Doors: 3pm
Performance: 3.30pm
Artists in conversation: 4pm

compost : compose is an arts project created by artist-curator Rasha Tayeh, inviting artists to reflect on the purpose of art in times of ongoing genocide, social decay and climate crisis.

How can we compost old structures, tend to grief, and decompose inherited ways of thinking, doing, and being – and compose new imaginaries for reparative futures and collective liberation.

Join us for a conversation with artists Allara, Mohamed Chamas and Ysk (performing in the compost : compose Live Performance on Wednesday 18 February) with performances from Sarah Iman, Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar and DT.

Presented at Next Wave in partnership with Blindside and Beit e'Shai.

Photo by Phuong Nguyen Le.

Moderated by Shalini Kunahlan

Shalini Kunahlan has worked in book publishing for over a decade. She’s currently the Group Head of Marketing and Communications at Hardie Grant Publishing, and independent book publisher in Melbourne. As a proud Malaysian with Sri Lankan Tamil Heritage living in Australia, she is a dedicated and active participant in promoting and building diversity outcomes in the industry. Shalini was the recipient of the inaugural Australian book industry rising star award in recognition for her work and is currently on the board of directors for the Emerging Writers Festival.

About the artists performing

Sarah Iman is a Malaysian born, Naarm raised writer, performer and facilitator. They work mainly in the community arts sector, including St Martins Youth Theatre, Western Edge, NextWave and Music Victoria. Sarah’s current interests lies in movement practices and poetry as forms of community building. Their work is an inquiry into grief, growing and loving, particularly from the migrant diasporic and intergenerational lens.

Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar is a Syrian poet, artist, and researcher whose work moves between literature, performance, and visual art. Holding an MA in Comparative Literature, his poetry explores unhomeness, remembrance, spatial justice, and the politics of the self. He is the author of Poetic Entropy (2019) and A City in Debt, A Hole in the Head (2024), and has contributed to several anthologies. In 2017, he was awarded the Poetry Prize for Refugees in Kuala Lumpur. His practice includes public readings, interdisciplinary collaborations, theatre acting and visual art. Mwaffaq has performed and published across Syria, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar and Australia.

DT is a Djab Wurrung Aboriginal MC born and raised on Yorta Yorta Country in Shepparton, rising from Western Victoria. New artist on the rise known for his insightful storylelling through powerful, thought-provoking lyrics that blend street knowledge with cultural wisdom.

Drawing from his deep-rooted connection to his Djab Wurrung heritage and the extensive knowledge shared by Elders from many tribes and clans across Australia, DT speaks on his experiences of the world, seamlessly intertwining his past present, and future with his Aboriginal identity.

Big on knowledge sharing DT's music flows with the vibrations of his lineage, aiming to connect with both his ancestors and future generations.

Curator, Rasha Tayeh

Rasha Tayeh is a transdisciplinary artist, writer, curator, researcher, herbalist and founding director of Beit e’Shai Teahouse. Her practice is land-based , focusing on telling stories about people’s relationships in community & ecology. With over 20 years experience as an exhibiting artist in Australia and abroad, and through her pop-up teahouse since 2017, Rasha has curated and hosted a range of art exhibitions, workshops, community events, live gigs and listening sessions, tea ceremonies and poetry nights.

Next Wave
270 Sydney Road, Bulleke-bek (Brunswick)
nextwave.org.au

Accessibility
Brunswick Mechanics Institute is a step-free venue with accessible bathrooms.

Video tour of Brunswick Mechanics Institute

Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute visual story (.docx)
Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute visual story (.pdf)

Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute transport and parking information (.docx)
Download the Brunswick Mechanics Institute transport and parking information (.pdf)

Contact the host of compost : compose Public Program