Queen Victoria Gardens

The closing moment. An ancestral meeting. A ritual cleansing.

An Anito spirit moves around the pavilion, summoned from the gardens by a building crescendo of sound. The pavilion comes alive, a spirit house activated by Filipino dance and song.

In this collaborative performance created for MPavilion by Bhenji Ra and Karina Utomo, the performers expand their practice to explore a response to architecture, and the relationship between the body, sound and place.

After the performance, join us for the MPavilion Closing Party.

Collaborators:

Bhenji Ra is a performance and interdisciplinary artist currently based on the stolen land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, Sydney. Her practice combines dance, choreography, moving image, installation and club events. Her work is often concerned with the dissection of cultural theory, colonial perspectives and identity, positioning her community’s personal histories at the centre of her work. With an emphasis on collaboration, her work plays with the multiplicities of spectacle, while daring you to imagine alternative models of community.

Karina Utomo is an extreme metal vocalist, composer and co-founder of extreme metal projects Rinuwat, KILAT and High Tension. Utomo’s vocal practice explores multi- disciplinary forms of extreme-metal, experimental cross-cultural practices and extra-normal voicing. Aspects of Utomo’s practice are informed by and interwoven with Javanese mythology and storytelling.

Warnings: Please note, incense smoke may feature as part of this performance.