Queering the Collection

Episode 8: I’m spinning around, get out of my way!

Caroline Bowditch is a performance maker whose lived experience has framed the way she has made change within our industry. This episode details access and inclusion, love and passion, visibility and aspiration. Disabled is often labelled as ‘taken out of commission’ and Bowditch provokes us all to reframe the way we see, include and celebrate, everybody. Queering the Collection is created by Tristan Meecham. Editing and audio production by Jess Fairfax. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in association with the Australian Performing Arts Collection and The Australian Queer Archives. Special thanks to Ian Jackson, Ange Bailey and Nick Henderson for their curatorial work. Portrait of Caroline Bowditch 2024 by Mia Mala McDonald. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 7: I don’t want a label. I don’t want an identity.

Christos Tsiolkas and Stephen Nicolazzo have collaborated on two productions that have shifted their creative practices. Together working on Merciless Gods and Loaded, these artists have formed an intergenerational partnership buoyed by their shared experience of being outsiders and migrants while negotiating class, anger, shame and politics. Queering the Collection is created by Tristan Meecham. Editing and audio production by Jess Fairfax. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in association with the Australian Performing Arts Collection and The Australian Queer Archives. Special thanks to Ian Jackson, Ange Bailey and Nick Henderson for their curatorial work. Portraits of Stephen Nicolazzo and Christos Tsiolkas 2024, by Mia Mala McDonald. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 6: The act of transition itself is an act of creation.

Janet Anderson recently starred in Overflow, a play written by non-binary artist Travis Alabanza. Her solo performance was a tour de force and aligned her personal with her political. The play was presented when trans people dominated headlines, during a time of debate about bathroom usage. Overflow was a creative haven; the entire Trans and Gender Diverse creative team allowed Anderson to bring her whole self to the rehearsal room, something rarely afforded to Trans creatives. Queering the Collection is created by Tristan Meecham. Editing and audio production by Jess Fairfax. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in association with the Australian Performing Arts Collection and The Australian Queer Archives. Special thanks to Ian Jackson, Ange Bailey and Nick Henderson for their curatorial work. Photo of Janet Anderson by Andrew Fraser, provided by artist. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 5: The art of subversion; reel them in, keep their ears open, and hit them hard.

Celebrated for her one-woman shows throughout the 70s, 80s and today, Robyn Archer is a Cabaret Icon. Her committed multi-discipline artistic practice has expanded across form and content, to communicate political and social messages to the widest possible audiences. From Brecht to Piaf, her varied work forms her identities; from Queer musical artist to the first woman to direct a major Australian state festival of the arts. Queering the Collection is created by Tristan Meecham. Editing and audio production by Jess Fairfax. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in association with the Australian Performing Arts Collection and The Australian Queer Archives. Special thanks to Ian Jackson, Ange Bailey and Nick Henderson for their curatorial work. Portrait of Robyn Archer AM, 2024 by Mia Mala McDonald. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 4: As a black drag queen, you’re born political.

Ben Graetz came out as drag queen Miss Ellaneous on his 25th birthday. Since then, he has expanded as a beloved First Nation artiste and ‘Drag Mother’ to many. In this episode, we journey through Sydney in the 90’s as Ben established his drag persona, thriving in Darwin in the 00’s as he nurtured his First Nation drag community, and nowadays, building creative pathways nationally for Queer and First Nation artists to tell their story, on their own terms. Queering the Collection is created by Tristan Meecham. Editing and audio production by Jess Fairfax. Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in association with the Australian Performing Arts Collection and The Australian Queer Archives. Special thanks to Ian Jackson, Ange Bailey and Nick Henderson for their curatorial work. Portrait of Ben Graetz as Miss Ellaneous, 2024, by Mia Mala McDonald. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.