4A PANEL X PERFORMANCE | SATURDAY 15 MAY | 3PM – 5PM
Panel discussion at Firstdraft with Andrea Srisurapon, Jayanto Tan, and curator Reina Takeuchi, followed by a performance by Amy Zhang X MaggZ.
Held as part of Acute Actions: Responses to I Am Not a Virus (Part 1) presented by Diversity Arts Australia and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and is part of the I Am Not A Virus project.
Schedule:
3:00pm – Meet at 4A @ Darlinghurst to view the exhibition, then walk to Firstdraft (4 minutes walk)
3:30pm – Let’s unpack acute acts: Panel talk with Andrea Srisurapon and Jayanto Tan
4:30pm -Live performance by Amy Zhang X MaggZ
5:00pm – Event ends.
Join artists Andrea Srisurapon, Jayanto Tan, and curator Reina Takeuchi (from 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art) for an in-person panel discussion followed by a performance by Amy Zhang X MaggZ. Let’s unpack acute acts examines the artists’ lived experiences and practices, unpacking the hidden injuries of racism in a post-pandemic era and how the collective smearing of cultural trauma bleeds into the Acute Actions: Responses to I Am Not a Virus program.
Alongside the discussion, Amy Zhang and MaggZ will be performing 气 (qi). The performance will be an energetic exploration of objects that have informed the dance artists’ histories. Using contemporary movement, the performers seek to embody states of balance and equilibrium.
Moderated by Acute Actions co-curator Reina Takeuchi, Let’s unpack acute acts is presented alongside Acute Actions: Responses to I Am Not a Virus – an initiative by Diversity Arts Australia supported by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
We would like to thank 4A for hosting this event, Firstdraft for generously providing the venue and I Am Not A Virus project producer Kevin Bathman. Project led by Diversity Arts Australia and supported by Australia Council, Create NSW, Creative Victoria, City of Sydney, City of Parramatta and Inner West Council.
Biography
Using photography to capture her personal and cultural everyday experiences, Andrea Srisurapon explores concepts surrounding cross-culture, identity and Australia’s social and cultural landscape. Reflecting on her cultural experiences of East and West and celebrating her family’s heritage, Srisurapon challenges the stereotypes of racism, bigotry and cultural misconception and attempts to discover what is means to be a Thai Australian. Andrea graduated from Sydney College of the Arts and now works and resides in the city of Sydney.
Jayanto Tan is a visual artist who was born and raised in a small village in North Sumatra to a Sumatran Christian mother and Guandong Taoist father. As an immigrant artist living in Sydney, who fled poverty and political repression in search of a better life, his practice blends Eastern and Western mythologies with the reality of current events. His works have been selected for the 66th Blake Prize and a solo show at the Verge Gallery. He won the 11th Greenway Art Prize in a small sculpture category. Jayanto holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Fine Arts from National Art School.
Amy Zhang is a movement artist that specialises in performance and movement direction. Using dance as her storytelling vehicle, she combines her unique eye for aesthetics to bring a new life to movement in all forms of media and live performance. Amy has most recently shared her work in this year’s Vitalstatistix Adhocracy and Brisbane Festival
MaggZ is a Melbourne-based movement and multidisciplinary artist, specialised in waacking – a dance style originated in 1970s LA from the LGBTQ community, predominantly involving arm movements. Traversing amongst dance battles, live performances, installations and interdisciplinary collaborations with other artists, MaggZ aspires to explore the possibilities of art and creativity whilst to honour the unique being of self and others.
Image: Amy Zhang & MaggZ, 气 (qi), video, 3:34, 2021; documentation still: courtesy the artist.
Bio captions:
Andrea Srisurapon, headshot; courtesy the artist /Jayanto Tan, headshot; courtesy the artist / Amy Zhang, headshot; courtesy the artist; image: Ben Garcia / MaggZ, headshot; courtesy the artist.