimes too.

Debra Keenahan is an artist, psychologist and author. She has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions and been the sole and co-author of a book, book chapters, articles and conference papers. Her work focusses upon the personal and social impacts of disability. Having achondroplasia dwarfism, Debra brings a personal insight to understanding the dynamics of interpersonal interactions and social structures that include/exclude the visibly different from equitable social relations. Debra’s work reflects the philosophy that the per-sonal is the political. Debra employs different mediums in her art practice to communicate with and engage people on difficult issues, encouraging empathy for the socially excluded.

JulieMc McNamara is a leading international artist and activist in Disability Arts, founder and former Artistic Director of Vital Xposure, funded by Arts Council England. She co-founded London’s Disability Film Festival with Caglar Kimyoncu (filmpro) based on Southbank at National Film Theatre for 10 years. Driven by social justice, McNamara has a life-long preoccupation with disavowed voices on the political periphery, voices from locked in spaces, voices that shake us back to life.

JulieMc McNamara is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, a recipient of a Miegunyah Award, 2019 and Honorary fellowship at University of Melbourne 2018-21. She received Best Documentary and Best of the Fest Awards at Picture This...Film Festival, Calgary, Canada, 2018 and Best Performance 2017; Unlimited Award 2014; Southbank Show Diversity Award ITV 2010; DaDa Writers Award with ITV, 2009. McNamara has published widely in poetry anthologies and non-fiction discourses on Disability and Madness, and has a substantial theatre production history both in the UK internationally (Australia, Canada, Brazil, USA, New Zealand & Ireland). Recent productions include Voices from the Knitting Circle, lifting the lid on the closed world of UK asylums and secure hospitals and The Butch Monologues by Libro Levi Bridgeman– staged in Melbourne at Theatre Works, Midsumma festival and Sydney at Mardi Gras in 2019.

Over the course of their online conversation residency, Emele and Steev discussed ideas of authenticity and originality, cultural identity in the arts and the journey of movement.

Emele Ugavule is a Tokelauan Fijian storyteller. Her research and practice area of interest is Oceanic Indigenous-led storytelling, working across live performance, screen & digital media as a writer, director, creative producer, performer, educator and mentor. Her work explores creative processes and outcomes grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, and nurturing the vā where embodiment, cultural expression, digitisation and neuroscience intersect.

Inspired by his pacific heritage, driven by the wisdom of his elders and rooted in a rich upbringing of stories, song and dance as a Pacific Islander, Steev Laufilitoga-Maka began creating and performing at a young age and has continued to develop a passion for the arts as a dynamic tool for community empowerment, and social development. Steev has over 27 years of professional work in the arts and culture sector, including 17 years with Pacifique et Compagnie New Caledonian theatre company and school, and eight years working with the Tonga based, pacific focused arts initiative, ON THE SPOT.

Partners and Supporters

This project is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family Foundation.

Over the course of their online conversation residency, Cindy and Gillian engaged in knowledge sharing about friendships, working in community, the meaning of legacy, migration, and the ethics around telling community stories.

Gillian Kayrooz is an emerging artist from Western Sydney, whose practice reflects her personal experience and ongoing engagement with local communities. Kayrooz’s work is collaborative; she invites members of the community to contribute authentic impressions, in a bottom-up rather than top-down conception of history and place. Kayrooz holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts with First Class Honours from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. In 2018 she was awarded the Create NSW Young Creative Leaders Fellowship which led her to exhibit internationally in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently she has completed residencies in Australia, China and Japan. In 2020 she presented her solo exhibition Argileh at Wedding Cake Rock at Firstdraft, and was an artist at the Parramatta Artists’ Studios. In 2021, Kayrooz became a co-director on the board of Firstdraft and in 2022 she will present a solo exhibition at the Murray Art Museum in Albury.

Cindy Trinh is a photographer, visual journalist and activist who is passionate about social justice and human rights. Their photography comes from a place of wanting to connect with people and places through the art of visual storytelling. Cindy has been published and featured by popular media, including HBO/HBO Max, NBC Asian America, Paper Magazine, Milk Agency, The Hill, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Daily News, .Mic, Hyperallergic, The Culture Trip, and more. They have exhibited at numerous museums, galleries and art spaces, including the Museum of the City of New York, Museum of Chinese in America, New York Arts Center, Canal Street Market, Rush Arts Gallery, Pearl River Mart, and The Knockdown Center. Cindy is the creator of Activist NYC, a documentary photo project about activism and social justice movements in New York City.

Partners and Supporters

This project is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family Foundation.

FERAS SHAHEEN

Feras Shaheen’s art practice spans across performance, semiotics, street dance and digital media. Shaheen was born in Dubai to Palestinian parents and moved to Sydney at the age of 11. Drawing from his Hip Hop dance background as well as Palestinian cultural dance traditions, Shaheen traverses different roles within the arts, working as a performer, teacher, choreographer and digital artist. He holds a Bachelor in Design from Western Sydney University (2013) and in addition to his artistic practice works as a freelance graphic designer, photographer and videographer.

AMIR SABRA

Amir Sabra is a dancer and choreographer, working currently as the director of Stereo48 Dance Company. He started as a break-dancer in 2008 and then joined Hawaieh dance group where he represented Palestine with them in several dance contests in Denmark, Belgium, and Jordan. In 2015 joined the Belgium-Palestinian dance piece “Badke” by choreographer Koen Augustijnen/ Les Ballets C de la B. In 2017 he worked as a dancer and rehearsals manager with Ya Samar Dance theatre. In 2017 he started his choreography career with his first piece “Hiphopgeez” and he is currently in residency in France to work on his fourth dance production “Journey to Jerusalem” a new production by Stereo48.

'for the circular movement of knowledge' is an online series of conversations where artists create new relationships with peers through knowledge exchange.

During one-week digital residencies, 6 Utp artists will engage in exchange with a collaborator who holds knowledge in an area of interest to them. At the end of the week they will open up their digital space to share their learnings with audience via video and podcast presentations.

Partners and Supporters

This project is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family Foundation.

***CW: this episode contains mentions of suicide and torture facilities

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In this episode we welcome our speakers:

JAGATH DHEERASEKARA

Jagath is an Amnesty International Human Rights Innovation Fund Grant recipient. He lives and works in southwest Sydney. He was forced to leave Sri Lanka due to his political and human rights activism and was granted political asylum in France in the early 1990s. His multidisciplinary practice is chiefly informed by his personal and collective memory and the incidents of fragility of the principles of humanity.

NEHA KALE

Neha Kale is a widely-published writer and critic whose work focuses on the intersection of art, contemporary culture and society. Her essays, criticism and other nonfiction have appeared nationally and internationally in places like ArtReview, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Saturday Paper, SBS, Art Guide, The Guardian, Running Dog, Kill Your Darling, ABC and more.

This project is supported by Create NSW, Crown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family Foundation.