Join us on Monday November 27th for the next instalment in the BEMAC Discussions series; a free panel discussion tackling the important topic of Reclamation and Gendered Cultural Practices. In a world that is continually evolving, how do we navigate traditionally gendered cultural dance, music and artistic practices as gender-diverse artists. How do we dismantle traditional gender roles within our industry and ideas of art and music? We'll unravel the complexities of this journey, exploring questions such as how can we honour tradition and protocol while reclaiming and connecting with our cultural practices.

The panel will feature:

Lisa Fa'Alafi, Samoan-Australian multidimensional artist and teine toa. The heart of her process makes space for indigenised feminine processes, pushing cultural and gender boundaries as well as Decolonising western theatrical spaces. Her work is visually stunning, highly entertaining, conceptual, political and uses theatre as an instrument to create change. Lisa is Co-Director of artist collective Polytoxic who have created diverse platforms and landmark intersectional works for the past 20 years. She is also Director and co-writer of the cult work Hot Brown Honey, touring consistently for 5 years, performing across six countries and receiving numerous national awards including a Helpmann, Sydney Theatre Award, Green Room Award, Adelaide and Perth Fringe Awards, international nominations and awards in the UK and Canada.
Kalpana Prasad (she/her) is an Australian born Fijian-Indian dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher. She is the founder of Bhangra United, a Meanjin-based mixed Bhangra team. Bhangra has traditionally been performed men only, however, it has become open to everyone over the decades. Kalpana has been running Bhangra United for many years, navigating the Bhangra world and ensuring the respect to culture is always first and foremost when teaching and performing.
Shirin Majd, classical singer, songwriter and manager of Sweet Sound Ensemble was born in Tehran, Iran. At age 17 she began studying classical singing and joined the choir of Tehran Symphony orchestra. In 2019, Shirin Majd had an international debut of her most recently created show, Kooch: Songs of Migration at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland and at SUNPAC in Brisbane, Australia. The word Kooch in Farsi means, “migration,” and was presented as an artistic performative and collaborative visual experience with composer Mastaneh Nazarian. Releasing her 5th Album “Secret” on 2020. Currently she works on a new multi art project Stolen Identity and released 3 music video of this project in 2021-2022. Having financial support from Creative partnership Australia (Match Lab program 2021) for one of 2022 She was the Soloist of Brisbane Symphony Orchestra in Karl Jenkins Stabat Mater.
Hope One: Maori Queer Mother, beatboxer, writer and performer from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Fusing together Beatboxing, Spoken Word, Drag and Movement to deliver captivating Beat-rhyming experiences about identity, culture, motherhood and navigating trauma. Hope is an Alumni member of the legendary Beatbox Alliance and Hot Brown Honey. At the age of 23 she ranked top 4 in the female division of the World Beatboxing Championships. Performing on world stages and the most prestigious institutions in the music & theatre scene, Hope has been lighting stages on fire since the tender age of 18, she has accomplished what many could dream. A long standing member of the Beatbox community she has paved ways for women in Beatbox that have never been walked before. Always giving back to the people, she often travels to conduct Beatbox workshops to youth, inspiring the next gen.
Moderator – Dilsah de Rham (they/them): Dilsah is a mutli-disciplinary Meanjin (Brisbane) based queer artist with roots in Sri Lanka, Switzerland and France.
Dilsah has a background in theatre, dance, and visual art. They recently graduated from Griffith University with a Master in Social Work. As an intersectional indigenous feminist, they have participated in an array of projects to dismantle taboos such violence toward women and gender diverse people, child trafficking and societal gender norms. Presently, Dilsah is working actively in various community organisations for minorities, and their first autobiographical play,

BEMAC Discussions is a series of free monthly panel discussions tackling key topics relevant to creators and artists from diverse artistic practices, backgrounds, and cultures. These discussions will be held at House of Vincent in Woolloongabba on the last Monday of each month and will be followed by our BEMAC Discover open mic and performance evening from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

Please note that House of Vincent is not wheelchair accessible. We apologise to anyone with accessibility needs for the inconvenience. However, in order to provide access to those who are not able to physically attend the sessions, BEMAC Discussions will be live streamed on BEMAC’s Facebook page facebook.com/BEMACpresents

Proudly Presented by BEMAC, in partnership with QMusic and BIPOC Arts Australia.

BEMAC Discussions: Reclamation and Gendered Cultural Practices
6:00pm, Monday November 27
House of Vincent
7 Jacob Lane, Woolloongabba
Free entry. BYO