Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) are diving into Fringe season with a homegrown program that’s sure to surprise.
PICA’s 2020 Fringe World program features four Western Australian artists, presenting four new works that invite the audience to join them on a personal journey.
Dust off your party shoes and share a queer kiss at Janet Carter’s Transmission, pick up a pen and make a personalised set of sign cards with Jen Jamieson in This is not personal, Listen closely to non-binary stories of confession with Daley King’s Lipstuck and slip on your six-in heels and strut into some feminist truth-telling with Jacinta Larcombe’s Slutdrop.
PICA Director Amy Barrett-Lennard says PICA is very proud to support independent WA artists “to create work with our creative and financially supportive presentation model during Fringe World.”
“Opening our doors as a place for artists, audiences and communities, PICA will celebrate forms of care, confession and community as it transforms into a therapeutic workshop, queer party, live lipstick apothecary and night club.”
PICA Producer Tim Carter adds that the theme for this year’s program became clear when the organisation collaborated with the artists and local renegades pvi collective during their annual development platform KISS club.
“Each artist is mining deep personal history and thinking about what that individual experience means in a broader social sense,” Carter said.
“There’s a focus on pushing these recollections beyond pure storytelling and into a more interactive realm for the live audience with a hands-on workshop, public acts of truth and confession, community building and direct exchange through the physical act of kissing.”
“There’s also these overlapping ideas around what constitutes safe space, the value of meeting collectively and PICA becoming a sanctuary for these gatherings,” Carter continued.
“The performances also explore mental health and sexuality from queer, non-binary and feminist perspectives.”
“In what could potentially be heavy material, these works will be an enriching and entertaining celebration about how and why we come together as artists, audiences and communities.”
Both Jamieson’s This is not personal and Carter’s Transmission are works in development. PICA’s Fringe World seasons provide in-studio residencies for live testing ahead of the fully-formed versions coming in 2020.
PICA’s Fringe World program runs from Friday 17th January – Tuesday 7th February. For tickets and more information on each work, head to fringeworld.com.au
OIP Staff
Disclaimer:- OUTinPerth Managing Editor Graeme Watson works as pvi collective’s Communications Coordinator
