See what’s on from our base in Brunswick and beyond ↓

Under My Tongue: Exhibition at Brunswick Mechanics
Tues 18 July – Fri 21 July: 12 – 9pm
Sat 22 July: 6 – 9pm
Sun 23 July: 2 – 5pm.

Mon 24 July – Fri 28 July: 12 – 5pm
Sat 29 July: 2 – 5pm

Featuring work by Belinda Locke, Larissa MacFarlane, Andy Jackson, Rachael Guy, Elvin Lam, and Gemma Mahadeo

Centered around the anonymous stories of lived and personal experience of disability provided to Belinda Locke which inspired the performance work of Under My Tongue, this exhibition provides audiences with an opportunity to further connect and learn. Alongside this display, Belinda has commissioned four artists with lived experiences as Deaf and Disabled artists to reflect on the themes of the work.

Elvin Lam’s Under My Hands uses Dance, Poetry and Auslan to remind us that hands can also talk and invite us into different ways of understanding using nonlinguistic cues. Andy Jackson and Rachael Guy have collaborated to create a spoken word autobiographical essay accompanied by an intimate slideshow of pictures, reflecting on the things we keep hidden. Gemma Mahadeo explores what a day in their life is like as a person in mental health recovery and Larissa MacFarlane’s works beam out from our Sydney Road windows, investigating Disabled culture, community, identity and pride.

Sat 29 July
2pm – 5pm
Brunswick Mechanics, 270 Sydney Road
Free
Register for the Public Programs here

To close Under My Tongue, join us at Brunswick Mechanics for a range of public programs curated to amplify the themes and stories shared through Under My Tongue’s performance and exhibition season. These programs are free, and all are welcome.

Schedule:

2 – 5pm: Disability Pride badge making; wear your pride on your sleeve (or wherever you’d like to) and create your own Disability Pride badge in this free, drop-in workshop facilitated by exhibiting artist Larissa MacFarlane.

3– 4pm: Artists In Conversation; join Belinda Locke and exhibiting artists Andy Jackson, Rachael Guy, Elvin Lam, and Gemma Mahadeo in an intimate discussion examining the development of Under My Tongue and the themes explored within the performance and exhibition.

The artist conversation series will be Auslan interpreted and live-streamed with captions for anyone unable to join in person.

Artist Bios:

Andy Jackson is a poet and creative writing teacher and mentor preoccupied with bodily difference and meaning. Through five books of poetry, many essays and reviews, and numerous public performances, Andy has spent the last twenty years exploring the many dimensions, ideas and emotions that emerge out of deformity and disability, subjectivity and community. What does it feel like to have a body that is deemed to be ‘not normal’? What kinds of empathy might help us all to connect with each other and with the world

Elvin Lam is a Deaf queer visual artist/dancer/actor/photographer. He is currently performing as Elvin Melvin with Emma Memma. Elvin was born profoundly deaf in Hong Kong. He studied set and costume design and figure skating, winning a silver medal in the Gay Games in Sydney 2002. Upon moving to Australia as an adult, Elvin took up dance, theatre and visual art. It was there that he was introduced to sign language, and Auslan quickly became his preferred language

Belinda Locke is a disabled artist, director and disability advocate based in Naarm (Melbourne). Belinda’s artistic practice brings to light hidden stories and experiences through performance and participatory art, collaborating with artists across multiple disciplines.

Larissa MacFarlane (they/she) is a Scottish-Australian queer feminist visual artist and disability activist, living on unceded Kulin Nation lands. They work across a printmaking, street art and community art practice and use their experiences of a 24-year-old brain injury to investigate Disabled culture, community, identity and pride.

Gemma Mahadeo (they/them) was born in the UK, has lived in the Philippines, and currently works and lives on Wurundjeri land (Naarm). When health permits, they write poetry and arts reviews, appear at events discussing and exploring creativity, chronic health issues, queerness, and inclusion.

What to Expect

Getting to Brunswick Mechanics
We’re gathering at Next Wave’s home at Brunswick Mechanics, located at 270 Sydney Road in Brunswick. You can read about public transport and getting to our venue here.

Visiting Brunswick Mechanics
— The venue is accessible.
— Assistance animals are welcome throughout the building.
— There are gender neutral and accessible toilets.
— We will have staff available on the day to assist.
— We encourage masking at Brunswick Mechanics Institute and will have face masks available at all Under My Tongue programs
— Visual Guide-Brunswick Mechanics.

Public Programs
— There will be Auslan interpretation for the Artists in Conversation program

Under My Tongue has been generously supported by the below partners.

Special thanks to Berlinklusion, Arts Access Australia, Incite Arts, Foundation for Young Australians, Charter Hall, Arts House and Malthouse Theatre for their support during the project’s conception and development.