Image Credit: design elements contain the artwork “Mask” by Soyoun Kim for the Diasporas 2021 Visual ID. A MAV PROGRAMDiasporas
2021 - 2024
A program initiated just before the world turned upside down in 2020— Diasporas was designed to disrupt old systems and ignite diverse artists to create new works, new networks and a new arts ecology.
Officially launched in 2021, MAV commissioned bodies of work by a range of diverse creatives. The creative process was upheld by the models of self-determination, by prioritising marginalised and under-represented lived experiences.
See their works below.
Half Ties
a podcast by Olivia Cheung and Kwamena Brace
Welcome to HALF TIES, the latest podcast by Liv Cheung and Kwamena Brace.
Half-ties is a conversation series on the funny, beautiful and sometimes challenging moments that interracial couples experience being with somebody who's culturally different from them.
Hosted by creative couple Olivia & Kwamena, we listen to stories about growing up with racism and prejudice; falling in love and meeting the in-laws; navigating difficult conversations within the family and in society, and how these couples make their relationship work and what they actively choose to pass down to the next generation.
The Overwoman
a film by Ari Angkasa
The Overwoman is an experimental live film by Ari Angkasa. Through live and archival forms, Angkasa extends the trope of the femme fatale figure in cinema to make sense of trans-diasporic identity in a society edging dangerously towards fascism.
Borrowing from the ritual and theatre of organised religion, The Overwoman subverts the famous right wing incel-adopted Nietzschean concept of the Übermensch (Overman)—an ‘ultra-human’ birthed from the pitfalls of postmodernity—as a critique of Western exceptionalism and its sociological effect on queerness.
what ties us apart
an exhibition by slo Collective
'what ties us apart' is a collection of work that responds to memories over distance. How malleable they become as we stretch their significance. Something steadfast can disintegrate after a moment, but in the same breath, changed context can allow for growth.
These works delve into nuanced movements of grief and connection. 'what ties us apart' exhibited at Blindside Gallery in October 2022. A considered collaborative work featuring work by Ranima Montes, Kalu Oji, Panda Wong and Inez Abapo, the show featured two short films, poetry and installation art.
I am a ‘diaspora’ Latinx. Hola. It means everyone back home thinks I am basic
a performance by Diego Ramirez
Initially sparked by the subtle image of pandemic (from the god Pan), and reflecting on the nexus between North-South relationships, disease and capitalism; Ramirez shifted his focus to satirising the concept of ‘diaspora’ art and identity politics.
Culminating in a form of performance art, ‘I am diaspora Latinx. Hola. It means everyone back home thinks I am basic,’ exhibited at Gertrude Glasshouse in January 2023. The performance featured a devil (Diego Ramirez) breaking a black piñata created by Zamara Zamara, with Bonnie Cummings on sound design.
A Climate for Art
a campaign for collective divestment by Lana Nguyen and Eliki Reade.
A Climate For Art (ACFA) is a fossil fuel divestment campaign for the arts industry organised by independent producers Lana Nguyen and Eliki Reade. Through bringing small to medium organisations together to divest from fossil fuel lending banks, superannuation companies and power companies, ACFA is bringing momentum to tangible climate action and creating an industry-wide Climate Union to bring together arts communities as leaders for the cultural shift we need.
See also:
MAV’s Diasporas 2021 program is supported by City of Melbourne, Creative Victoria and Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts.)
