Internationally renowned artiste, journalist and storyteller Jessi Ryan sets the scene this Midsumma with QRAVE – an epic double bill at Abbotsford Convent.
QRAVE – part exhibition, part performance is the amalgamation of a research project which spanned 2024, uncovering community histories which have and continue to emanate from The City Of Yarra and Birrarung Marr.
Drawing on themes of activism, struggle and pride – QRAVE has been created from eight unique stories and aural histories that both inspire and pull on the heart strings in equal measure.
Local Blak Queer history, community elders, HIV activists, surviving relatives, artists and writers all feature. Visitors to the exhibition can listen to these stories via their personal devices and a series of 8 unique QR codes
Graphic murals adorn the walls of the exhibition space which are inspired by Keith Haring’s 1984 Melbourne sojourn. The murals in QRAVE are created with the same materials favoured by Haring’s early works found in the New York Subways – black paper and chalk.
Drawn in just 3 days and spanning some 34 metres, Ryan’s own hieroglyphic language speaks to the urban form, broader society and more personal themes – Ryan’s own HIV+ status and the intersections of their non-binary, sex worker and other identities.
QRAVE goes deeper yet… across four nights and five performances, these histories are re-contextualised through a blistering new solo performance which reimagines the exhibition space, performed by Ryan in eight inch heels, and directed by Dan Newell.
What begins by the pulling of a single thread, ends in the unravelling of a rich tapestry of intersectionality. In QRAVE: The Performance, we stand in bare intimacy, with our faces to the wind, breathing new life into histories that otherwise risk fading from our collective memory.
QRAVE passionately recounts moving stories which blur the boundaries between embodied performance and graphic installation, holding space for intimate reflection and the forging of brave new connections. QRAVE marks a return to the style of performance Ryan is best known for both nationally and internationally.
Grounded within the realms of spoken word, physical theatre and contemporary dance. Ryan is also excited to add to the mix some comedic flair – following the break out success and three consecutive seasons of their 2024 MICF debut show Functional Bottom.
As recently as November, Ryan was performing Functional Bottom at Brisbane Powerhouse, a career highlight and milestone. But that was really ‘just the warm up’, as they stare down the barrel of a project of epic proportions, befitting their own two decade long history as a practising artist.
Described by The Age as an “artistic fire brand” in November 2022, Ryan came close to death, undergoing 5 hours of emergency surgery and spending time in ICU.
2024 marked their return to the stage – with Ryan continuing to prove themselves as one of Australia’s leading and most versatile queer artists, with multiple award nominations to their name, and bi-lines on Crikey and ArtsHub among other outlets.
“Bringing the community together through this project has been an incredible experience, these often unknown or forgotten stories are so important to our community, we must first know where we have come from, to understand where we are heading,” said Ryan.
“Histories are messy, never painting between the lines; moreso they are the lines which connect us to all those that have come before us, whose legacies light our way, and on whose shoulders we stand.”
QRAVE – The Exhibition
The Store – Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
Exhibition: 29 January – 8 February 2025 (12.00pm – 8.00pm)
Information: www.midsumma.org.au
Free entry
QRAVE – The Performance
The Store – Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
Performance: 29 January – 1 February 2025
Information and Bookings: www.midsumma.org.au
Image: Jessi Ryan – photo by Storm Bloom