The Heart Whispers and Whirls is a kaleidoscope of multilingual poetry, songs and, instrumental music, dance and shadow puppetry by The Resonant Heart, an all female cast of interdisciplinary artists who poetically reimagine their own ruptured heritages. Drawing on embodied knowledge of their cultural arts and rituals, and featuring works in Farsi, Hindi, English, Bosnian, Nuer, and Ladino, the piece is both a performance and a ritual: an embodiment of ancestral wisdom in a modern Australian context.

The Resonant Heart comprises of Sudanese poet Nyaluelit ‘Lizzy’ Kuoth, Indian sitarist and singer Sarita McHarg, Iranian Qanun player Vahideh Eisaei and dancer Elnaz Sheshgelani, and the Balkan and Sephardic Jewish music trio Saray Iluminado Femme, featuring vocalist Nela Trifkovic, and instrumentalists Irine Vela and Kelly Dowall.

Developed collaboratively by the cast, this work features a number of important and rarely performed pieces of cultural expression such as Lizzy Kouth's poetry in South Sudanese Nuer language, and creative resolution of Elnaz Sheshgelani's practice-based research into Persian Naghali (pre-Islamic dramatic storytelling), as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration that elevates and echoes their own and each other's diverse stories and experiences.

The Resonant Heart has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and supported by Multicultural Arts Victoria's auspice service.

About BEMAC Live

BEMAC Live is a series of professionally produced shows, underpinned by BEMAC’s programming principles, that champion and elevate diverse artists, and their artistry, as creators of original work of the highest quality and relevance possible. For more information about BEMAC’s program of upcoming events, visit bemac.org.au/season/

7:30pm, Saturday 22 March
Queensland Multicultural Centre
102 Main Street, Kangaroo Point QLD
Tickets $35/$25

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