Location Gertrude Glasshouse
44 Glasshouse Rd, Collingwood
Melbourne, Victoria, 3066
Cost Free. NO booking required.
Type
Performance
Gertrude Glasshouse is fully wheelchair accessible, however Glasshouse Road is an uneven bluestone street. Glasshouse Road can be accessed by car from Wellington Street and passengers can be dropped off at the door.
Ambulant toilet and baby change facilities available.
"I am a ‘diaspora’ Latinx. Hola. It means everyone back home thinks I am basic" by Diego Ramírez is a live performance featuring a devil breaking a black piñata. Every time the devil hits the piñata, it responds with a noise that resembles a grunt, to make it seem like the object is suffering. Indeed, Ramírez corrupts his childhood memories breaking piñatas to resemble a sadistic scene, amplifying the darker connotations of this festive ritual.
This performance began as a subtle image of pandemic (from the god Pan) that reflects on the nexus between North-South relationships, disease, and capitalism. However, Ramirez’ re-shifted this focus over time as a satire of diaspora art in alignment with his wider push and pull with identity politics, as evidenced in his writing. It also draws from his prior research on the evolving iconography of the devil in art history.
The work is made in collaboration with Zamara Zamara on fabrication and Bonnie Cummings on sound. This project is funded by Multicultural Arts Victoria, as part of their Represent Commisions, scheduled for a 2023 presentation in Contact High curated by Anador Walsh.
In line with Gertrude’s commitment to supporting curatorial practice and the presentation of ambitious projects and public outcomes, the month of January will again be dedicated to Contact High.
Piloted in 2022, Contact High is a three-year partnership between Gertrude and Performance Review exploring the transference that occurs between performers and audiences in the gallery.
Over the course of four weeks, four Naarm based artists will be given full access to Gertrude Glasshouse as a space in which to develop, rehearse and workshop new or existing performance works, before showing them to the public.
On Wednesday 18 January, Sophie Gargan, Diego Ramírez and Kenneth Suico will present solo works. In the period Tuesday 24 January - Wednesday 25 January, Gabriella Imrichova will exhibit a collaborative work, the closing for which will be held on Wednesday 25 January.