Placid in Play
Elijah Money, Stone Turner, Caleb Thaiday
25 Sep–5 Oct 2024
This installation recreates queer blak oases and pays homage to places of water, presented through a Blak Queer Futurism lens. With an emphasis on Blak joy, these areas are curated to reimagine a space of how Queer Mob come together, where we co-exist and where we can rest.
Enter through the adorned columns that pose as the gate, the banners hold the opening through wavy, viscous digital designs of the Collectives Drag personas. Patrons encouraged to take time to offer an exchange to the oasis and engage in a moment of reflection.
Enjoy the warmth of being held in this oasis; this space that exists out of safety stemming from a place of Blak Queer joy. Invited into our past and our future, indulge in sweet respite in the ephemeral sanctum of the exhibition.
Ethereal figures float in and out of the space, in calm perpetual motion, cycling through different rituals of before, now and in the tomorrows.
This exhibition recreates queer blak oases and pays homage to places of water, presented through a Blak Queer Futurism lens.
With an emphasis on Blak joy, these areas are curated to reimagine a space of how Queer Mob come together, where we co-exist and where we can rest.
This program takes place on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded - this land is stolen land. We pay respects to Wurundjeri Elders, past, present and emerging, to the Elders from other communities and to any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders who might encounter or participate in the program.
Elijah Money (he/him) is a queer Wiradjuri brotherboy who was raised on Kulin Nations and continues to reside there. His practice includes visual art, written work, installations, performance art and more. These are done with strong recurring themes of colonialism, assimilation, skin colour, gender, mental illness, sexuality, climate change, stolen generations, identity as well as critiquing the Eurocentric western idealised structure that each person in so called “Australia” is forced to maintain.
Stone Turner aka Stone Motherless Cold (she/they/re) is an Arrernte Sistergirl, born in Mparntwe in 1998. After living across so called australia, they emerged in the Naarm arts industry, with Stone Motherless Cold, their drag persona. They engage in performance art, visual art and writing. With drag as their main medium, they use the queer artform to reflect on their experiences and identity as an Arrernte Sistergirl, while centered around the values of Blak love, Blak joy, Blak rest and examining different presentations of drag. As a drag and events producer/programmer, they create spaces that centre and highlight Blak excellence and/or trans and queer artists. In 2020, she joined ‘the People of Cabaret’. A Naarm based organisation, designed to uplift and support other artists of Colour in the cabaret sector. On the executive council, she conducted consultations with producers, artists and creatives in the arts industry to work on developing safe spaces for Indigenous, Bla(c)k and People of Colour within their projects.
Caleb Thaiday (they/them) aka Cerulean (she/they) is one of Naarm/Melbourne’s most dynamic and vibrant drag performers bringing a cloud of excitement and pleasure to the stage. As the reigning winner of the national Miss First Nation pageant in 2021 and the Supreme Queen pageant at Sydney World Pride 2023, she’s set to propel her way into shaping the future of drag. With 4 years of drag under her belt, this full-time drag queen has performed and hosted at various festivals, clubs and community events around the nation. Caleb was a Producer and Production Coordinator at ILBIJERRI Theatre Company supporting the health works travelling into regional community centres, venues and prisons, focusing on community engagement, healing, education and health awareness, addressing issues such as family violence, HepC and trauma. They also produced the two streams of workshops for emerging writers through Blackwrights and young First Nations actors (14-24y) through the ILBIJERRI Ensemble.
Motherless Collective (MoCo) is comprised of Stone Motherless Cold (Arrernte, Stone Turner, she/they/re), Cerulean (Meriam Mir, Caleb Thaiday, they/them) and Mora Money (Wiradjuri, Elijah Money, he/him).
Emerging from 2019, this drag collective is entirely First Nations Trans/Gender non-confirming; they have been reclaiming space throughout the ever expanding drag scene. Drag is in dire need for Blak queer representation which MoCo provides while offering a wide range of refreshing acts. Each drag performer presents their own personal styles - an amalgamation of their art, history and Blak perspectives on popular culture.