Water gives life, but how does water affect life? How does it hold you? It is common, precious, and transmutable. Water is beyond a tangible resource.

00-01 Water is the first issue in the Platypus Essentials series from award-winning publisher, Marilena Hewitt. There are two sides to this book—[thirsty], a field guide seeking a queer utopia amongst the post-colonial, watery spaces of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), and [swallow], a platform for wet critical discussion, art, and literature from fourteen contributors across the continent.

Featuring contributions from Jordan Azcune, Nat Briggs, Lionel Fogarty, Loki Groves, Tay Haggarty, Dylin Hardcastle, Yaseera Moosa, Eva Philips, Sarah Poulgrain, Mandy Quandrio, Running Water Community Press, Anna Ren, and Kata Szasz.

Celebrate the launch of Platypus Essentials, hear from the publisher, and take home a copy of this porous new publication.

Accessibility

We are committed to making the IMA accessible to people of all abilities, their families, and carers, as well as visitors of different ages and different backgrounds.The gallery entrance is on the ground floor of the Judith Wright Arts Centre, on Berwick Street. There is wheelchair access and an accessible toilet with baby changing facilities also located on the ground floor, and we welcome guide and support dogs.To find out more, contact us at ima@ima.org.au, call (07) 3252 5750, or ask our friendly staff on-site. Read our access information for visitors here.

Guest biography

Marilena Hewitt (they/them) is an award-winning publisher, designer, writer, artist and occasional filmmaker based in Meanjin/Brisbane on unceded Jagera and Turrbal land. Their experimental multi-arts practice documents mass extinction with humour and empathy. Hewitt employs a delicate balance of earnestness and queer irony to ‘make public’ climate injustices across this continent. Their print publication, Platypus, was created to platform queer relationships to the anthropocene, and was born out of frustrations with current models of solemn rectitude, ethical 'icks', and loud statistics which fail to move us.