Storage Unit

Joel Bray

Joel Bray’s performance-making practice is grounded in his Wiradjuri heritage, and in his research into Wiradjuri Country and ritual on the one hand, and sex, sexuality and Queerness on the other. His works are embodied, celebrate the complications and complexities of contemporary Indigeneity, and disrupt White audiences’ expectations of Bla(c)k performance. His live performances are often intimate encounters in unorthodox spaces, in which audience members are frequently invited to participate as ‘co-ritual-makers’.

ABOUT THE SHOW

In Storage Unit, specially commissioned by the NGV for Melbourne Now, Bray and his co-conspirator rummage through the remnants of his dance works from the past six years. Props, sets and costumes jumble together with archival footage and sound, emptied from Joel’s storage unit and spilling out into the gallery space. Dancing bodies teeter, toss and tumble amid the chaos, recalling and misremembering choreography and monologue from the past in a joyous ‘anti-retrospective’. Over four unique performances (Storage Units 1, 2, 3 and 4) and marked by Bray’s trademark humour and sex positivity, visitors find themselves among the chaos, lending helping hands and collectively making sense of it all.

Sessions: Sat 3 May 2pm; Sat 20 May 2pm; Sat 3 June 2pm; Sat 10 June 2pm
Venue: The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square – Community Hall, Ground Level
Price: Free Entry