BEMAC Discussions: Moving Memory (Live and Streamed)

Join us on Monday 7 April for the next instalment in the BEMAC Discussions series; a free panel discussion on “Moving Memory: The Role of the Arts in Preserving Cultural Narratives”. How do the arts shape and safeguard cultural heritage? Join a dynamic panel of artists as they explore the power of storytelling, performance, and visual expression in keeping traditions alive. Engage in thought-provoking discussions on memory, identity, and the evolving role of the arts in preserving cultural narratives.

Moderated by Anna Cerreto, the panel will feature Karla McGrady, Katherine Palella, Lamine Sonko and Siyavash Doostkhah.

This panel discussion will mark the beginning of a creative residency for ‘Run Free’, an evocative, improvised performance group comprising poetry, music and movement. Led by slam poet Huda The Goddess and multi-instrumentalist Cieavash Arean, and featuring vocals by Rina, music by Amir Reza and movement by The Flood, the group will creatively respond to the theme of the panel with their signature raw, authentic expression of personal and collective stories, deeply rooted in their experiences of revolution, identity, and survival. Through their real-time, dynamic collaboration, ‘Run Free’ reminds us that artists are the historians of our communities, daring to share the uncomfortable truths of our world by a fearless pursuit of truth through creativity.

At the conclusion of their performance, the mic will be open for anyone interested in sharing their own work.

Karla McGrady

Karla McGradyis  a Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi woman born in Tenterfield NSW, now residing in Magan-Djin/Brisbane, Queensland. She has been painting for the last 15 years and involved in exhibiting, selling, curating and promoting art since 2008. Her experience as a visual artist has led her to facilitating exhibitions, arts retail and commissions, curating art exhibitions with philanthropic bodies, government institutions and various other forms of art and artist promotion. More recently she has been commissioned to develop Aboriginal Art design for tattooing, working on murals, logo's and digital art for businesses, collaborations with sporting teams to design team uniforms, collaborating with an Indigenous owned business to design clothing and products to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

Katherine Palella

Katherine is a DIY, interdisciplinary artist working in exhibitions, creative projects and site specific installation as a way to explore and participate in contemporary aesthetic and political discourse. At other times they paint in abstraction, a deeply responsive and personal practice that explores a kind of internal topography of rupture and return through colour and gesture. Lately they form one half of Blatt & Matonelli, a collaborative project with Sirena Varma. This project engages with the process of tile making as a way to explore our respective experiences of dislocation from cultural and creative lineages. Katherine has worked with Artist Run Initiatives Magand-jin Creatives for Palestine, Small Lakes, 4C Collective and Conduit Arts, and various collaborative projects with musicians and videographers.

Lamine Sonko

Director, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Lamine Sonko draws on traditional wisdom to create inter-disciplinary & multi-sensory arts experiences inspired by his cultural background as a guewel (hereditary cultural role) descendant of the Sing Sing clan and Korings of Kaabu, and a member of the Serer, Wolof and Mandinko cultural communities of Senegal. As a guewel his role is to be a keeper and communicator of history, customs, rituals and sacred knowledge through music, dance and oral storytelling. Through his work he defines new ways to present and re-imagine the traditional African, contemporary and traditional synthesis in the arts. As a composer he has arranged and recorded award-winning music and has presented and performed throughout Australia and internationally.

Siyavash Doostkhah

Iranian-born and Persian-speaking, Siyavash Doostkhah’s life has been a journey of resilience, creativity, and cultural advocacy. After leaving Iran at 17, he spent two challenging years as a refugee in Pakistan and India before finding a new home in Australia under humanitarian grounds in 1987. Driven by a passion for music and storytelling, Siyavash studied electro-acoustic sound design at The Queensland Conservatorium of Music in the early 1990s. Together with his wife, Greta Kelly, he formed Zemzemeh, a duo that juxtaposes ancient acoustic music with electronica, exploring the poetic mysticism of Iran. Through their work, they harness the transformative power of performance, visual expression, and storytelling to preserve and reimagine cultural narratives, keeping tradition alive in modern contexts.

Anna Cerreto (Moderator)

Anna is a dancer, creative and activist/organiser living on Yuggera land. Their family is connected with Sicily, Naples and Ireland. Anna’s creative work looks at cultural practice through anti-colonial, feminist and queer perspectives. They lead Taranta Meanjin, a group sharing the cultural dances of liberation, community and resistance from Southern Italy. In keeping with the radical roots of this tradition, Anna’s practice is grounded in solidarity, exploring what it means to connect with migrant culture on stolen land. Anna's creative practice also draws from their work in anti-racism, communication and research at the Institute for Collaborative Race Research.

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 the Queensland Multicultural Centre in Kangaroo Point and will be followed by our BEMAC Discover showcase featuring a performance by Run Free and open mic from 8:00pm to 9:30pm.

For those who are not able to physically attend the sessions, BEMAC Discussions will be live streamed on BEMAC’s Facebook page facebook.com/BEMACpresents

BEMAC Discussions: Moving Memory
6:30pm, Monday 7 April
Followed by BEMAC Discover featuring Run Free at 8:00pm
Queensland Multicultural Centre
102 Main St, Kangaroo Point
Free to attend.

There is limited parking at the QMC. We encourage all guests to use public transport. QMC is only a 2-minute short walk from the Holman Street Ferry Terminal and bus route 234. You can find more info about how to get to QMC at http://qmc.org.au/visit